Michelle Obama Has a Rabbi in Her Family
September 5th, 2008
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While Barack Obama has struggled to capture the Jewish vote, it turns out that one of his wife’s cousins is the country’s most prominent black rabbi — a fact that has gone largely unnoticed.
Michelle Obama, wife of the Democratic presidential nominee, and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago’s South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye’s mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama’s paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister.
I never really understood that whole “once removed” stuff, so I did a little research and found the following should you have the same confusion as I do. Â Link
When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word “removed” is not used to describe your relationship.
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Entry Filed under: Goofy
1 Comment Add your own
1. dan | September 5th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Thanks. I’ve heard these terms mentioned so many times, but I have been too lazy to look them up.
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