Black Judaism(s) and the Hebrew Israelites

This article looks at the field of Black Judaism, with a view to understanding how scholars articulate the distinction between Black Judaism and the Hebrew Israelite movement. The Hebrew Israelites are an autonomous African American movement who identify themselves as descendants of the Israelites and some of whom self‐identify as Jews, probably originating in the late 19th‐century American South. Although scholars have been working on this area for three generations, there is still little agreement and yet the implications of whether and where lines are drawn are important to understand; they go to the heart of personal identities and investments.