(JTA) — Yitzchok Elefant ascended the stage in his black hat and coat and turned to face an auditorium full of people in flowing white shirts and pants with matching scarves and caps. Standing beneath a banner reading “A tribute to his majesty, our spiritual leader, the prince of peace, Ben Ammi,” Elefant, the haredi Orthodox…
When 77-year-old Rabbi Richard Nolan recalls Ben Ammi ben Israel, the leader of the Hebrew Israelite community in Israel who died last weekend, their shared hometown of Chicago is wrapped up in that recollection. And the image is bleak. “There was degradation, segregation, discrimination, lack of education and opportunity,” Nolan said. “A people who had…
The spiritual leader of an influential group of African-Americans who moved to Israel died Saturday. Ben Ammi Ben Israel, the Chicago-born leader of the African Hebrew Israelites group that lived in Dimona, Israel, was 75. There was no immediate cause of death, Haaretz reported. “It was an honor and a blessing to have known him,”…
100% of profits support our journalism
