Hasidim and Black Lives Matter

Will Change Really Come This Time?

A question has emerged recently in the press about whether the white population’s increased support in the social justice movement is a passing fancy or will it actually last for the long term?

Many previous uprisings to address systemic racism have come and gone without solving the fundamental issues that need to be changed. What makes this time different, is the participation of a wide segment of the nonblack community that has participated. Who could have believed even two months ago, that Nascar would ban the confederate flag, or that Mississippi would consider changing its flag to eliminate the confederate flag from being part of the state flag?

These are examples that give me hope that a real change is coming. Hopefully, it will manifest itself in the election and that will then engender real legislative change for the betterment of our society. I also want to share another bellwether that has not been talked about widely in the media that also gives hope that something is uniquely different this time. The hope comes from the Hasidic community.

Most people do not know much about the Hasidic community, its structure, its values, and its social operating norms. This is not new nor has it changed much in the last 50 years. As a child I remember a Jewish comedian Bill Dana adopting a Hispanic character Jose Jimenez as his stage presence. He often appeared on Ed Sullivan and other such venues. In hindsight I now realize that his performance was probably as offensive to Hispanics as performing in blackface was to Blacks, and it only took me 60 years to figure that out.

One part of one of his routines has always stuck with me, probably because I was so hungry for any nod to Jews or Judaism coming from the melting pot culture of the 50s.

He was riding in a cab in Brooklyn when he saw some people dressed in black coats with long beards and a black hat and he asked the cabbie who they were? The Cabbie responded, “Hasidim”. Jose said,” I know Jai see dem too, but who are they?”.

The bit worked because it was believable that he as well as most of the country who did not live in New York, also did not know who or what these people were. They lived together, dressed the same and differently from everyone else, spoke Yiddish to each other, and were more insular then a heavily insulated electric wire, which is why the story I am about to share with you gives me hope that in the words of Sam Cook, ”A Change Is Gonna Come”.

Meet Miriam Levy-Haim, and Maayan Zik. Both are part of the Chabad community in Crown Heights, headquarters for the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Miriam is white, Maayan is black and both were involved in a major march on June 7 to oppose police violence. At the march people showed up with signs in English, Hebrew and Yiddish saying things like, “ Human decency should be a frum value” and “Orthodox Jews for Black Lives Matter”.

This has never happened before in their community. Organizer Miriam Levy-Haim said that a woman she had gone to high school with and saw herself as totally apolitical stopped her in the street after the march and said, “Some people think if your tuchus is covered you don’t have to do anything, but a Yid doesn’t think that”.

Miriam was hoping for 50 people to show up given the small window of time to get the word out, but 300 people showed up.

Another organizer and emcee and speaker at the event was Maayan Zik. Her trip to this moment is an amazing story as well. According to the Washington Post, Zik was drawn to Chabad’s uplifting approach to Judaism, and to its close knit supportive community. This in spite of her first “welcome” when she came on shabbat services at Chabad headquarters. She had recently found out that she had a white Jewish great-grandmother in her Jamaican family and wanted to learn more about Judaism. She was accosted in the women’s section by two women who wanted to know why she was there and threatened to call the police. She came back anyway, converted, married a Lubavitcher and has four children.

To be fair Chabad is the least insular of all Hasidim and they reach out to secular Jews all the time but the idea of advocating for a non-Jewish group was radical especially to the established Chabad leadership. Not one Rabbi participated, and many challenged why they were doing this. Crown Heights also has a history of tension with the nonwhite population that shares the area with Chabad, which makes this march all the more special. It shows that even in Crown Heights there is a new generation of people who see the injustices in our world and feel compelled to speak out.

As the Washington Post wrote, “Zik 35 said she was proud of her generation for taking their views to the streets, despite the neighborhood’s turbulent and tragic history.

‘So many people thanked me after and said they were looking to express themselves and their beliefs, and it’s a Jewish value to stand up …I wouldn’t say we changed everything. But regardless of comments made about us, this cause is more important then hurt feelings. We started something really good here.’”

If a Hasidic community, even a minority of the community, can take a stand and reach out in solidarity and support, then I have great optimism that something real and tangible will change for the future.

If you can’t demonstrate, and given all the health considerations you probably shouldn’t, then the most important statement you can make is to vote in November. A change is gonna come.

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