While it may not be well-known,but some 15% of Jews in the United States are people of color; and an even lesser-known fact is that some of them experience racism in their Jewish communities.
"I was the only black girl [in a Jewish private school in Beverly Hills]," says Esther, a Jewish Ethiopian who immigrated to California with her family at the age of three, told i24NEWS.
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"There was a rabbi in our school, he was a substitute teacher," Esther remembers. "I remember coming back from recess and he stopped me in front of everybody and he said, 'what are you doing here?'"
"Being a seven or eight-year-old at that time, what would somebody answer? 'I go to school here.' And he said: 'You're not supposed to be here… because you're black,'" she shares.
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Elisheva Rishon, an African-American Jew residing in Los Angeles, has launched a clothing brand inspired by her personal story.
"I want people to feel proud of being Jewish because right now in American there's been a huge spike in anti-Semitism and a lot of people feel afraid to show their Jewishness," Elisheva said.
"And I think we should do the exact opposite… we should show who we are."
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
