'A Global People'
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KITSAPSUN «Saturday, July18, 2015 «11A Religion ‘A global people’ ■ Rabbi, acousintoMichelleObama,teaches aboutdiversity of Jewish faith By ManyaBrachear Pashman or ordination,fromNew York’s ChicagoTribune (TNS) IsraeliteAcademy. Buthealsohad earned arep- CHICAGO—When RabbiCapers utationfor engaging theJewish Funnye Jr.entersanunfamil- communityinmatters of social iarsynagogue at dawn to join justiceand openingminds. thedaily recitation of Hebrew “Hehad made atremendous prayers, hispresence inevitably mark on thecommunity,” You- prompts questions. dovinsaid. “Wehad to stretch, The63-year-old African- andwefeltsince he wasaspecial American occasionally shares person,hewould be agoodguy hisstory aboutgrowing up in the to stretchwith.” AMEchurchonChicago’s South Since then,the number of Side, then discoveringJudaism seminaries whose graduates as an adult. Or he makeslight of areadmittedtothe boardhas thesuggestionthathedoesn’t expanded. belong by tellingbemused skep- Funnye is expected to assume tics he picked up aprayershawl hisinternational dutiesduring andskullcapoutside andwanted aformalinstallation in Chicago to seehow they worked. thisfall. However, hisappoint- Funnye (pronouncedfun-AY) mentisnot automatic. Thedoz- knowswhy people ask, buthe ensofrabbiswho make up the wantsthattochange. boardmustoverwhelmingly “Unfortunately,byand large, approvehim as “the rabbi to the when yousee anyimagery of rabbis.”Infact, theposition has Jews in theUnitedStates, very been vacant for16years. seldom do yousee membersof Butoverthe past year,congre- my community,”saidFunnye, gationshavehad theopportunity wholives in Chicago’sBeverly to review Funnye’s proposed neighborhood. “But we have TNS phoTo agenda,which many support. African-American Jews,Afri- RabbiCapersFunnye, of Beth Shalom Bnai ZakenEthiopian hebrew Congregation,standsinhis synagogue on July He intendstoadd women to the canJews, Filipino Jews,Mexi- 9inChicago. he is expected to become thechief rabbi of theIsraelites this fall. Israeliteboard,establish closer canJews, whiteJewsand biracial ties with theEthiopianJewsnow Jews.Itisreallywhatthe Jew- race relationsinthe U.S.,Funnye againstabackdropofparticular jobsand housing andaddress- in Israel andpublish acommon ishpeople, in fact, have always hopestouse hisprominence as tensionbetween African-Amer- ingracismand anti-Semitism,” prayer book that honors victims looked like.…Wehavetopro- chiefrabbi to improverace re- icansand American Jews.The Ramseysaid. “Itwas very much of theHolocaustaswellasthe mote that Jews have always been lationsinJewishcommunities solidarity establishedduring asharedagenda.” Middle Passage,whenmillions aglobalpeople.” around theworld. thecivil rights erahad begunto Buthis leadership andcongre- of Africans were transported Funnye,the spiritualleaderof TheEthiopianHebrewmove- erodeasaffirmative action de- gantsraised eyebrows,Ramsey crossthe Atlantic to become Beth Shalom B’naiZaken Ethio- menttowhich Funnye belongsis bates unfolded andprominent said. slaves. pian Hebrew Congregation in oneofafew blackJewishmove- blackleaders blamed theJewish “The predominatelyCauca- Funnye alreadyhas traveled theMarquette Park neighbor- ments nowunderthe Israelite establishmentfor oppression. sian communitywasn’tquite to Israel to meet with Prime hood,sooncould have theplat- umbrella,all of whichbelieve Alow pointcamein1984when sure what to make of theAfri- MinisterBenjaminNetanyahu form to setthe record straight they areJewsofAfrican descent. Democratic presidentialcan- can-American Jewish congre- to pressfor more acceptance of aboutrace anddiversity within ButIsraeliteshaveremained didate theRev.Jesse Jackson gationsinChicago,” shesaid. blackJewsaroundthe world. theAmerican Jewish commu- largelyoutside themainstream referred to NewYorkas“Hymi- “There wasalot of questioning: Although Funnye took what nity. Jewish communitybecause they etown.”Helater apologized for ‘Are they Jews?’” he considered theextrastepof AcousintofirstladyMichelle oftenaren’tconsideredJewish usingthe derogatory term. Thesamekindofskepticism converting to Judaism—orre- Obamawho spentmanyaSun- withoutatraditional Jewish Jane Ramsey, then-executive surfacedwhenFunnyebecame verting, as he preferstocallit— dayafternoon with herfamily conversion. director of theJewishCouncil on thefirstand only blackrabbi to he says that isn’tnecessary for whilegrowing up on theSouth “The communityisnot will- UrbanAffairs, said thecouncil join theChicago BoardofRab- otherIsraelitesand theirrabbis. Side, Funnye is poised to become ingtohaveanybodydictate our hadgoneout of itsway to galva- bisin1997. RabbiIra Youdovin, He hadhis ownreasons. thetitular head of theInterna- righttopracticeTorah andhave nize communitiesaround social then-executive vice presidentof “I wasalready aJew in my tional IsraeliteBoard of Rabbis, ourown community,”saidRabbi justicebut,until Funnye came theboard,saidatthe time that heart,”hesaid. “Itvalidated whichincludes blackJewsin Baruch Yehudah, international along, hadn’t considered engag- theboard admitted only gradu- forthose around me my degree theU.S., Caribbean, SouthAf- secretary of theIsraeliteboard. ingthe African-American Jewish ates from thehandful of Ameri- of sincerityofsaying…‘Iama rica,Ugandaand Nigeria. Just as “Overthe yearsithas been a community. canseminariesthatordained Jew.’” hiscousinbymarriage, Barack teeth-grinding situation.” “He’sdeeplyreligious and Reform,Conservative, Orthodox “WhatIwantedtodowas ar- Obama, has used hisplatformas Funnye enteredthe Chicago deeply devotedtoJudaism and andReconstructionist leaders. rest anyfears youhave, because commanderinchief to address Jewish sceneinthe mid-1980s, also deeply devotedtocreating Funnye hadearnedhis smicha, Ihavenofears.” Antscanteachusabouttakingcareofeachother We have ants.Wehave storyseemedtounravel F aith Directory kept them at bayinsidethe andIamnot sure it was house, butoutside,thatis thebestthingtodo. Butit You’re invited to attend one of our many places of worship adifferentmatter. Asingle wassomething. When one dropped crumbonthe pa- of ourchurchmembers tioand thenextmorninga bill returned from Kenyaand stream of ants appear,hun- tinsley made an appeal forpeople dredsoftheminaneatly sheknows whoare starv- African Methodist ChristianScience Lutheran organizedoperation to dis- COLUMNIST ing, Isentacheck.When EbenezerAME Church FirstChurch of Christ, Scientist Silverdale Lutheran, ELCA mantle thediscarded food Ivisited Tillie Bergin at Rev. David MalcomJr. 4th&Warren, Bremerton 11701RidgepointDrive NW andstore it in bitsand bites live on less than $2.50per MissionArlington and 902ParkAvenue (360)373-4680 ServiceTimes:8:00am &10:00am forlater use. day. sawthe difference shewas Bible Study, Wed. 6pm Sun. Svc, SS,Child Care 10am 360-692-9263 SundayService 8am&11am Wed. Meeting, ChildCare7pm www.silverdalelutheran.org Howdothey do this? Do Ihavetoadmit this making amongthe poor in SundaySchool9:45am ReadingRoom, Mon11-2 thewandering scout-ants convicts andalarmsme. theinner city,Isentagift. (360)373-1063 have cellphones?When Ineedtobemore like the It’s notmuch. But, forme NonDenominational Church of Christ they make adiscovery do little critters that invade it is astart.Ifall of us gave Anglican they place acallbackto my patio.Ineedtosound more generouslywecould FaithFellowship Church home base andsay,“Send thealarm,sendout the make adifference,likethe CentralKitsapChurchofChrist 6251NWNewberryHill Rd,Silverdale St.CharlesAnglicanChurch 11898Central Valley Road,Poulsbo SundayMorning Worship10:00am thetroops. We have food!” signal,marshal others ant. 19351 8thAvenue NE,#205, Poulsbo SundayWorship 10:45am AContemporaryNon Denom Service Whoorganizes theopera- andjointhem in distrib- Proverbs says,“Go Saturday CasualService 5pm SundayBible Classes9:30am www.faithfellowshipchurch.net SundayTraditional 8:30am 360-692-4900 •www.ckcoc.org (360)692-6555 tion?Who tellsthese work- utingfoodand resources to theant …considerits SundayContemporary10:30am er ants to answer thecall, to those whoneedit. But ways andbewise! It has 360-779-3524 Church of Christ andwho plotsthe shortest howdowedothis? Howdo no commander, no over- stcharlesanglican.org 2585 Carr Lane SE,PortOrchard Presbyterian andleast obstructed route we know that ourgifts get seer or ruler, yetitstores SundayWorship 10:30am St.Erasmus Anglican Church SundayBible Classes9:30am to thetreasure? to thepeopleand places itsprovisionsinsummer MeetsatBurley Community 360-876-2604 •www.pococ.org CentralKitsapPresbyterian If they were humans, wherethey areneeded? andgathers itsfoodat Hall. 1485 Burley AveSE, 9300 Nels Nelson Rd NW,Bremerton thesearchers whofound Thereissomuchgraft and harvest.”(Prov.6:6-8). Burley;Traditional Worship: SundayWorship Service: 10am Sunday10am.253-265-8891 Episcopal EducationClasses areavailable thefoodsupplywould im- corruption in theworld John theforerunner,de- gigharboranglican.com (360)692-5000 -www.ckpc.org mediatelystake aclaim, that charitable giftsare of- scribing true repentance laytitle to it andhorde tenroutedintothe pockets andfaith,said, “Anyone St.Antony’sEpiscopal Church Baptist 10239Old Frontier Rd., Silverdale UnitarianUniversalist it so that they couldbe of thegreedy. whohas twoshirts should SundayServices: 8:00am &10:00am wealthier than allthe oth- Iguess thebestthing sharewiththe onewho has Church School &Nursery Kitsap Unitarian-Universalist er ants.They wouldlet the is to be alerttoopportu- none,and anyone whohas Mt.Zion Missionary (360)698-0555 •saintantonys.org To know Christ