Interview with Rabbi Funnye

By Marlo Cowan

Rabbi Capers Funnye has been a Jewish Free Loan Chicago founding board member since 2022. He is a rabbi and spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, has been featured in the New York Times, and serves as the chief rabbi of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis. Read on to hear his thoughts on Jewish values, social justice, and furthering economic equality in Chicago. 

First of all, can you talk about what first led you to get involved in JFLC? 

I first became involved in Jewish Free Loan Chicago when I was approached by Leah, the executive director, and she explained to me the goals for JFLC. And as I thought about it, I agreed to come on the board because I saw the mission as being very much in line with my core Jewish values of standing up and helping assist others who are in need of help. And this help is for everyone. You don't have to be Jewish, you just have to be in need and prove that you're in need and have the capacity to repay the loan. 

And how do you see JFLC advancing the cause of economic empowerment and equality? 

I see it advancing the situation with economic equality by helping people to establish economic stability. Many times people simply hit rough patches and then they have a difficult time, because if you are not working and you have the prospect of getting a job, but you can't negotiate your way, the free loan would really be helpful to you. It also works in the sense of helping where people do not have to turn to predatory lenders, which really, really hurts people who are in poor economic conditions. Predatory lending is, actually, something that should be outlawed, but it isn't. So Jewish Free Loan Chicago helps build stability– economic stability for families. 

Can you talk about how this aligns with Jewish values? 

The values of Jewish Free Loan Chicago align with Jewish values, if you think about the eight levels of tzedakah, the eight levels of giving, the highest level is when we're able to assist someone without them actually knowing where that assistance is necessarily coming from. So in other words, you kind of remove yourself from having people be beholden to you. So that's the highest level, to my understanding, of tzedakah. 

That leads into my next question: what role do you feel religion plays in addressing social justice? 

I think that religion plays a very important role in addressing social justice, because if various people of various faiths do not stand up for the principles that they have– for what they believe in– then where's our faith? We have to stand on the values that are taught, in our Judeo-Christian and Muslim faith as well. I believe that all faiths have human interest and the interest of building a better society. 

So would you say that it's important to engage with members of other faiths in order to advance these causes?

Engage with members of other faiths? Absolutely. Working with Protestants, working with Catholics, working with Muslims, I think it's absolutely essential to work collectively with other faith leaders in trying to build a better society, helping people out of economic hardship. We do everything in our community, from working with issues of predatory lending with the group that we have together. So yes, I have been a strong believer in working with other faith leaders to ensure a better society for us all. 

In the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, we saw a lot of faith leaders being really important. How do you see differences in that movement versus the role that faith leaders have nowadays and what can we learn from that? 

Well, looking at how the faith leaders came together in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, particularly in working with Dr. King, I think that today it can still be an example for us, or a model, for us to model ourselves around and after. I don't know if there will be a movement as large as the one in the sixties. It was really spectacular relative to the number of people and the number of faith leaders that came together. We may not ever see that level of coming together by different faiths, but I do think that we still can use the example of their coming together to work collectively to assist folks, in whatever faith they are. 

Can you talk about how you see economic inequality intersecting with other issues such as anti-Semitism and racism?

“We step into doing whatever we can do to alleviate the level of poverty by helping people help themselves.”

 I think it's important for the Jewish community, the Jewish people, to help individuals regardless of their faith background, who have situations where we can step up, and we step into doing whatever we can do to alleviate the level of poverty by helping people help themselves. I, you know, I'm of the opinion that the cross-section of helping the Jewish community, helping to fight anti-Semitism is about being in the present— being present in places, in situations, in community actions. I think that that would go a pretty good distance in helping to fight anti-Semitism, because when you're in the present, when people see the Jewish community coming to support what their efforts are, what they are trying to accomplish, that's very important. And that's why I think that it's absolutely imperative that we always be in the present. 

And what you’re talking about, helping people to help themselves, do you feel that that's what JFLC is doing? 

I absolutely feel that that is what JFLC is doing, helping people to help themselves. And that is the most critical thing that an organization like ours can do. And I wish there were more organizations like Jewish Free Loan Chicago; doing the work is critical and absolutely important. 

What are some obstacles that you’ve faced while advocating for social justice causes? 

You have issues like police accountability; there have been some roadblocks with getting and seeing a greater level of police accountability in the Black community. That's one of the most pressing issues in my mind, because we sometimes see so much, what I would term overreacting, on the part of police officers. And I think that that is one of the uppermost pieces in my mind. Secondly, the idea of people expressing their rights through demonstrations, I think is critical as well. I loved when many rabbis from all the various streams of Judaism a year and a half, two years ago, made their way down to the Texas border crossing to really show their solidarity with those individuals from various parts of South America and Central America that were trying to get into this country. So that was critical. Those are things that are absolutely critical, that being in the present, being present in those moments, is very critical for our community, for the Jewish people. 

Throughout the pandemic, we saw a lot of people really struggling economically in ways that were unprecedented. Now that we're coming out of the pandemic, what do you think the future holds for economic equality, in terms of fighting for that equality? 

Well, I have to be honest with you, looking at the economic situation today, since we're coming out of the pandemic, and the price on everyday groceries has gone up exponentially, interest rates, and new housing, or buying a house has gone up exponentially. So I see people still continuing to struggle, particularly middle income people are being hit in the pocketbook, as well as those individuals who have needs that are more strenuous. It's really, really a struggle. And I just hope that Jewish Free Loan Chicago can do our small part in helping people to help themselves. It's a small part, but it is a part, it is bringing a Jewish presence in the sense of helping people. And I think that that's critically important in this day and time. 

“It is bringing a Jewish presence in the sense of helping people.”

Lastly, what's the most important lesson you feel you've learned from your experiences fighting for social equality? 

Never give up. That's the most important lesson I've learned. Never give up, and when you see what you’ve determined to be an injustice, you have to stand up to that injustice and you have to speak up. Stand up and speak up, that's the most valuable lesson that I've learned. And having the capacity to work collectively with others.