Those of you who already read this blog or follow my comedy know that my wife is a Black woman who converted to Judaism.  What you also know is that we recently had a son, and he, thus, is Biracial and Jewish.  As a result, I can tell you that Black-Jewish relations in our family are at an all-time high.

 

But, we are not an anomaly.  Since time immemorial, there has been a connection, a bond, between Black and Jewish people.  Perhaps it’s our respective histories of oppression.  Perhaps it’s because of our mothers, who are overbearing, intrusive and force us to eat.  Perhaps it’s because without us, there would be no music industry. Whatever the reason, the simple fact is that there is a bond between Blacks and Jews.

 

I’ve done some research, and I’ve come up with the top 10 defining moments in Black-Jewish relations. Here then is my list:

 

1.  A long time ago: Moses marries Zipporah (described as a “Cushite” in the Bible).  They jump over a broom onto a drinking glass, and both their families are wildly unhappy about the union.  Moses’ family doesn’t like that Zipporah is Black, and Zipporah’s family is unhappy that Zipporah married one of the few Jewish guys who’s not a lawyer or doctor.  This union is later satirized on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar as Moses and Lena Horne (guest starring) as Zipporah.

 

2.  1920: The founding of the NAACP includes several Jewish co-founders.  At the opening ceremonies, kosher barbecue is served.  Your Show of Shows writer, Mel Brooks, and Your Show of Shows co-star, Carl Reiner entertain the crowd by doing their “2000 year-old man” bit from Your Show of Shows.

 

3.  1936: Jesse Owens goes to Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany and embarrasses Hitler and the Nazis by winning 4 gold medals in track and field and several other gold medals in events he wasn’t even entered in.  World Jewry is so psyched about Owens’ thumb in the eye to Hitler, that serious discussions are held about changing the name of Jerusalem to Jessetown.  Owens, always the humble man, politely declines the honor, asking only that he be given 2 free tickets to Your Show of Shows.

 

4.  1955: The Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series.  On the team are Jackie Robinson (the first Black Major League baseball player) and Sandy Koufax (The best Jewish pitcher of all-time and one of the few Jewish people from the 1950s who wasn’t a staff writer on Your Show of Shows).

 

5.  1955-56: Sammy Davis Jr. converts to Judaism.  Dude!   A huge vote of confidence for Jewishness.  Sammy should’ve guest-starred on Your Show of Shows just for converting.

 

6.  1968: Yippie Founder, Abbie Hoffman, and Black Panther Party co-founder, Bobby Seale, are arrested and tried for conspiracy for their role in protesting the 1968 Democratic National Convention.  Hoffman and Seale later record a children’s album called “Yippie!  I’m a Panther” which is first broadcast on the Smothers Brothers Show, which is guest-hosted by former Your Show of Shows star, Howard Morris.

 

7.  1971: Jewish feminist leaders, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and Bella Abzug, along with Black feminist leaders, Fannie Lou Hamer, Myrlie Evers, and Shirley Chisholm, form the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC).  At the opening convention of the NWPC, the leaders of the movement tell male reporters in the audience to comb their hair, change their clothes, and “just eat something for God’s sake.”  The clip is satirized on Laugh-In by former Your Show of Shows star, Imogene Coca.

 

8. 1974: Former Your Show of Shows writer, Mel Brooks, writes and directs Blazing Saddles starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.  Need I say more.  Perhaps the height of Black-Jewish collaboration.

 

9.   1977: Anwar Sadat goes to Israel, which leads to peace between Egypt and Israel.  The visit and the Peace Accords are satirized on Saturday Night Live in a sketch called “The Micro Dentists” starring Black actor, Garrett Morris, as Sadat and Jewish actor, Kirk Douglas, as the head of the micro-dentistry team that goes into Sadat’s mouth to fight the Taste Buds.  No one from Your Show of Shows was directly involved in the episode; however, Saturday Night Live owes its sketch-comedy origins to Your Shows of Shows.

 

10.  1988: Eddie Murphy makes Coming to America.  At various points throughout the movie, Murphy does a spot-on imitation of an old Jewish man.  Murphy, though born in 1961, definitely could’ve been a star of Your Show of Shows.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

1.  The births of Biracial and Jewish celebrities: Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Tracee Ellis Ross, Rashida Jones, Drake, Craig David, Boris Kodjoe, and Sean Paul

 

2.  Ronald Reagan becomes President. Liberal Blacks and Jews throughout the United States hold hands while they throw up.  Reagan’s presidency in later lampooned by former Your Show of Shows writer, Larry Gelbart, in his show Mastergate the tagline for which is: “What did the President know — and did he have any idea that he knew it?”

 

3.  Matisyahu becomes a huge, Hasidic, hip-hop star.

 

For more (and more historically correct) defining moments in Black-Jewish relations, please see: http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2008/02/19/defining-moments-in-american-black-jewish-relations.html