Conference taveng::bagels

    When I was in Israel for a year, ten years ago, the government
    had already decided that this group was not the thirteenth tribe
    as they claimed.  As I recall, they reside primarily in Beer Sheva
    where they originally found housing by squatting in unoccupied
    apartments.  Ten years ago many did not have jobs and the government
    was ending up supporting them financially to a great extent.  They
    did not create any real problems in the city and, at that point,
    had one of the better jazz bands in Israel.
    
    I'd be interested in hearing what is going on now with them and
    why they were in the news.
     

    What about the Ethiopians who are Jews ?  Do you
    mean also them ?

    The Black Hebrew got in the news because the government arrested 41
    of them for violation of immigration laws and prepared for their
    deportation.  It was said also that the rest of them were very much
    concerned that they also will have to leave.

    Leo Simon

    The "Black Hebrews" have always been controversial since their
    "arrival"in Israel.  They have been accused of all sorts of crime,
    drug dealing for one(which has much more dire consequences in Israel
    than here).  Whether it is true or not I can't say.
    
    By the way it is Dimona, not Beer-sheva, where they have been living.
    I know one thing for sure, they have(or at least had)a great band,
    into blues, soul, r&b.  The name of the band was "the soul messengers".
    When I was at Kibbutz Ketura, we had them play for our Chag
    Hameshek(the kibbutz anniversary), and they were GREAT.  
    
    David
    

Associated Press Thu 31-JUL-1986 13:55                   Israel-Black Hebrews

   TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - The Supreme Court upheld a government
order to expel 45 American-born Black Hebrews, and an Interior
Ministry official said today the group would be deported to the
United States as soon as seats were available on flights.
   He said the 45 Black Hebrews, now in jails, would be flown
individually or in small groups to the United States.
   Israel has deported 30 to 40 Black Hebrews in small groups since
1984, and in March denied entry to a group that landed at Ben-Gurion
Airport. But Israel never before has expelled such a large group.
   The Black Hebrews, led by a former Chicago bus driver who calls
himself Ben-Ami Carter, the prince of peace, claim they are
descended from the biblical Israelites. They began coming to Israel
in small groups in 1969, and about 2,000 now live in the Jewish
state.
   But Jewish religious authorities say the group's practices have
little in common with Judaism. The Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that
they are not Jews and therefore are not eligible for automatic
citizenship.
   In April, the Interior Ministry said 45 of the Black Hebrews had
overstayed their visas, and ordered them expelled. In rejecting the
group's appeal, the court told the ministry to expel them ``in a
humane manner.''
   Agassi claimed the expulsions also were because of
``inappropriate and sometimes illegal behavior.'' He refused to
elaborate. He said other Black Hebrews also were in Israel illegally
and would be expelled.
   ``Our policy is like that of any other country: we expel illegal
aliens,'' he said.
   The Black Hebrews also have been under fire in the United States.
In Washington, a jury convicted nine members of the group Wednesday
in a multimillion dollar fraud involving stolen airplane tickets,
phony passports and bank embezzlement.
   Carter told Israel radio: ``They are spreading stories full of
exaggerations about us.'' He rejected accusations of law-breaking by
members of his group.
   Jacques Amir, a legislator and former mayor of the Negev desert
town of Dimona where many of the Black Hebrews live, said Wednesday
that they have made themselves ``a state within a state'' by living
according to their own rules, maintaining independent institutions
and refusing to recognize the official school or health systems.
   Israel long hesitated to expel members of the group because it
feared the action would hurt relations with black African countries
and cause trouble between American Jews and blacks.
   Four U.S. congressmen, all Democrats, accused Israel in April of
discrimination against the Black Hebrews.
   Hundreds of Black Hebrews have given up their U.S. passports,
reasoning that Israel will let them stay if they have nowhere to go.
Last week, police arrested three members of the sect who were on
their way to the U.S. consulate to waive American citizenship in an
effort to avoid deportation.
    

    It certainly doesn't sound "racial" at all.  Carter's band doesn't
    appear to have any real Jewish ancestry -- they're presumably all
    "converts", and the conversion was not done by any sort of real
    rabbi anyway (not jumping into that rathole, though!).  Given that
    the Law of the Return lets any Jew have citizenship, there needs
    to be _some_ kind of limit on who can claim to be a Jew, and just
    saying that you are one doesn't quite do the trick.
    
    The fact that they are Black Americans is relatively meaningless.
    They could be Chinese, Welsh, Ainu or Maori for all it matters.
    
    Now it might be useful to allow non-Jewish immigration, just as
    the US allows a few random immigrants, especially since many have
    such useful skills.  No, I don't mean the alleged drug dealers,
    I mean the musicians!  But showing up and squatting is rather frowned
    upon here, too.

    What's lost in this issue is the fact that Israel successfully absorbed
    a group of non-Jewish immigrants, Vietnamese, to be specific.  Because
    of Israel's superior experience in absorbing immigrants from different
    cultures, the Vietnamese had a more successful absorption than their
    fellow countrymen are having in other countries.
    
    David

    I am a black from Central America, my mother is of Jewish Jamacian
    origin. Her maiden name is Lewinson and her grandmother was Jewish with
    the last name DePasse. My great grandmother was disowned by her family
    for marrying outside the faith. As a multi-cultural person I am curious
    about whether or not I am still considered a Jew? Can a person in my
    situation obtain information to trace family roots? As a black with the
    genetic pool of Jewish origin how should I approach the issue of
    joining a temple? How do Jews differentiate between European,
    Oriental,Hispanic, East Indian and African Hebrews relative the general 
    Hebrew population? How can I bridge both communities (Hebrew & Black)
    if my status as a Jew still stands with religious laws (born of a
    Jewish mother)?, it is a question of linage.

"Jewishness" passes down matri-linearly. You mentioned your great-grandmother
and your mother but you skipped the grand-parent generation. If that person was
your mother's mother then congratulations, you're Jewish.

You haven't had any Jewish training. If you care to pursue this, drop by
any synagogue, tell the rabbi you just discovered that you are Jewish by
birth, and see what he suggests. If you don't feel comfortable with that
rabbi, try another. No need to be shy...there are an awful lot of Jews
out there who know next-to-nothing about their own religion. Any synagogue
ought to be overjoyed to have a person such as yourself who wants to learn
and to participate.

Dave 

    RE:  .8
    
    If you find out that your maternal grandmother is/was not Jewish, and
    you are therefore not considered Jewish by birth, please do not let that
    stop you from following this path.
    
    In that case, you would need to eventually convert (described in
    another note), but your course of study would not be fundamentally
    different.  Conversion is necessary to marry a Jew (in a Jewish
    ceremony), to be called to the Torah (aliyah) during religious
    services, to emigrate to Israel, and to be a witness for certain Jewish
    religious documents.  But you can still pray in a synagogue, study with
    Jews, and largely participate in community life.
    
    Your choice of affiliation is largely affected by your geographic
    location.  Where do you live?  If you live in New York City, there are
    several Sephardic synagogues for those of Spanish, North African, and
    Middle Eastern descent.  You may feel more comfortable here, although
    race or national origin is not a barrier to participating in any
    synagogue.
    
    My husband, whose mother is Sephardic (of Turkish descent) grew up with
    a Sephardic synagogue in the Bronx.  His cantor was black!  So black
    Jews are not unknown in the U.S.A.
    
    There are some American congregations of blacks who call themselves
    Jews but are not considered Jews by the larger Jewish community.  This
    is not because of their color, degree of piety, or degree of
    observance.  It is only because they did not seek conversion through
    the accepted channels.  Just so you are aware...
    
    Welcome!
    
    Laura
    

    If you are near NYC and don't mind a Conservative synagogue, come by
    the Brotherhood Synagogue on 20th Street in Manhattan. It is to the 
    west of 3rd Avenue and the east of Gramercy Park East. It has many
    black members, some from Central America, some from New York City.