Following the Saturday morning Shabbat, people gathered in the Social Hall at Temple Emanu-El San Diego and learned some amazing facts:
- Kwanzaa has roots in Hanukkah, from the desire to avoid the commercialization of Christian Christmas to the development of the menorah
- We prioritize coming together to break bread and have dialogue. With delicious cuisine from African-inspired cultures and rituals and Jewish shabbat rituals we come together. Throw in some good conversation, a little dancing and music, or some art and it is a perfect gathering. Hearts and minds are opened and bonds are formed shabbats are gatherings around food and ritual (you will always find food at an African or Jewish American home) where we can brak bread together and jointly remember our struggle to escape slavery and celebrate our freedom. The African and Jewish American communities have shared legacies. combine Jewish prayer
- The first Kwanzaa celebration were done communally with folks from the Jewish community as part of the African-Jewish Alliance in the USA
- As we commune together, we combine African food traditions (American, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Jamaican, Cape Verdean, Mozambican. Haitian and more) with Shabbat ritual: blessings over lights, wine and bread, prayer and some words from the Torah. as well as some words of Torah.
We came together o December 2, 2023, shared a delicious meal of figs and dates, Ghanaian butternut squash soup, corn pudding, collard green black-eyed peas and rice (Jopping John) and fried chicken, topped off with buttermilk, lemonade and hibiscus tea.
Rabbi Benj Fried fed us with words of Torah, showing how the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are found there. With great scholarship, he connected the shared legacies of Israel/Jews and African Americans. He pulled out things like Self-determination and the right to exist in freedom. He pulled out Unity, which we need to flourish. Barrett Holman Leak explained all the candles nd lit them in correspondence to the principles. It was a joyous and most meaningful afternoon.
Let us do this every year and let us have more shabbats, soon. Juneteenth is a national holiday and celebration of the freedom of ALL African Americans.