Michelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family
Sep. 5th, 2008 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davidfcooperMichelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family
Capers Funnye, Leading Black Israelite, Is Aspiring First Lady's Cousin
By Anthony Weiss
Tue. Sep 02, 2008
While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out
that one of his wife's cousins is the country's most prominent black rabbi -
a fact that has gone largely unnoticed.
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi
Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's
South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle
Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal
grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
Funnye (pronounced fuh-NAY) is chief rabbi at the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken
Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in southwest Chicago. He is well-known in
Jewish circles for acting as a bridge between mainstream Jewry and the much
smaller, and largely separate, world of black Jewish congregations,
sometimes known as black Hebrews or Israelites. He has often urged the
larger Jewish community to be more accepting of Jews who are not white.
Funnye's famous relative gives an unexpected twist to the much-analyzed
relationship between Barack Obama and Jews in this presidential campaign. On
the one hand, Jewish political organizers, voters and donors played an
essential role in Obama's rise to power in Chicago, including some of the
city's wealthiest and most prominent families. But the Illinois senator has
struggled to overcome suspicions in some parts of the Jewish community,
including skepticism about his stance on Israel and discredited but
persistent rumors that he is secretly a Muslim.
Funnye, who described himself as an independent, said he has not been
involved with the Obama campaign but that he has donated money and was
cheering it on.
"I know that her grandfather and her father and my mom and all of our
relatives that are now deceased would be so very, very proud of both of
them," Funnye told the Forward.
Michelle Obama and the Obama campaign did not respond to requests for
comment.
Funnye told the Forward that he has known Michelle Obama (born Michelle
Robinson) all her life. His mother and her father, Frasier Robinson III,
enjoyed a close relationship, and Funnye said he saw Michelle several times
a year when they were growing up, mostly at family functions and on
occasional visits to her house.
"Her father was like the glue of our family," Funnye said. "He always wanted
to keep the family very connected and to stay in touch with each other."
Funnye, 56, said he and Michelle, 44, were not especially close growing up,
but he remembers her as "energetic and smart and very caring."
The two fell out of touch when they grew older and went their separate ways
but then reconnected years later when Michelle Obama was working for the
University of Chicago and Funnye was leading a local social service
organization called Blue Gargoyle. Funnye also worked with Barack Obama,
then a state senator, who came and spoke at events for the organization.
When Barack and Michelle Obama married, Funnye and his family attended the
wedding.
Alhough Funnye's congregation describes itself as Ethiopian Hebrew, it is
not connected to the Ethiopian Jews, commonly called Beta Israel, who have
immigrated to Israel en masse in recent decades. It is also separate from
the Black Hebrews in Dimona, Israel, and the Hebrew Israelite black
supremacist group whose incendiary street harangues have become familiar
spectacles in a number of American cities.
Funnye converted to Judaism and was ordained as a rabbi under the
supervision of black Israelite rabbis, then went through another conversion
supervised by Orthodox and Conservative rabbis. He serves on the Chicago
Board of Rabbis.
Funnye's relationship with the Obama family was reported in the Chicago
Jewish News in an article dated August 22. A Wall Street Journal article in
April reported that the aspiring first lady had a cousin (whom the paper
mistakenly referred to as a second cousin) who is a prominent black rabbi
but did not mention Funnye by name.
The rabbi's familial connection with the Democratic presidential nominee is
also a matter of common knowledge in Funnye's synagogue.
"He really jumped on everyone's radar after the 2004 convention," Funnye
said. "That's when some people said, 'Isn't he related to you or something?'
I said, 'Yeah, he's married to my cousin, and she's making him everything
that he is.'"
Capers Funnye, Leading Black Israelite, Is Aspiring First Lady's Cousin
By Anthony Weiss
Tue. Sep 02, 2008
While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out
that one of his wife's cousins is the country's most prominent black rabbi -
a fact that has gone largely unnoticed.
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi
Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's
South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye's mother, Verdelle
Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama's paternal
grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
Funnye (pronounced fuh-NAY) is chief rabbi at the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken
Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in southwest Chicago. He is well-known in
Jewish circles for acting as a bridge between mainstream Jewry and the much
smaller, and largely separate, world of black Jewish congregations,
sometimes known as black Hebrews or Israelites. He has often urged the
larger Jewish community to be more accepting of Jews who are not white.
Funnye's famous relative gives an unexpected twist to the much-analyzed
relationship between Barack Obama and Jews in this presidential campaign. On
the one hand, Jewish political organizers, voters and donors played an
essential role in Obama's rise to power in Chicago, including some of the
city's wealthiest and most prominent families. But the Illinois senator has
struggled to overcome suspicions in some parts of the Jewish community,
including skepticism about his stance on Israel and discredited but
persistent rumors that he is secretly a Muslim.
Funnye, who described himself as an independent, said he has not been
involved with the Obama campaign but that he has donated money and was
cheering it on.
"I know that her grandfather and her father and my mom and all of our
relatives that are now deceased would be so very, very proud of both of
them," Funnye told the Forward.
Michelle Obama and the Obama campaign did not respond to requests for
comment.
Funnye told the Forward that he has known Michelle Obama (born Michelle
Robinson) all her life. His mother and her father, Frasier Robinson III,
enjoyed a close relationship, and Funnye said he saw Michelle several times
a year when they were growing up, mostly at family functions and on
occasional visits to her house.
"Her father was like the glue of our family," Funnye said. "He always wanted
to keep the family very connected and to stay in touch with each other."
Funnye, 56, said he and Michelle, 44, were not especially close growing up,
but he remembers her as "energetic and smart and very caring."
The two fell out of touch when they grew older and went their separate ways
but then reconnected years later when Michelle Obama was working for the
University of Chicago and Funnye was leading a local social service
organization called Blue Gargoyle. Funnye also worked with Barack Obama,
then a state senator, who came and spoke at events for the organization.
When Barack and Michelle Obama married, Funnye and his family attended the
wedding.
Alhough Funnye's congregation describes itself as Ethiopian Hebrew, it is
not connected to the Ethiopian Jews, commonly called Beta Israel, who have
immigrated to Israel en masse in recent decades. It is also separate from
the Black Hebrews in Dimona, Israel, and the Hebrew Israelite black
supremacist group whose incendiary street harangues have become familiar
spectacles in a number of American cities.
Funnye converted to Judaism and was ordained as a rabbi under the
supervision of black Israelite rabbis, then went through another conversion
supervised by Orthodox and Conservative rabbis. He serves on the Chicago
Board of Rabbis.
Funnye's relationship with the Obama family was reported in the Chicago
Jewish News in an article dated August 22. A Wall Street Journal article in
April reported that the aspiring first lady had a cousin (whom the paper
mistakenly referred to as a second cousin) who is a prominent black rabbi
but did not mention Funnye by name.
The rabbi's familial connection with the Democratic presidential nominee is
also a matter of common knowledge in Funnye's synagogue.
"He really jumped on everyone's radar after the 2004 convention," Funnye
said. "That's when some people said, 'Isn't he related to you or something?'
I said, 'Yeah, he's married to my cousin, and she's making him everything
that he is.'"
