Sunday, June 06, 2004

Oh, yeah? Where are these people?

According to the Baltimore Sun,
"'African-Americans and other minorities are increasingly attending synagogues,' said Gary A. Tobin, president of the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish & Community Research.
"'We fully expect over the next 20 years for the face of Judaism in the U.S. to change dramatically from largely a white, Eastern or Central European group to include many more Asians, Latinos and blacks,' he said.
"Tobin estimates the number of black Jews nationwide at 50,000 to 100,000, though others dispute that figure. James Landing, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied black Judaism, says their numbers probably do not exceed 10,000....
"At least 350,000 blacks, Asians and Latinos practice Judaism in the United States, according to a 2001 survey done for Tobin's institute."
UPDATE: Perhaps they're in Great Neck, where the local Reform congregation has just appointed Rabbi Theodore Tsuruoka, a Japanese-American convert to Judaism, as its spiritual leader. Hat tip: Reader TTC of Protocols.

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