The First Black Jew In America
Now, before we get started, it's important to recognize that my research and learning on this subject is almost entirely indebted to the work of Jewish scholars, most of them Black Jews themselves, who came before me. I am particularly indebted to scholar and rabbi,[1] Shais Rishon, known by his pseudonym of MaNishtana. Toda raba, mishpocha.
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This story starts in the town of Wenham, Essex County, Massachusetts, circa 1668.[2] On June 30 of that year, two people were presented to the local grand jury for purported violations of Puritan law. One of those individuals was a "Malata Jue of Bostorne" named Sollomon. His alleged crime was "profaning the Lord's day travelling [sic] through Wenham on his journey toward Puscatqua."
Bostorne is, obviously, Boston, but Puscatqua is more vague. It could be the Piscataqua River, a river dividing coastal New Hampshire and Maine, or potentially a tributary of Presumpscot River, which is also named the Piscataqua River. Alternatively, it could be Piscataquis County, Maine, the Piscataquis River, a tributary of the Penobscot River in Maine, the Piscataquog River, a tributary of the Merrimack River in New Hampshire. Or, even more remotely, it could be Piscataway, which may refer to any number of places, from the mid-Atlantic Native American tribe, a town in Maryland, a town in New Jersey, or a creek in Virginia.
In my opinion, it's likely that he was traveling north towards the Piscataqua River. The other locations would have been south and much further to travel in those days. I also imagine the location would have been recorded differently if Sollomon had said he intended to join up with the Piscataway people.
His origin is purely speculative, but the best guess is that he was descended from an African slave mother and a White Jewish father. His father would have likely been Portuguese or another Sephardic Jew, based on the history of Jewish arrivals to America during that time period.[3] Unfortunately, we'll never know for certain based on the current historical record.
Still, it's important to note it's very likely that the first Jew in America dates back to 1688! That's 334 years, meaning that Black Jews have very likely been around since the first White, European Jews settled in New Amsterdam in 1655, after they were expelled by the Portuguese in Brazil. Possibly, even earlier, with the arrival of Columbus and his Jewish crew at the time of the Spanish Inquisition and expulsion.[4]
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The next part of our story moves us to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1823.[5] In the Mikveh Israel Cemetery, there is a woman named Lucy Marks buried. She was a slave, owned by the Marks family, but who also observed the Jewish faith and was a member of the congregation at Mikveh Israel. When she died in 1823, her family asked for her to be buried in the congregation's cemetery. Some members, in their racism, objected, using thinly-veiled excuses to deny the request.
However, a Jewish woman named Rebecca Gratz, helped the family by providing proof that an exception had already been made to allow the burial of a "non-Jew" at the cemetery: that of Gratz's own mother. (You can learn more about Rebecca Gratz here.)[6] Ultimately, Lucy Marks' burial at the synagogue cemetery was allowed.
What is so odd about this story is that it's actually a tangent in a book by Charles L. Blockson, "African Americans in Pennsylvania: Above Ground and Underground. An Illustrated Guide." His specialty is on the Underground railroad, specifically and particularly in Pennsylvania. The story of Lucy Marks is found buried (if you'll forgive the pun) in the section about the Civil War Research Project.
Based on the historical record available and the "peculiar institution of the time," it is likely that Lucy Marks either converted to Judaism or was born a Jew through an African American mother and White Jewish father. Either way, she was certainly a member of the local Jewish community as early as the 1790s and likely much earlier.
While Lucy Marks' grave is unmarked (I'm sorry! I'm not trying to be this punny!) she nonetheless rests within esteemed company of many famous Jewish Americans who contributed to this country's history:
- Nathan Levy, who established the Mikveh Israel community and possibly transported the Liberty Bell at one point.
- Haym Solomon, one of George Washington's close personal friends. (Yes, THAT G Dubs.) He also helped finance the American Revolution and was a member of the Sons of Liberty.
- Rebecca Gratz, noted colonial philanthropist, founder of many civic and social groups supporting the revolution, as well as the likely inspiration for the heroine in Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott, who met her through a mutual friend, Washington Irving.
For myself, I believe that Lucy Marks outstrips them all. Despite her status as a slave, she commanded enough respect to become an equal member of the local congregation, leave a legacy that forced her to receive a Jewish burial, and is quite possibly the first recorded Black Jewish woman in America.
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This chapter takes us to 1835, in Milneburg, Louisiana,[7] with the birth of another Black Jewish woman known as Adah Isaacs Menken. Actress. Activist. Writer. Muse. She lived a short but remarkably full life. While the circumstances surrounding her birth are varied and difficult to reconcile,[8] particularly given the conflicting dramatized stories she enjoyed thrilling audiences with, what we can surmise is that her parents were Auguste, a free mixed-race man, and Marie Theodore, a mixed-race Creole. She was acquainted with Catholicism in her youth, and it is possible she may not have been born Jewish, yet she always espoused a fervently Jewish life as an adult.
Even by today's standards, her story would shock and amaze. She made her acting debut in the play Mazeppa, which catapulted her to international fame. (Not the least of which is because it was originally written for a man and the costume showed a significant amount of... skin.) Yet, even during her acting career, she never lost touch with her Jewishness. At the height of her acting career, she refused to perform on Jewish High Holidays!
At the same time, she defied social mores, showing off her body and skin, cropping her black hair short, smoking cigarettes, publicly disparaging marriage, as well as spreading racy photographs of herself far and wide. She owned her sexuality and it showed! She was married four times over the course of seven years, once to boxing heavyweight champion of the world, John C Heenan. She also had an affair with Alexandre Dumas, and allegedly with Algernon Swinburne as well as George Sand. However, her first and only Jewish husband was Alexander Isaacs Menken.
It was during their time in Cincinnati that she learned Hebrew fluently, studied classical Jewish texts, and contributed many poems and essays to The Israelite, a weekly paper founded by Rabbi Isaac M. Wise. A notable result of her remarkable writing was the cultivation of professional relationships with Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, among others. Her writing contained clearly Jewish themes, ranging from proto-Zionism to messianism. She was a compelling writer of and for Jewish people, advocating for Jews to rise up against persecution and protesting the kidnapping of a six-year-old Jewish boy. She was one of the few Jews in America to protest when Lionel Nathan was denied the seat in the English Parliament to which he had been elected.
She traveled across the world, from Havana and New Orleans to London and Paris, where she delighted and scandalized audiences. Her early fluency in French and Spanish served her well, as she was known for having a knack for languages.
Her life was not without tragedy though. She gave birth twice, but both babies died in infancy. She eventually fell ill in the late 1860s, cutting her career short and causing a struggle with poverty. She died of peritonitis and/or tuberculosis in 1868 at the age of 33. The epitaph inscribed in her tomb is hauntingly beautiful: "I have always believed myself to be possessed of two souls, one that lives on the surface of life, pleasing and pleased; the other as deep and as unfathomable as the ocean; a mystery to me and all who know me"
I could not agree more. If you can, pick up a book about her at your local library. My summary here could never do justice to such a woman who lived such a life.
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Finally, we move to the first "recorded" African Jew in America,[9] a gentleman by the name of Billy Simmons. He was born circa 1780 in Madagascar and purchased as a slave by White Jews, who brought him to Charleston, South Carolina, around the 1850s. Historical reports[10] support that he came from a Jewish African tribe and his claim was supported[11] by two cantors, as well as other authorities.
He has the distinction of being the first Black person to be admitted to a White synagogue in Charleston (and maybe in the whole of the American South). This despite the congregation, Kahal Kodesh Beth, stating that they would accept anyone, "provided, he, she, or they are not people of color.”
Unfortunately, like many enslaved Black people, including Black Jews, there is so much we do not know about his life. I imagine that being kidnapped, sold, and brought halfway across the world only to find out you're surrounded by other Jews who are White and predominantly other slave owners of people who looked like him would have been a difficult adjustment. Yet, he clearly had the fortitude and skill to create his own space in the local Jewish community, gain acceptance to the local shul, and maintain his own practice of Judaism all in spite of his unjust status.
When, where, and how he died remain a mystery. So, too, is where he may have come from. Personally, I suspect he was a member of the Malagasies,[12] associated with ancient Ophir, and very possibly closely related to the Jewish communities in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.[13] Regardless of his origin or his end, his life itself was a miracle of Jewish history.
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I have shared the lives of four different Black Jews in America, ranging from the late seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. Any of them could be the first, or none of them. My hope is that in my barely adequate retelling of their stories, I have revealed the point is not who was first. The point is that these proud Black Jews lived. By remembering them, we ensure that their memories remain a blessing for generations to come.
Take note and take care.
Endnotes:
1 https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/black-jews-you-should-know-part-1
2 https://archive.org/stream/recordsfilesofqu04esse/recordsfilesofqu04esse_djvu.txt
3 https://www.americanjewisharchives.org/educational-resources/timeline/
4 http://brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/exhibitions/judaica/pages/geography+.html
5 https://www.lykensvalley.org/african-americans-in-pennsylvania/
6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Gratz
7 https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/menken-adah-isaacs
8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adah_Isaacs_Menken
9 https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/black-jews-you-should-know-part-1 10 https://www.jewishsouth.org/resources/billy-simons-black-jew-charleston
11 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Crescent/Kzm4-D1-ODQC?q=Billy+Simmons+jew+black&gbpv=1&bsq=billy#f=false
12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Madagascar
13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Africa#Somalia
*BONUS: https://www.timesofisrael.com/yiddisher-black-cantors-from-100-years-ago-rediscovered-thanks-to-rare-recording/*
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