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Rapper Nissim Black blesses crowd in first Bay Area show

Rapper Nissim Black blesses crowd in first Bay Area show

Nissim Black has a minhag before he performs: The Orthodox rapper recites a blessing on stage. The custom is a way to make amends for his past as a gang member and gangsta rapper in Seattle who “used to do the opposite of making blessings.”

About Me

I’m an American journalist and editor focusing on religion, race, and their intersection. I lived in Israel for several years and was a staff writer at Haaretz. I’m currently at work on a book about the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, also known as the Black Hebrews of Dimona, the largest organized community of African American expatriates in the world.

I have a BA from Harvard College in African and African American Studies and a MA from Tel Aviv University in Middle East and North African History. I live in Palo Alto, California with my wife.

Peace be upon you. שלום עליכם

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My purpose was to see essentials, only essentials, nothing but essentials, and to guard against hallucinations. Things are not what they seem anyway.

Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King