Black Jews in America Discussed Nov. 19

Rabbi Sholomo Ben Levy, professor of history at Northampton Community College, will present "Black Jews in America: Diversity and Identity" at The University of Scranton's Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the PNC Auditorium of the Loyola Science Center. The lecture, co-sponsored by the University's Black Studies Concentration, is presented free of charge and open to the public.

Rabbi Levy serves as president of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis, Inc., an organization of black rabbis representing congregations throughout the United States, Caribbean, and Africa. He is Rabbi and Spiritual Leader of the Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation, Saint Albans, New York.

Rabbi Levy has participated on academic panels at Chapel Hill University, Harvard Divinity School, DuDable Museum of African American History, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the annual conference of the American Academy of Religion. Articles about him and his work have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post,The Root, and Jewish Forward. He has been referenced in numerous books and collections at the Jewish Museum of New York and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian. Many of his sermons and lectures can be found on YouTube.

Earlier in his career, Rabbi Levy worked at Harvard University in the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute of the Department of Afro-American Studies as an associate editor of African American Lives (2004) and the African American National Biography, a ten-volume reference work. He published over thirty biographical entries for these books including the entries for Rabbi W.A. Matthew, Rabbi Arnold J. Ford, Father Divine, Maya Angelou, Louis Farrakhan, Tiger Woods and Amy E.J. Garvey. Rabbi Levy served as the editor and was a frequent contributor to the Hakol newsletter and was editor of the website www.blackjews.org.

Prior to joining the faculty of Northampton Community College in 2005, Rabbi Levy taught college courses on various aspects of American and African American history at LaGuardia Community College, at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, Medgar Evers College, and Middlebury College.

Rabbi Levy has received many awards and citations. Most significantly, he has received proclamations from the New York City Council (2002) and the New York State Senate (2019) honoring him for his humanitarian work, commitment to social justice, and for promoting peace and brotherhood among all people.

Rabbi Levy earned a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College, a master's degree in African-American Studies from Yale University, and a master's degree in American history from Columbia University. He graduated from the Israelite Rabbinical Academy in 1985 and was ordained a rabbi. Part of his rabbinic and secular studies were completed at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

The Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute was created in 1979 through an endowment funded by the local Jewish community. The Institute fosters a better understanding and appreciation of Judaism, Israel, and their histories. It supports visits to the University by Jewish scholars and writers and supports library acquisitions, publications, faculty research, travel and other scholarly endeavors. The work of the Institute was further enhanced by a $1 million gift from Harry Weinberg in 1990.

For further information, contact Marc Shapiro, Ph.D., professor of theology/religious studies and the Weinberg Chair of Judaic Studies at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-7956 or [email protected].