Capers Funnye

Capers C. Funnye Jr. (; born April 14, 1952) is an African-American Conservative rabbi, who leads the 200-member Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of Chicago, Illinois, assisted by rabbis Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter. Born in Georgetown, South Carolina, he moved with his family to Chicago. He became interested in Judaism while in college at Howard University and has gone through two conversion rituals. He has led efforts to coordinate with both Black Hebrew Israelite groups and mainline Judaism. Early life and education Capers Funnye Jr. was born in 1952 in Georgetown, South Carolina in the Low Country, with paternal ancestry among the Geechee people (or Gullah) of the Sea Islands. They are an ethnic group that kept strong African traditions. Variations of his surname are common in Nigeria and West Africa. His family moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration of African Americans to industrial cities out of the South. He grew up on the South Side. There he got to see more of his mother's extended family in Chicago, including future First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, his first cousin once removed. His mother Verdelle (Robinson) Funnye was a sister of Fraser Robinson Jr., Michelle (Robinson) Obama's paternal grandfather; their family also was from Georgetown and had Gullah ancestry.