Is He a Black Jew?? No, He Just Believes in Them Part I

As a young girl, my older brother and I were raised in a strict religious home. My dad would read the Bible to us, and on Friday nights we had devotion. We sang religious songs that my dad taught us. He had a little black board he used to teach us about the Bible. My mother also joined in and would sit me on her lap and teach me religious songs. I can still almost hear her singing “Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam to shine for him each day.” (I have tears in my eyes due to remembering my mother, who passed away in 1995). Additionally, as youngsters, we attended a Jewish Sabbath School for a while; however, we weren’t able to understand most of what was being taught because they read and talked in their own language. Our religious beliefs were the same as the Jewish religion but we believed and still do believe in Christ. Our Sabbath has always been on Saturday but at that time we were not Seventh-Day Adventists. In fact, we hadn’t heard of the Adventist church until my brother met and married a young lady who was an Adventist, and she invited us to attend her church on many occasions.

My dad, in his teachings about the Jews being God’s chosen People, has always had very high feelings toward the them, and to this day, has become very close to them. One of his best friends is a Rabbi who keeps in close touch with my dad. Through reading the Bible pretty much everyday, “daddy,” as I still call him, is invited to celebrate the Passover and to the Synagogue to celebrate various holidays with them. I attend some of these occasions with my dad often. Just last week, we attended a Bar Mitzvah of a thirteen-year old son of the Rabbi. This was the second time we were invited to help the Rabbi and his family celebrate a son turning thirteen. This is a big occasion, and a lot of people attended. There was a feast, singing, dancing and the young man who was the guest of honor repeated a long speech in the Hebrew language. They were very receptive of us as usual and friendly as they think the world of my dad.