The Emergence of Black Jews in France

For the past three decades, Black Jews in France have made their presence manifest. These believers identify as African, West Indian, or biracial, and are either converts or native Jews. They may either assert their faith from within the institutions of French Jewry, or claim their Jewishness withou...

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Main Author: Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/788
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author Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot
author_facet Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot
author_sort Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot
collection DOAJ
description For the past three decades, Black Jews in France have made their presence manifest. These believers identify as African, West Indian, or biracial, and are either converts or native Jews. They may either assert their faith from within the institutions of French Jewry, or claim their Jewishness without practicing Judaism. They have widely different backgrounds, but share a common need for identity reconstruction. This paper aims to discuss this Africana minority within the broader French Jewish community, taking into account its relation to the majority. What is the positioning of Black Jews as French citizens or residents? How do they perceive themselves when reading the Torah and through the gaze of their fellow White Jews? What is their place within the global Jewish world? Such are the questions this paper will try to address, building on fifteen years of fieldwork in France and assessing their involvement in French Jewry and its impact with regard to participation, integration, legitimacy, and conflicts.
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spelling doaj-art-bf10fee2622b4e4d9c8e37efa8d2498e2025-08-20T02:21:47ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-06-0116678810.3390/rel16060788The Emergence of Black Jews in FranceAurélien Mokoko Gampiot0Department of Sociology, University of York, York YO10 5GD, UKFor the past three decades, Black Jews in France have made their presence manifest. These believers identify as African, West Indian, or biracial, and are either converts or native Jews. They may either assert their faith from within the institutions of French Jewry, or claim their Jewishness without practicing Judaism. They have widely different backgrounds, but share a common need for identity reconstruction. This paper aims to discuss this Africana minority within the broader French Jewish community, taking into account its relation to the majority. What is the positioning of Black Jews as French citizens or residents? How do they perceive themselves when reading the Torah and through the gaze of their fellow White Jews? What is their place within the global Jewish world? Such are the questions this paper will try to address, building on fifteen years of fieldwork in France and assessing their involvement in French Jewry and its impact with regard to participation, integration, legitimacy, and conflicts.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/788JudaismBlacknessFrance
spellingShingle Aurélien Mokoko Gampiot
The Emergence of Black Jews in France
Religions
Judaism
Blackness
France
title The Emergence of Black Jews in France
title_full The Emergence of Black Jews in France
title_fullStr The Emergence of Black Jews in France
title_full_unstemmed The Emergence of Black Jews in France
title_short The Emergence of Black Jews in France
title_sort emergence of black jews in france
topic Judaism
Blackness
France
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/6/788
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