Michelle Obama has a rabbi in her family
By Carol Eisenberg | September 12, 2008 at 5:06pm |
Much has been made about the anxiety that some Jews feel about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, related to concerns about the depth of his support of Israel.
But despite his efforts to reassure them, Obama rarely speaks of the rabbi in his own family.
The candidate’s wife, Michelle Obama, is a first cousin once removed to Rabbi Capers C. Funnye Jr., spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago’s South Side, according to a report earlier this month in the Forward, a Jewish newspaper.
Funnye’s mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama’s paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
Funnye, 56, a convert to Judaism, was the first black rabbi to join the Chicago Board of Rabbis and is well-known in Jewish circles for acting as a bridge between mainstream Jewry and the much smaller, and largely separate, world of black Jewish congregations, according to the Forward.
Describing himself as a political independent, Funnye said he is not involved with the campaign, but has donated money and moral support. Although he is 12 years older than Michelle Obama, he said they grew up seeing one another at family functions.
“I know that her grandfather and her father and my mom and all of our relatives that are now deceased would be so very, very proud of both of them,” he said.
Inside his own synagogue, called Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, the rabbi’s ties to the candidate are well known.
Ever since Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention, Funnye said he has fielded constant questions about the ‘rumors’ that Obama is a relation.
His stock reply: “Yeah, he’s married to my cousin, and she’s making him everything that he is.”
http://news.muckety.com/2008/09/12/michelle-obama-has-a-rabbi-in-her-family/4991?rLink
Submitted by Infinite on Thu, 2008-10-23 05:26
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