Black Hebrews leader dies at 75Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, the spiritual leader of the sect, fought for acceptance in government and societyBY MELANIE LIDMAN December 28, 2014, 5:57 pm Tweet
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Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, spiritual leader of the Black Hebrews, who died Saturday at 75 (screen capture: YouTube)WRITERS
Melanie Lidman
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The spiritual leader of Israel’s Black Hebrews movement, Ben Ammi Ben-Israel, 75, died suddenly on Saturday, plunging the community into grief and disbelief.
“It was a shock because he was so well loved and done so much for the interests of the community, and done so much for each of us to live a healthy and holy life,” Yafah Baht Gavriel, a spokeswoman for the community, told The Times of Israel on Sunday.
“The love that everyone has for him, it’s like it’s radiating throughout the village,” she said.
Ben-Israel was born Ben Carter in 1939 in Chicago, the center of the Black Hebrews movement. He said he received a visit from the angel Gabriel in 1966 instructing him to bring the community to the Land of Israel. In 1967, he led a group of 350 believers to Liberia, where they lived for two and a half years for a period of spiritual cleansing, before arriving in Israel in 1969. The government settled them in Dimona, an isolated town in the Negev desert, where the majority of Black Hebrews still live today in an urban kibbutz called Village of Peace.
They claim to be descendants of the biblical Israelites, specifically the tribe of Judah, and practice a vegan lifestyle, which they trace to a verse in Genesis.
Ben-Israel led the Black Hebrews’ struggle for recognition and permanent residency in Israel, as the community was sometimes portrayed as a shadowy sect, since many practice polygamy. The Chief Rabbinate does not recognize them as Jewish and the community, which now numbers approximately 3,000, has refused to convert, claiming that they are already Jewish.
In Dimona, the Black Hebrews celebrate the giving of the harvest on Shavuot (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Ben-Israel worked tirelessly to promote the Black Hebrew’s cause both with the Interior Ministry and wider Israeli society. The first Black Hebrew was awarded citizenship in 2009, and Black Hebrews now serve in the army.
The community has also slowly gained wider acceptance in Israel. In 2008, president Shimon Peres celebrated his 85th birthday in Dimona with the community, and praised their dedication to developing the Negev and love for Israel.
Baht Gavriel said the family had not yet made funeral arrangements and did not release the cause of death. Ben-Israel is survived by four wives and 20 children.
“We’re going to continue on, we’re going to continue to develop our community to show how much we love him,” Baht Gavriel said. “It is a shock and it’s painful, but we are determined to continue.”
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