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What's Wrong With Being Black? Print E-mail
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Written by Almaz ben Adonai   

 My Grandmother is Persian. I am a Jew of Mixed Heritage. To most people, when they see me, they see a Black woman because of my VERY dark-skinned Yemenite/Ethiopian father and grandfather.

I have NO problem with that. After all Moshe Rabbeinu's wife was a Ethiopian, and if it were not for her persistence we probably would NOT be here today.

The problem is when I try to date Persian men that my family tries to introduce me to. These Persian men say that they want to marry me, but when the family is involved they back out. I KNOW what is is like to be called "Little Nigger" by members of the Persian Jewish commmunity -- the full-blooded Persians on my Grandmother's side of the family. They were very cruel at times. But I have come to the conclusion that I think ALL Persians are like this. I mean, if I was Ashkenazi I KNOW for sure there would be a chance but because I am half black I get much flak. I had one woman tell me that "My son could NEVER bring home the likes of something like you", even though my father of blessed memory was an MD and a Rabbi to boot, plus I am a Bat Cohen with a superior education and a stable family  life.
Are all Persians that prejudiced against Jews of colour even though they are Jews of colour themselves, or are they just sick in the head and close-minded PERIOD? I mean, I had a wonderful opportunity to marry a nice man of Persian extraction but when he talked to his "Trusty Rabbi in Long Island" I was abruptly told, "nothing happening". But in the end, I am glad it happened that way because he was not a wise man and I would have never have been happy with him, because he was so easily influenced by someone. So it showed me that this person was weak-minded.
 
You know, I hear people talk and talk and talk about "marrying Jewish", but when you come up against so much prejudice, why should you? Maybe if I was blonde-haired and blue-eyed it would not be so bad. My father died when I was VERY young so I grew up with Persian Minhagim (customs).
Right now I don't care anymore, so I will probably end up NOT marrying a Jew at all because of the nonsense. I feel most comfortable with Sephardic culture. But in the end it is too much trouble and I am fed up.
I love my Persian side but y'all make me sick sometimes. So what should I do? Stop telling my Grandmother NOT to introduce me to Persian men? (She only knows Persian single men.)  Marry a NICE Black or non-Jewish man and live happily ever after???  BELIEVE me, that is NOT what I want. And all the other Sephardic types that I know are so busy chasing after blondes!  I try to tell her not to worry about it. But because I am a little older she is busy trying to do a Shidduch. I don't care one way or the other at this point.  I can always adopt a kid or du artificial insemination. Or just find me a nice man that will treat me with the kindness and respect that I deserve and move away from Judaism. The hypocrisy is waning on me really hard.
 I love her so much and I don't want to break her heart because she is truly one of THE MOST loveliest human beings that Hashem had the pleasure of gracing the Earth with her presence. I truly respect and adore her and my mother. But they just don't seem to understand that Persian men don't want me and most of their families are close minded. But they STILL keep trying to push me towards Persian man. It would NOT be such a bad thing. But I can't deal with the heartache of being told that because I don't FIT the scheme of things that I am not GOOD enough for their families. Pish Tosh.  I have a Master's degree and getting a second one. I have travelled all over the world. I have a great family and a DEEP abiding love of Hashem.  I study Torah. I know the laws of Kashrut.  And some of these families are not even that religious! I am not the only one that has had to deal with this. I have had several cousins and friends with the same problems.  
One of them actually became very fed up with her situation. She, like me, doesn't really find Ashkenazi men attractive, and the ones directly from Ethiopia or Yemen still have issues to work out. And like I said before, all the other Sephardics you come across are so busy chasing blondes or not serious about building a Torah centered family life. She ended up marrying a Baha'i. GET this: this man's family WAS Jewish, but when their rabbi converted to Baha'i the whole congregation did in Iran. And the killing part is my Grandmother knew these people in Iran.  But at least the Baha'i don't have a colour problem. Isn't that funny how it works sometimes.
These men are highly educated like myself.  So I know why they try to fix me up. But I guess I am not meant for them. Only Hashem knows.
So the next class that comes about "Why marry Jewish", tell people to be a little bit more open- minded toward Jews that maybe don't look like you.
 
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Comments
Ramses Thank you so much for you kind words. Again I FINALLY told my Grandmother that Persian men are not working and stop trying to introduce them to me because we are not on the same agenda. I mean the last straw was like 2 weeks ago when I went out with what I thought was a VERY nice man but alas he was only sending his representative. The REAL him came out later on when he started taking about the size of his private parts and asking me is it true that Black women are hot in bed? So I politely retored if you want a woman that is going to rock you world on the first date I got 2 words for you WHITE WOMEN cause you don't see to many Black women on the Girls Gone Wild series. Then he said OH C'mon I was just joking. No he wasn't I wondered if he talked to all of his potential mates like that I asked him. Cause if you do this is why you are 50 and STILL single because you don't have respect for women. So that was the LASSSSTTTTTT straw. Outside of that fact that he was asking me about my finances. The Shidduch lady did not TELL me that his business was in trouble and he was looking for a sugar mama. So again I vowed that even though I LOVE my Shirazi Grandmother like crazy I finally had to tell her to stop because it was not working. She was hurt for a minute then she understood after a while. So again no more Persian men. It is getting to the point which is so sad that non-jewish men that I met are on the same education level with the SAME morals and values who believe in home and family and G-d. What a Travesty. To think that my happiness may be with a non jew,
  Posted by Almaz, on Tuesday, 14 August 2007 at 7:22

I CAN UNDERSTAND ABOUT SOME JEWS BEING RACIST, IF THEY ONLY WENT TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD THEY WOULD KNOW THAT MANY JEWS RANGE IN DIFFERENT COLOURS I AM 100% BLOOD LINE JEW FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH I AM A CARAMEL IN COLOR. YOU CANNOT BE A SERVANT OF YAHWEH AND DISLIKE SOME SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THEIR DIFFERENT COMPLECTIONS. MANY BIBLICAL JEWS WERE OF DARK COMPLECTION MOST OF ALL THE FORE FATHERS OF THE ORIGINAL TRIBES OF ISRAEL MARRIES AFRICAN WOMAN LIKE MOSES. KEEP YOU HEAD UP STRONG IN THE FUTURE ALL OF THIS MESS YAH WILL FIX AMOUNGST OUR PEOPLE. MANAGAN SHALOM
  Posted by MANAGAN, on Friday, 30 March 2007 at 8:42

Dear Almaz, I am so sorry to hear that you had to go through this non-sence. The problem is not you, you are a beautiful woman who is educated and has a wonderful soul. Unfortunately, most persian jewish families are prejudice against other cultures, races and religions. The sad thing is that these people are also prejudice towards other persian jews.
I am a persian jewish man who just got married to a beautiful asian woman. But before I got married my wife, I was dating a persian girl for about a you who I was head over hill in love with. For a year we had a great relationship and there wasn't a day that she wouldn't tell me that she loved me and that she couldn't live without me and how she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. On every wall in may house she wrote little notes that she loved me. Then one day she decided to end the relationship without giving me a reason. For more than two months I didn't know why she ended the relationship. For more than two months I called her and asked her if I did some thing wrong or if there was something that I said. So finaly her mom told my mom that the reason that her daughter ended the relationship was that I didn't have enough money to support her or a family. After hearing this I was so heart broken, I prommissed my self that I would never date another persian jewish girl. Practicaly every persian jewish girl that I have dated was looking for someone with money or status. The only difference was that they were honest enough to tell me what they were looking for after a few dates. It is not that I don't have money or a job. I am an educated man with a great career. Sure, I don't have a house in Beverly Hills or I don't drive a Mercedes, but I have a comfertable life and a wife and a daughter that now I totaly support. I am sure that I am not an isolated case. There are many other persian jewish men and women who experienced some kind of prejudiceness against them by other persian jews. Yes, I did have a huge problem with my family over my dicision but at the end at some point I have to start living for my self not for others including my family. We all deserve to be happy and have peaceful life. Now I have a great wife that cares about me and a beautiful daughter that means the world to me. Now its my responsibility to teach my daughter to love people for who they are and treat everyone as equal. And for those narrow minded persian jewish families, I feel sorry for them for still living in the 18th century. May be they realize thats why there is so many divorce in our culter.
As for you, keep your head up because you are a wonderful person with a great soul and you deserve better. Its him and his family who don't deserve to have you as a part of their family.

best of luck
Ramses

  Posted by Ramses, on Monday, 26 March 2007 at 4:00

Oh yeah Sarah the Hyocrisy wanes on my nerves. THEY can screw around with everyone but when it comes time to get married they want perfection.
  Posted by Almaz, on Sunday, 14 January 2007 at 12:19

I wouldn't be so sure that you would have a chance if you were Ashkenazi. I've met plenty of Persian guys who said they would never marry an Ashkenazi. Some said they would 'settle' for a Mizrachi woman even if she was not Persian. Some wouldn't even be willing to marry a Persian Jewish woman unless her family came from the same city as theirs did. They didn't have any problem dating non-Persian Jews (gentile or Jewish) but never would have considered marrying them.
  Posted by Sarah, on Wednesday, 27 December 2006 at 8:42

AJ sorry dear you Did NOT get the Jist. I never said Poor me it is Poor them NOT me. I have and always WILL Be VERY SECURE AND VERY PROUD of who I am. You don't know me well enough to assume such things. And I lived in London for 7 years and baby they British are just as racists as anyone else. So please do yourself a favour and cut the crap about oh poor me because it was NEVER like that. I was just pointing out about how narrow minded and stupid people can be and Believe me the British can be JUST as bad. I never have a Poor me attitude. I feel sorry for Jews Persian or not that Obviously you are NOT Jewish or you would not even say something like that because A Torah Jew will not intermarry if at all possible.
  Posted by Almaz, on Tuesday, 28 November 2006 at 7:16

From what I gather. It seems like Almaz was stating how hard it is to find a Real nice Jewish man. And it seems like she is saying that she is NOT looking exclusively for a Persian man. Just a nice Jewish man PERIOD. But I understand what you are going through. Maybe you might have to bite the bullet and find nice man. Jewish or not. I married a nice Man after many years of holding out for a 'GOOD JEWISH MAN' He eventually converted but that was after we were married almost 5 years. It was something that I don't believe in Forcing upon another person NOR having someone convert JUST to GET married. He did it because of his love of Hashem. It was NOT easy because of his family but in the End people started coming around and in the End I DID FINALLY have my Wonderful Jewish Husband. So in the End Hashem worked a miracle on my behalf. I know it is NOT easy. If I would have waited around I would probably STILL be single and alone with no hopes of ever having children of my own. You don't know me by Feldman Miss Almaz but by Santos. My husband is Afro-cuban I now you have seen us in the community but sense we do not go to the same shul I know I am not in your close circle of friends I am half Persian also. but one would think that I am All Ashkenazi when they look at me but I know what you do in the community where we live Almaz and I see that you are a WONDERFUL Tzadakis and I see the work you have done in the food pantry, battered women's shelter, the Chesed that you do for young brides and new mothers and hungry. You put your money where your mouth is. When the Shiraz 13 were in trouble you WERE THE FIRST in the community to raise a fuss about it and write every senator. And again you are NOT full blooded Persian but you seemed to raise a bigger stink than the full blooded Persians in our area. I remember you saying in a speech about the Shiraz 13 that 'Whenever a Jew is in Trouble ANYWHERE in the world. Guess what we are ALL in Trouble. I don't mean to bust you out but I have seen you drive to someone's home in the middle of the night when there were laid off from work with a ton of food left on their doorstep so they had food to last them a month and speed off. I have watched you over the years in our community Quietly working behind the scenes for Klal Israel. When Hashem blessed me with triplets at the age of 42 YOU were the one that heard about it and immediately sent over a Triplet stroller tons of clothes and diapers to last a long time all from the Gemach. Years of Fertility treatments took a toll on my wallet so money was tight. Then the triplets. I had and accident when I was VERY young so again it is a miracle that I even was able to carry 3 babies to term So I know you don't know me very well but I DO KNOW you and all the wonderful things you have done over the years. Never asking for praise and NEVER seeking recognition. Yes NOW I think you know me. But I Definately know you. Too be sooooo beautiful on the outside AND on the inside. If a Jewish man cannot appreciate the Strong and kind no nonsense goodness that you have in your heart then you you deserve better.

Live your life to the fullest and don't hold out. I almost did.

  Posted by Tulip, on Monday, 27 November 2006 at 5:12

I am Persian. A lot of people think that Persians are prejudiced but it is simply that they do not want to marry someone from another race. It has nothing to do with hate but rather cultural compatibility. However, I personally do not care how dark a person is as long as she is willing to follow a Persian Jewish life style such as busy family gatherings and such.
  Posted by David, on Friday, 24 November 2006 at 12:36

Never said I ONLY wanted a Persian man you did NOT understand. And believe me the way I see Persian and Sephardic men running after Blonde non-Jewish women. Right now I am talking to a lovely African-American man. We are JUST talking now. NOT dating. BUT I GAVE UP on Jewish men Persian or not. Wow this guy is so respectful, kind, Educated, stable and a giving person. Everything that a JEWISH man is SUPPOSED TO be. Instead of Shallow and looking for the essence of Shiksha. With a crazy family that is trying to push and 18 year old girl on a 40 year old man. Go figure
  Posted by Almaz, on Sunday, 19 November 2006 at 3:48

Jew, Persian, Israeli or what ever, you are a beautiful black girl. With all due respect to your Persian roots, It seems to me that your Persian community is down right racist. Your grandmother god bless her loves you to death, but she has a responsibility to shield you from such narrow mindedness. You are an educatd girl with masters degree, for one so educated you dissapoint me with your reasonings. Its like you are sitting there feeling sorry for yourself. (oh! you poor black girl) 'Persian Jews dont want to marry me'. Listine! do you really think you need them? From what you explained I think you will be making the biggest mistake of your life if you were to marry one. Or is it that you have grown up feeling inadequate because of your skin colour and you want to make sure your children dont suffer from what you have had to go through. Forgt them, go out there and find yourself a nice MAN period! It does not matter what colour he may be Blak, White, Indian, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist ect. It just does not matter. What matter is that you experience love in your life time. Very few people ere blessed to experience true love. Where you are looking for it, unfortunately you will not find. So, I say to you do yourself a favour and start dating men form other cultures and backround. Or better yet come to London. This is a place where nobody sees your colour all they are interested in is the content of your character. Good Luck!
  Posted by A J, on Friday, 10 November 2006 at 3:01


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