Whether they are "considered" jewish or not by orhtodox tradition is irrelevant. The fact is they identify and that should be at least encouraged. No-one suggests that it will change mainstream synagogue practices (see #1). Judaism is not racial - otherwise we wouldn't be accepting converts at all. We are a religious nation.

properly. this is perversion. it actually made me nauseous(sp?) to read this. if everyone wants to interpret the religion as they see fit then it isnt a religion.

This people are more Jewish than me! I consider myself an atheist Jew, yet I would be fully welcome to make Aliya. I was raised in a reform temple in Chicago, guess what these white Jews were by far less Jewish that these Black Jews!

As long as they follow mitzvot. Let them be Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, or unaffiliated. Bring more people back to Judaism.

What is being "glossed over" is the fact that they are not Jews. They have not converted to Judaism, and they have their "own beliefs", which are NOT Jewish. Their groups calls itself "The Black Hebrews". They fast on Shabbat, and other things which are decidely NOT Jewish. There are many Black Jews. This groups, however, is not Jewish!!

It's not good for us to think of ourselves as an exclusive cult. Think of how different Ashkenazi and Sephardic cultures/customs, prayer styles etc are different. Why is it "perversion" if another cultural group comes along to adapt our religion and brings their own elements into it? Besides the black gospel style in churches really is one of the most beautiful things in this country and face it a lot of synagogues need a little excitement. As long as there's no praises to Jesus following "Hallellujah," there's nothing blasphemous about it. We are supposed to show our love to Hashem.

As an Ashkenazi, and secular, let me state quite clearly: A JEW IS A JEW IS A JEW! Regardless of race, creed, or colour, we welcome one and all. Jews from India, Yemen, North Africa, Europe, China and anywhere else on the globe all have traditions that are a mix between what the Ashkenazim think as "proper" and their own backgrounds. The diversity makes us that much more beautiful. With that, it is nice to see that African-American Jews are finally welcome. Now, let us create the same equality for the Jews we rescued from Ethiopia and all will be well!

Their hearts and souls are in the right place. We must and will welcome them. Judaism, as a tolerant religion, is not a dogmatic autocracy like other religions in that simply by appearance do we negate them the opportunity to become a light unto the world. So long as these people maintain the laws and traditions, let them be members of our community. Welcome them. Do not shut them out of our house.

When I color my hair black, they say I am an arab. In my natural hair color they think I am ashkenazim.One of these days I am going to paint my face black. Anyway, I am in the process of brain washing my wife's brain to adopt a black baby girl. Very cute : -)

according to the tradition of the Torah that this congregation so seems to cherish, one must go through a proper conversion process in order to be a Jew (deciding that one "feels" Jewish today or even for a while does not a Jew make -- it is not "instant Judaism: just add water!"). Groove is in the heart, but Judaism has to be both in the heart and in the Torah. To be a Jew one must not simply be motivated by NOT wanting to be a part of the "slave religion" of Christianity and seeking another name under which to be devoted to G-d. Most worthwhile things in life require some effort to attain. With the motivation they seem to possess, it ought not to be too difficult for this group to do it right, especially if they work together.

Joy, song and dance were always part of Judaism and Jewish worship. Just read the account of David dancing for God as the Ark was brought to Jerusalem. Notice also that he danced nude. The gloomy, mumbling prayer service we know so well is an outgrowth of the miserable, oppressive environment of anti-Jewish Europe. We need new blood, we need new numbers and we need to be Jews true to our original evangelical traditions that were suppressed in the dark ages. Our values of personal responsibility, obligation to family and love of learning are the equal of any and deserve to be shared. Finally, we have many different forms of Judaism and quite frankly Rabbinic Judaism is an affront to Mosaic Judaism. If you care, please recall that Moses told us to neither add to nor subtract from the law. So driving on Shabbat and eating cheeseburgers would be fine with Moshe. On the other hand, Moshe Rabeynu would execute people who violate the rule of Shatness and conduct animal sacrifice. Our greatness is in our values. Our specific rules have always evolved because we do know more and are more humane than earlier generations. Open the doors and welcome everyone.

The sub-heading in this report is wrong: It is NOT a racial division. It concerns religious validity and that is NOT racial. See the Bene Menashe and Ethiopian Jews as example.

I was against the immigration of the Ethiopians in Israel because they were insincere people who lied on their completely false link to the Jewish people only to immigrate only for economic reasons to Israel by claiming falsely to have Jewish roots. They ended up being converted Orthodox in Israel even though their conversion is completely invalid because they are not sincere converts. For these American Black Jews from Philadelphia, I see in them a genuine, sincere love of the Torah, of the Jewish culture and of Jewish history. These Black Jews have my full respect and my full support and I say to them welcome among the Jewish people. I hear posters talk about "perversion" concerning their Judaism. Is Orthodox Judaism not a perversion of Judaism in the first place? As the patriarchs of Israel did not practice even 10% of the Jewish practices of the Orthodox Jews of today!!!! The truth is that the Oral Torah has no legitimacy of any kind and it is not reliable at all and the many invented practices that the Orthodox do were not even done by the patriarchs of Israel!! Concerning the way to practice Judaism, there is no reliable standard to judge the Jewish practices that are adopted. The truth on this matter is the one each of us has found and adopted! Each of us must assess what is reliable and what is not in the Tanach and then decide what practices are then legitimate because they are based on the parts of the Tanach that we consider as being reliable. Each of us will have a different assessment of the parts of the Tanach that they accept as being reliable!! That tells it all!

As if church enthusiasm didn't come from an earlier influence.

I see Ynet has chosen not to publish my comment. That's really sad. Ynet should know that freedom of expression is the core value of any news media. Although these Jewish Black Americans are not Jewish by religious law and perhaps not abide by all of the Judaism customs, they should nevertheless be welcomed. I would like to repeat again my comment which Ynet did not publish. I said that Non-white Jews, Converted Jews and Charasmatic Christians have shown to be more loyal to Israel than some White Jews. This is not a racist remark but merely a factual observation.

"I am in the process of brain washing my wife's brain to adopt a black baby girl." It suppose to be the other way around.

There was slavery in Islam since the Prophet Mohammad and still there is slavery in African Muslim nations and the reason many Africans Americans black is because there back round and not because they were convert to Islam , please read the history of slavery in Islam, .

You seriously need to qualify this statement because when you look at biblical analysis (esp. the Documentary Hypothesis), it is blatantly obvious that the Written Tora as we have it was glued together from both oral and written sources during the Babylonian Exile. This makes the Oral Tora highly legitimate- almost more legitimate than the Written Tora itself!!

Do these black Jews have any objections to properly converting? That would seem to be a viable solution.

Some of these negative comments have to do with the silly notion that Judaism belongs to the white race. The same mentality has corrupted Christianity. If they respect and want to be part of the Jewish community they should be welcomed with open arms

HAHAHAH!!! dude, that funny! I like your sense of humor.

I think it is great that they are celebrating the torah. Their heart makes up for what their authenticity lacks. There seems to be an ashkenazim monopoly on Judaism even though my roots reach back 2,300 years in Tunisia. I say let them convert and that be the end of it. Let them give up their christian influences and join the tribe. We have all suffered...it isn't in our nature to be cruel or reject people who want to join our people. Our greatest leaders were the children of converts or converts themselves. Hopefully in time they will learn the traditions and give them some spice while not being christian in a kippah...we have enough muslims who are the kids of jewish mothers but would sell the entire jewish nation to muslims who want us dead.

both my wifeeeeeee and I saw a baby girl at hospital in South Africa- Durban. I just carried her, and I could' put her back, I went home , told my wife ,a was silent the whole day. My wife thought, knew I was up to some thing mischief :))) I tolf her I was not feeling well. So she dragged me to the same hospital, Actually,I tricked her, it i si who dragged her to the hospital . I took the advantage to carry the baby again, em soem special feeling . I even pretended to go there everyday to buy something at the pharmacy everday. The baby very cute baby, beautiful black, but her left led is deformed, all the more reason to take her home. But we had to fly back to singapore, we were there just for 2 weeks. Now I am slowly talking to my wife . I have spoken to some of my freinds there, they are keeping two eyes on the baby. Secretly I even named her :-). I have 5 children ( 4 boys& 1girl). My wife is not strong to have babies, so I want to adopt three more. So I have been brain washing my wife. Lately wifee has been looking at all the photos that I took while in Durban, wifee been phones Durban too. ( That means it is happening )But the adoption process is very hard in africa, we stand a chance of being discriminated against- because we are jews. My wife been talking about this things. I hope to take the baby home, hoping without any discrimination and no trouble : -) cheers :-)