Henry Bens, Jr., the English teacher placed on administrative leave by the Hayward Unified School District this week after assigning an antisemitic text to students, preaches a controversial version of Hebrew Israelite doctrine that claims Black people are the real Jews.
Opinion: Hebrew Israelites and Jews are not members of the same religion, as even those whose rituals mirror normative Jewish ones, are not Jews according to halacha, however, no racial barriers should block such individuals from joining the Jewish community and covenant
Some Hebrew Israelites have attributed their exclusion from normative Jewish spaces to racism. This undercuts the legitimate concerns and needs of Jews of color.
Acts of violence and slander against Jewish people are rising, but the Anti-Defamation League, long the gold standard of the fight against this bigotry, has shifted its standards to favor the political Left, often ignoring acts of bigotry committed by its own side. So a new nonprofit group, Antisemitism Watch, is stepping into the void.