(Jewish Group) Black Hebrew Israelite leader condemns Jersey City shooting
The leader of a prominent Black Hebrew Israelite organization has condemned last week’s attack on a kosher grocery in New Jersey after media reports emerged that one of the shooters was once a follower of the movement.
Rabbi Capers Shmuel Funnye, the Chicago-based head of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis, sought to distance himself from the Jersey City attackers, saying on Sunday that it was “unfortunate that the media uses the term ‘Black Hebrew Israelites’ without distinction as if the description is a one size fits all and it is absolutely not!”
“Many African-American Jews and Jews of color are threatened by these perpetrators, and by those against the actions of these perpetrators,” he said.
Uniquely among Hebrew Israelite rabbis Funnye, a cousin of former first lady Michelle Obama, has embraced mainstream Jewish beliefs and cultivated a relationship with the mainstream American Jewish community.
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