TikTok star and educator @FrumJewishBlackBoy both entertains and educates his users with his Jewish wisdom. And he also dances! Courtesy of The Forward.His name is Tony J. Westbrook, Jr., and he wants you to know that even though he’s not a rabbi, he will bless you anyway! For PJFM’s first New Media Spotlight, we take a look at TikTok star and educator @FrumJewishBlackBoy. (“Frum”, for those who don’t know, is basically Yiddish for “pious” or “devout.”) He is a Jewish African-American educator and activist, as well as the Assistant Director of Hillel at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also a viral sensation on TikTok, the international video hosting service which grew in immense popularity during lockdown back in 2020.
As we continue to live our days amidst a global pandemic, “TikTokers” use the platform for a plethora of reasons; slapstick humor, musical covers, political discussion, cooking, education, etc. For Westbrook, Jr., he wants to have a fun time, but he also wants to educate viewers about Judaism and even more so than that, the discrimination he and so many other Jews of Color experience.
“I get all sorts of really nasty, gross, intrusive questions and comments from everywhere,” says Westbrook, Jr. in a video posted December 20, 2021. “I’ve experienced it within the Jewish community. I’ve experienced it in POC spaces, non-Jewish spaces. It really boils, I think, to the color of my skin. Because I am a Black American, the assumption is I cannot be Jewish.”
Somehow, we continue to live in a world where a person’s religion is inexplicably “determined” by the color of their skin. In fact, it was a conversation with a stranger that triggered Westbrook, Jr. to start his TikTok series. In an interview with The Forward, he recounts how he was told by someone that he had only heard of a few Black Jews: Sammy Davis Jr., Drake, and Maya Rudolph.
“I said you know, there’s a lot of us, there are lots of people that are really famous, there are lots of people who are not so famous,” says Westbrook, Jr. “You’re standing here talking to someone who is Black and Jewish. We’re here!”
Through his comedy and intelligently structured videos, Westbrook, Jr. challenges the preposterous “myth” that People of Color can’t be Jewish. There is always one thing that is very clear in his videos: @FrumJewishBlackBoy loves his religion. Although he was raised Pentecostal Christian, Westbrook, Jr. converted to Judaism and even made aliyah to Israel in 2016. Five years later, he went on to receive the 2021 Pomegranate Prize for his emerging leadership in the Jewish community.
With both humor and solemnity, he makes Jewish education entertaining and witty for everyone. Westbrook, Jr. will offer enlightening videos, ones where he talks about the rules and story of Passover and how to avoid buying chametz (“leavened” food products) in a grocery store, and then intertwine them with funnier, silly posts. In one such video, he pretends to be the literal “POV” of the last piece of matzah at the end of Pesach, “pleading” to stick around for a few more days. All the while, Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” cover, played most famously in her Oscar-winning film, Dreamgirls (2006), plays in the background.
If you swipe up for his next video, you may see delightful footage of a parade in Jerusalem before Shabbat, a “pirate ship car” going by and people blasting “Hevenu Shalom Alecheim” on a radio. You may also be treated to more virtual tours of Israel, like that of the Shuk market in Tel Aviv or the gorgeous streets of Jerusalem, while The Pied Pipers’ hypnotic “Dream” plays in the background. In a personally ingenious video, Westbrook, Jr. “duets” his video with another TikTok user playing a piano cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.” So, what does @FrumJewishBlackBoy do? He sings “Lecha Dodi” to the tune of this classic hit song. It works, and it’s so clever!
Does some of this seem a little nutty? Of course! But like many content creators on TikTok, Westbrook, Jr. uses humor and wit as a form of educating all users on the app, whether they be Black, White, Jewish, Christian, or whoever. Both funny and skillfully adroit, he is proud to celebrate his race and religion, sometimes including powerful hashtags like “OwnYourStar” and “BlackAndJewish” to spread awareness that no one should be afraid to hide who they are.
“There’s a lot of hate in the world, but I won’t let it stop me from being me!” he posts in a video from April 8, 2022. The scene then transitions to a nifty, animated filter of him dancing. The caption in the video states, “I love being Jewish 10x more than anyone hates me for it.”
@FrumJewishBlackBoy, we couldn’t love you more!
Click HERE to follow @FrumJewishBlackBoy on TikTok.