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

