Stakes, Steak, Wine, and Black Jewish Relations

 

Josh Washington, Director of IBSI, Rabbi Mark Bloom, Minister Dr. Ruth Pauline Plummer of Church of God in Christ and Covenant Daughters Network, Jason Chukwu, Christian descended from the Igbo of Nigeria, Valerie and Pastor Dumisani Washington (Founders of IBSI, Institute of Black Solidarity with Israel), soon to be Rabbi Yaaqov James Walker

This one will move from the seemingly trivial to the much more important. Only the most dedicated readers will get to the metaphorical "meat."

Stakes and Steaks. The stakes for Israel and the Jews, particularly when it comes to Black Jewish relations, couldn't be higher. For more details on that, read below. When it comes to steak, Karen and I went out to dinner at a high end steak restaurant I have been wanting to try for years. It is called the Red Heifer, which is a great name for a Kosher steak house, since the Red Heifer in the Biblical Book of Numbers 19 has great significance in the Torah. But it may have been the worst meal I have had in Jerusalem. It was supposed to be a filet mignon, but it was gristly and fatty and of very low quality. And they only had one wine by the glass, a very poor quality house wine made by Carmel instead of one of the many amazing other Israeli wineries they could choose from.  Big, expensive disappointment.

With apologies to all my vegetarian friends, I eat a lot of meat when I am in Israel, which I don't at home since I keep Kosher. But here the options are manifold--the shwarma of course, but the steaks, the burgers, the kabobs, the mixed grills, the deli meats, the interestingly spiced chicken, the asado, you name it. My favorite Jerusalem restaurant is the Biblically inspired "The Eucalyptus." We also love 1868, which really revolutionized fine dining in Jerusalem, and we still find amazing, even though it isn't as popular. I had an amazing steak at a new place called "Black Iron" near the Mahane Yehuda shuk. Other wonderful high end Kosher meat restaurants, all of which we have enjoyed, include: Rimon Bistro, Touro, Joy, Jacko Street, and Angelica. But there are also all kinds of more casual restaurants. It's hard to go wrong here, and yet, in this one case, we did, and we paid a lot of money for it. First world problems...

Wine Tasting. I had the opportunity to taste wine at three great wineries the past week. I have tasted in the Galilee before, where there are some great wineries, but this time I went to two in the Jerusalem Hills, Flam and Agur, and one in the Desert, Yatir. I got to enjoy the first two with our neighbors and friends Joan and Ronn from California, and the wines were excellent and the views scenic. Yatir makes my very favorite Israeli wine, the Yatir Forest Blend, and only recently opened up a tasting room. A few years ago we drove all the way down there just to find out they weren't offering tasting. So I crossed off a bucket list winery. They have somehow learned how to make great tasting wine in a desert location, and it was fantastic.

Wine and food platter at Agur Winery with the Berrols in Jerusalem Hills

All set for tasting at the Yatir Winery in the Desert

New Tallitot. Relatively near the new winery was a Tallit maker called Tallis Man at a Moshav near the Gaza Border, where I had ordered two special tallitot, which I picked up on that same day. I own way too many, but I just can't resist. And at least it's something I use all the time. What an amazing studio he had, and I can't wait to wear them.

Contrasting Holiness: People or Place?

Last Shabbat I went to a beautiful service, where the beauty was in the spirit of the participants, not the setting. This was Friday night at the Oraita Yeshiva where I had studied. The room was the non descript study room. The service itself was led by the 19 year old young men, and the singing, dancing, and spirit made it one of the best I had ever been to, beautiful and raucous all at once. It was like a fraternity party, but they joy was prayer instead of alcohol, and the tunes were ancient and holy instead of overtly sexual with an ear splitting bass line. In contrast, on Saturday morning, I went to services at perhaps the holiest place in the Jewish tradition, underneath the Western Wall. There is a beautiful, brand new synagogue there, open only for services (5:30 am weekdays, 8:30 am on Shabbat). Otherwise it is inaccessible except if you take the Under the Wall Bridge Tour.  The setting was beautiful and pure holiness. The service itself--as dull and lifeless as they come. I'll take the holiness of the people over the place any day of the week, and especially on Shabbat!

Shaa'arei Teshuva Underneath the Western Wall

The Future and the Past of Black Jewish Relations. Now, back to the photo at the top. What do all these people have in common besides that we were sitting at a table together last night? We all have a great love for Israel. My friend Pastor Dumisani (who has spoken at our synagogue before) was leading a trip from the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel of what they are calling IBSI ambassadors to show them Israel first hand. I was lucky to share some wine and dessert with them, and we had an incredibly enriching, lively conversation about Black Jewish relations, Black Lives Matter, Israel, and so much more. A few things to keep in mind.

1. The "Black" community is not monolithic in thought, and neither is the Jewish community. We tend to treat communities as if they are, but political opinion in the Black community is every bit as diverse as any other community. In many ways it is even more so.

2. There are a lot of Black Jews in the world, and they come from all different kinds of backgrounds. There are also a lot of groups that call themselves Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and a whole bunch of names that sound similar. Some of them are Jewish. Some of them are Jewish adjacent. Some of them are anti-Semitic. It's really confusing.

3. The "good old days" of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr. and the solidarity between communities during the Civil Rights era are romanticized beyond what it was actually like. Marc Dollinger's book "Black Power-Jewish Politics" is a good place to start if you want to understand this further.

4. While there is a strain in contemporary Black intellectual thought that identifies strongly with the Palestinians and an anti Colonialist narrative (which they perceive Israel, incorrectly in my view, to be a part of), many in the Black community absolutely love Israel. They very much identify with the Jewish community, and, in particular, see a commonality with the Exodus story.

5. Off topic, to some extent, but if you want to get a completely different view than you are probably used to on home schooling and school vouchers, talk to Black friends. The fastest growing segment of home schoolers are African Americans. 

6. Regardless, the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel are true friends of the Jewish people. The stakes are high, and we owe it to ourselves, our people, and our world, to get it together!

And what friends did we run into this week?

NCSY Director Akiva Naiman

BBYO Friend and Jewish Educator Jill Jacobs

TBA Comes to Israel. And on Tuesday morning, we begin our trip of over 40 TBA members and staff to tour Israel. Can't wait to see them and can't wait to show them the land I love so much!