Digital Media Spotlight: RABBI SANDRA

‘Tis a new year! 2024, a year for all of us to continue to learn and educate ourselves about Judaism through film and digital media. If you consider yourself an avid reader of this blog, you know that this is a fun, sometimes light, sometimes heavy webpage for anyone interested in revisiting new or older Jewish cinema. It is also, just as importantly, a platform for us to read about the many spectacular Jewish content creators using their knowledge and editing skills to celebrate Judaism in all its forms and enlighten us with their content. There are folks who still have a one-sided approach towards social media. And indeed, social media is a very big…. discussion. We don’t need to get into its complexities and pros and cons, but I will say that when it comes to people like Rabbi Sandra Lawson, digital media – TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, etc. you name it! – is VITAL for the world.

Given the egregious rise in antisemitism last year (and the years prior…), we can all agree that social media can be dangerous for Jews. 100%. As much as these platforms work hard to remove antisemitic or hateful videos, it still isn’t enough. Everything is risky, and posting a single video with Jewish content – a simple video, like someone walking into their synagogue, let’s say – could spark antisemitic comments. This is nothing new, not just for Jewish people but anyone on the internet.

One of the best ways to counter this hate is to educate viewers scrolling on their phones. EDUCATION is the word of this blog, and my apologies if you see it a lot here. I have written about dozens and dozens of Jewish content creators utilizing their platforms to talk about Jewish traditions and debunk the most outrageous myths regarding Jews. Rabbi Sandra, a social media pioneer with 25,000+ followers on Instagram and close to 7,000 followers on Facebook and 45,000 on TikTok, is one of many extraordinary content creators doing just that. I may sound redundant in that I have already explored other content creators posting videos similar to Rabbi Sandra’s, ones that dive deep into Jewish history, values, ethics, etc. If it’s redundant, that doesn’t matter. In fact, redundant is good here. Redundant content creators getting the facts right about Judaism is what we need amidst these dark and treacherous times in the Jewish world. Education is what we need. The more the better!

In addition to exploring Jewish values, Rabbi Sandra focuses centrally on what it means to be both a Jewish convert and Jew of Color in this modern-day world. After graduating with both a B.A. and M.A. in sociology from two separate colleges AND joining the army, she converted to Judaism in 2004. Seven years later, she became the first African American to be accepted into Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in Wyncote, PA, about 40 minutes outside Philadelphia. As a child in St. Louis, MO, she didn’t just not grow up Jewish but not religious at all.

Nowadays, however, in addition to being a content creator, musician, public speaker, writer, activist, and military veteran, Sandra still faces individuals surprised or “confused” that she, an African American, could be Jewish. This is a problem that continues to plague Jewish communities, this idea that to be Jewish, you must “look” Jewish. In other words, you must look like a character from Fiddler on the Roof or an Orthodox Jew. In other words, you must be…WHITE.

Yes, this is outrageous, SO outrageous because anybody can be Jewish! As a society, we continue to see this in the Jewish community, individuals who judge or question other Jews because of their appearance. (I am a converted Jew. One time, for example, I went to the dentist where he told me that I didn’t “look” Jewish because of the structure of my teeth and jaw… WHAT?!)

“The assumption that Jews are white renders black Jews invisible, which results in me often not being considered as authentically Jewish or not Jewish at all,” she states in Forward’s 2020 article, titled “I’m a black rabbi. I’ve never been in a Jewish space where I wasn’t questioned.” The publication has called it “one of the most important – and best read – articles the Forward published all year.”

This problem of questioning Jewish people because of their race was explored in one of our Fall Fest films, Rabbi on the Block (2023). Rabbi Sandra expands this topic into very meaningful discussions through her digital media, offering thought-out and insightful opinions on the matter. For her, this is deeply personal.

“I converted to Judaism because I fell in love with Judaism,” her article begins. “I also naively believed that once I converted to Judaism, I was Jewish and would be treated equally as a member by others in the Jewish community. The reality, however, is the opposite, and I regularly find myself confronted by Jews who benefit from white privilege and to whom I have to explain my existence.”

That same year, Forward listed her in “Forward 50 2020: The people we (mostly) needed in the year we (definitely) didn’t” where she shared the list with Governor Josh Shapiro, Kosha Dillz, and many more accomplished Jews making a difference in the world.

There are some heavy discussions in Rabbi Sandra’s TikTok content, but there is also a lot of charm. I don’t know how else to describe them except that they can be simply delightful, age-appropriate and light. As a musician, many of her videos are her playing her guitar in her home in Burlington, NC, singing Jewish prayers and other original songs. She even sang for the White House People’s virtual Seder in 2023.

In addition to singing, she responds very calmly – many times with a cup of coffee in hand – to TikTok comments, ones that may degrade Rabbi Sandra or any other Jewish convert, regardless of their race, as not being “real Jews” or more respectfully ask about the conflict surrounding being “genetically” Jewish vs. “culturally” Jewish.

In one video, she responds to a comment stating that, “Changing your religious beliefs doesn’t change your genetic makeup. You don’t need to know anything about the religious traditions of Judaism to be ethnically Jewish.”

“DNA alone is not what makes someone Jewish,” she says. “It means that you share DNA with a group of people who lived in a particular place and time… There’s a difference between Jewish status and Jewish identity.”

These days, when she’s not busy giving speeches, performing, or publishing thought-provoking videos, Rabbi Sandra works for Reconstructing Judaism as the Inaugural Director of Racial DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). She is also the founder of Kol HaPanim (All Faces), an inclusive Jewish community that embraces diversity and encourages everyone to come together to learn and pray. She even has a new podcast, Soulful Shalom, where she explores Judaism and Jewish values, history, ethics, and values.

Rabbi Sandra’s beliefs, whether you believe them or not, whether you’re Jewish or not, are undoubtedly effective.

“I understand that many white Jews do not see themselves as racist. Racism is associated with someone who is a member of the Klu Klux Klan or someone who is a Neo-Nazi,” she says. “But focusing on these examples of what it means to be racist keeps many white people from identifying racism in their own communities and daily lives and understanding that racism has evolved.”

In the past decade, since the expansion of digital media, things have indeed evolved for the worst, in many cases. In other cases, however, they have allowed us to talk about the problems no one wants to talk about. Thanks to Rabbi Sandra, we feel a little bit safer these days, and a little more confident in exploring these matters.

To learn more about Rabbi Sandra, visit RabbiSandraLawson.com.

Follow Rabbi Sandra on TikTok and Instagram. SOULFUL SHALOM is available to listen to on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

By Matthew Bussy, Program Director of PJFM