It’s been 20 years since Joshua Nelson released his “kosher gospel” album “Mi Chamocha?” The now-classic album includes gospel versions of traditional Jewish songs such as “Adon Olam” and “Hinei Ma Tov,” as well as originals like “Observant Jew.” It is thrilling and, for my money, one of the top five albums of contemporary Jewish music.

Nelson grew up in New Jersey and has been performing professionally since age 13. Popularly known as the “prince of kosher gospel,” today, at 51, he’s more like the king. He hasn’t put out a new album in years, and most of his catalog isn’t available on streaming services. Thankfully, he hasn’t fully retreated from the spotlight. I saw him perform a few months ago at a Juneteenth event in San Francisco, and he’s currently on tour with Neil Young.

Nelson spoke with me by phone from Toronto about the tour, his experience living on a kibbutz, and the new album he’s working on.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you link up with Neil Young?

I’m opening for him with a group called Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. I met them through the Klezmatics. I’m like the seventh member of the Klezmatics. We were doing a concert in Washington Square Park [in New York City], and that’s where I met Reverend Billy. We had a mutual admiration for each other, and he asked me to be part of his group.

Young, who was born in Canada, debuted a new anti-Trump song last week called “Big Crime.” What do you think about it?

We are very proud of him. If only Americans had that much chutzpah.

The name of the tour is “Love Earth.” What does loving the earth mean to you?

The first thing God asked Adam and Eve to do was take care of the earth, take care of the Garden [of Eden]. The bottom line is we have to take care of the earth. The s— is hitting the fan right now.

The only way we’re going to fight the current situation is to return to history. Boycotting Amazon for a week, that’s so 2025. My ancestors boycotted the Alabama bus company for a whole year and brought them to their knees. The problem with humanity, and Americans in particular, is they aren’t willing to make sacrifices. We have to sacrifice fossil fuels so the next generation can live in an environment that’s conducive to life.

Personally, I’m trying to live like Amish people. I’m trying to learn how to grow my own vegetables and how to forage.

I read that you lived on a kibbutz in college. What was that like?

I lived on Kibbutz Tzora [in central Israel] for two years. I used to work in the vineyard picking grapes and in the cheder ochel [dining hall] washing dishes. And I worked in the gan [preschool] with the kids. They had never seen a Black American before. Them kids loved me!

At the kibbutz I was exposed to democratic socialism, and it seeped into me. I’m sort of a socialist in terms of sharing resources and dividing them up based on needs.

I recently watched “Keep On Walking,” the documentary about you that came out in 2000. The film shows how you’re able to move between worlds—religious, musical, racial—with such ease and grace. How do you do it?

I walk in and out of Jewish and Hebrew Israelite communities without a problem. I walk into churches and nobody bothers me. God is not Jewish. He’s not Christian. He’s not Muslim. Our duty to humanity is beyond all of that stuff.

In the film, you talk about how when you were growing up, your Ashkenazi mother often took you and your siblings to a Hebrew Israelite synagogue in Brooklyn. You’ve also acknowledged that your sound was influenced by Black congregations such as the Commandment Keepers. What is the biggest misconception people have about that spiritual movement?

There are some people who get confused about the Hebrew Israelites. They don’t realize there is a racist faction of Hebrew Israelites, but not everyone is from that. Racism is not part of Judaism. That’s a part of 15th century colonialism. For any person to take that ideology and to use it in Judaism at this point in time, they’re just out of order.

You have 5,000 Facebook friends—the maximum number allowed—and you’re very active there. Recently you’ve been posting about the Bible and homosexuality. In one post you referred to yourself as “a black Jewish gay person.” When did you come out?

People call me gay because they think it’s negative, and I want people to think I’m gay. In reality, I’m a celibate. I’m like a priest.

Part of it has to do with the fact that I was molested as a child. It messed me up. It was a situation where a music teacher put his hands on me, but I fought him. I made him stop. Later on he apologized. I was proud of myself that as a 12-year-old kid, I stood up for myself. I’m trying to spend my life sticking up for people who feel other people don’t care about them or don’t understand them.

How do you describe kosher gospel, the genre of music you pioneered in the early 2000s?

It’s the Hebrew liturgy combined with gospel sounds. I always explain to people that gospel music did not come from Christianity. Gospel music came from the slave ships. When Black people were introduced to Christianity by the slave masters, they took those hymns and they combined them with their work songs. I’m not borrowing from Christianity to make kosher gospel. I’m borrowing from an ethnic music that came from struggle and working in the fields.

Do you have any new projects that you’re working on?

I have a new album called “Barchu” that I was going to release right before Covid. It has new kosher gospel stuff on it. We might release it around Hanukkah time, if we can get it done, or in the spring.

You know how most artists have agents? I’ve never done that. I only work by request. I actually hide. I took my website down because it became too commercial. I’m not a commercial person like Beyoncé and Chris Brown. They’re great artists, but at this point in time, if you’re not using your talents to address a situation like global warming or racism, what are you doing?