JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jews in the D
W
hen Re’
uvein Rickman entered the sanc-
tuary at Adat Shalom Synagogue for his
first Shabbat service as a Jew, his thoughts
immediately turned to where he should sit. The can-
tor told him to find a seat wherever he wanted, so
Rickman chose one at the end of the aisle, seven rows
from the bimah.
Sometime during the service, the significance of
his seat selection became clear. Just a few days earlier,
this trainer and former bodybuilder had walked seven
steps into the mikvah and then seven steps out, sym-
bolically marking the completion of his conversion to
Judaism.
“When I converted to Judaism, I took seven steps
away from the life I’
d been living,” Rickman says now.
“When I came out of the mikvah, I took seven steps
toward the beginning of my journey with Judaism.”
In the three years since he became Jewish,
Rickman, 71, continues to occupy the end seat in the
seventh row. He’
s in shul every Saturday morning.
He makes a habit of coming Saturday evening, too,
because that first Saturday night after his conversion,
the congregation struggled to make a minyan.
Most Shabbat mornings, worshipers don’
t take
special notice of this tall, physically fit black man any
more than they take note of any other congregant.
The High Holidays are different. Then, the sanc-
tuary is packed with those who don’
t typically attend
services. Inevitably, some do a double-take when they
see Rickman in his large colorful kippah, a blue-and-
white Israeli tallit draped over his shoulders.
14 | FEBRUARY 20 • 2020
The stares don’
t bother him.
“I know why they’
re looking,” he says. “They think it’
s
rare. Especially when they only go to services once or twice
a year and they come back and see something totally differ-
ent — a black person in the synagogue.
“The surprise I see is a look of, ‘
Oh, my goodness, this is
really interesting.’
It’
s not a look of fear, and it doesn’
t give
me a feeling of being unwelcome. God is probably smiling
and thinking, ‘
Maybe they should come to shul more often.’
”
A significant and growing percentage of Jews in America
Hues of Jews
Jews of color share
their pathways,
obstacles and joys.
on the cover