During Black History Month, America remembers the beauty of the African cultures and, at the same time, remembers what was done in the name of race. Just as Jews are sensitive to injustice, so too are Blacks. The racial narrative that often holds superficial external truths, manifested in different skin colors or other physical features, is deeply rooted.
A couple of weeks ago, America was in upheaval over Whoopi Goldberg’s comments regarding the Holocaust: “This is white people doing to white people, so y’all gonna fight amongst yourselves.” Then she added, “It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, however it exposes itself.” There is no argument about the second part. This is man’s inhumanity sinking to the lowest possible level, said Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the “Anti-Defamation League (ADL), who pointed out that “the Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people they deemed an inferior race.” In the first chapter of his manifesto, Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote, “People of the same blood should be in the same REICH.”
Whoopi Goldberg apologized for her remarks. “I stand corrected,” she said. I’m not sure she truly understands her mistake, but I must admit, it’s not all her fault. The issue of race and Jews is more complex and is not “Black or White.” It’s about the spark. The spark of light. The light of Torah, living it for a long time, and living in Jewish societies. It’s hard to explain, just as it’s hard to explain the reaction of anti-Jews or antisemitism. The biggest anti-Semites, from Pharaoh to Haman and Hitler, looked at the Jewish people and determined that they are spread throughout different countries, and yet they are one people. One family.
Let me offer a Jewish perspective on this. Antisemitism comes from the name Semite — as in Shem, the first son of Noah. According to Genesis 10, the known 70 nations are the descendants of the three sons of Noah: the Hamitic, the Semitic, and the Japhetic. The midrash claims that they spread to three continents: Africa, Europe and Asia. The sons of Ham (which means hot) are Kush and Mitzrayim — Nigeria and Egypt, both in Africa. The son of Japheth (which means beauty) is Yavan — Greece, the cradle of European culture, beauty and architecture. The son of Shem (which means name) is Ever — Hebrews with their origin in Asia. The Jews are an ethnicity within the Semitic race, and will carry the name of the one God.
On my trip and the preparations for it, I needed several times to designate my racial identity. I would like to select “Jew,” not Black or White. Being Jewish for me was never about color. I grew up in Israel with first- or second-generation kids from 25 countries in my homeroom alone. All colors and shades. A family of common descent. To say that Jews are not of an ethnic background is to ignore a significant part of the Jewish identity. Most of the Jews in the world would not deny they come from an original ethic background that belongs to a race — the Semite race. The third race in the middle that is often ignored.
When we fill in our information on any application, we are asked to indicate our race. Usually, the options are Black/African, White, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, Asian, American Indian, American, and even Other Pacific Islander. Where is the Semite? So, it’s not all Whoopi Goldberg’s fault. When race becomes Black or White, then Jews have to be assigned a side. It was convenient for Jews coming to America from Europe to fall into that rubric, even though they were not white enough in Europe, and it took them a while to become white enough in America. But the Semites are not about the color of their skin. The mission of its people is to carry God’s name wherever they are.
In the end, we are all descendants of Homo sapien that overcame the Neanderthal. In Hebrew, the word race is geza, which refers to a tree trunk. Adam, as a reference to humanity, is one. So really, there is only one race, one tree trunk from which all branches stem. Let us be one and believe in One.
— Rabbi Gadi Capela