Billy Simmons

Billy Simmons (also known as Billy Simons) was an African-American Jew from Charleston, South Carolina, one of the few documented Black Jews living in the antebellum South. Simmons was a scholar in both Hebrew and Arabic.

Life

Simmons was born in Madagascar. Simmons claimed to be a descendant of a Rechabite 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 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 services wearing a black top hat, black suit, and frilly shirt.

See also

History of the Jews in Charleston, South Carolina

History of the Jews in Madagascar

References

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