Billy Simmons (also known as Billy Simons) was an African-American Jew from

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, one of the few documented Black Jews living in the antebellum South. Simmons was a scholar in both

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Life

Simmons was born in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Simmons claimed to be a descendant of a

Rechabite The Rechabites () are a biblical clan, the descendants of Rechab through Jehonadab. Biblical sources The Rechabites belonged to the Kenites, who accompanied the Israelites into the Holy Land and dwelt among them. The main body of the Kenites dwel ...

tribe, a claim that was supported by two cantors and other Jewish authorities. Purchased by white Jewish slave owners, Simmons was taken into captivity and brought to South Carolina. He was owned as a slave by a newspaper editor in Charleston and his job was to deliver newspapers. Despite anti-Black restrictions in the constitution of

Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim ( he, קהל קדוש בית אלוהים, also known as K. K. Beth Elohim, or more simply Congregation Beth Elohim) is a Reform Synagogue located in Charleston, South Carolina. Having founded the congregation in 1749, i ...

that banned Black converts from membership, Simmons was among the few African-American Jews known to have attended the synagogue during the antebellum period. Simmons attended the synagogue during the 1850s and was known to members as Uncle Billy. Simmons was known to attend

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

services wearing a black top hat, black suit, and frilly shirt.

References

{{Reflist 1780 births 1860 deaths 18th-century American slaves 19th-century American slaves Malagasy emigrants to the United States African-American Jews American people of Malagasy descent American slaves literate in Arabic Arabic-speaking people Hebrew-speaking people Jewish scholars Jews and Judaism in Madagascar People from Charleston, South Carolina 18th-century American Jews 19th-century American Jews Jews and Judaism in Charleston, South Carolina

Life

See also

References