Yoseph Robinson's remarkable journey from petty criminal to rap impresario to observant Jew began in sunny Jamaica and ended in bloodshed on the floor of a Brooklyn liquor store.
Yoseph’s Life Was Journey from Criminal to Jew
Yoseph Robinson’s remarkable journey from petty criminal to rap impresario to observant Jew began in sunny Jamaica and ended in bloodshed on the floor of a Brooklyn liquor store.
Along the way, Robinson touched dozens of lives and made believers out of skeptics who said a black man with his past had no business being an Orthodox Jew.
“I would look at him and say, ‘Yoseph, how can you be black and be Jewish?’” a grieving pal, Joane Tomas, 25, said. “And Yoseph would just look at me with this big smile and say, ‘It’s not about color, it’s about faith.’”
Robinson, 34, who once made music about mayhem, started using verses from the Torah to pen hip-hop songs. He was also writing a book about his conversion when his life was cut short.
“Funny it is how a man’s journey can take him to some strange places,” Robinson said on his website. “I came from the craziest place.”
A crazed gunman gave Robinson’s story a tragic ending Thursday when he robbed the liquor store and shot the convert twice in the chest. At the time, Robinson was trying to protect his girlfriend Lahavah Wallace.
Now Robinson’s loved ones are planning a funeral Monday night at Shomrei Hadas Chapel on 14th Ave. in Brooklyn. He’ll be buried in Jamaica next to his grandmother, Pearl, relatives said.
Robinson was in the midst of a divorce and custody battle, accusing his California wife of keeping him from visiting or calling their 6-year-old daughter, court records show.
He also accused her of straying from an observant lifestyle, which he called “psychologically damaging to our daughter.” The divorce was pending and a judge granted him joint custody less than a month ago.
He is also survived by a 14-year-old son in Philadelphia, and an 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter in Virginia, relatives said.
“He was a guy that changed his life around,” said Benjy Ovitsh, who employed Robinson at the MB Vineyards liquor store. “This is the kind of guy we should all emulate.”
Gail Levi, 40, recently heard him speak to a group of about 50 at a synagogue in Long Beach, L.I.
“He was a gangster with all the money, women and drugs that power could buy,” Levi said. “But he realized it was empty and wanted to change.”
One of Robinson’s sisters, Jackie Walters, called him “the best brother in the world.”
“He was loved not only by the Jewish community,” Robinson’s brother-in-law, Shawn Walters, said. “He was loved by everyone he met. He was an inspiration for everybody.”
He was born Chester Robinson and raised by his grandmother in Spanish Town, Jamaica. At age 12, Robinson joined his parents in Midwood, but life in the U.S. was nothing like the utopia he had imagined.
Four years later, according to his bio, Robinson “entered the world of drug deals, street crime and violence” in the Bronx where he was arrested for disorderly conduct and peddling pot.
His cousin, Shamar Linton, who was in the liquor store when he was killed, said Robinson once owned No Exit Records in Los Angeles. He was supposed to put out an album on Sept. 11, 2001. Robinson ended up “getting in trouble” before the release of his album, Linton said.
Robinson drove a Lamborghini and had all the bling he wanted. Despite his material wealth, he felt empty inside. At age 23, he opened a Torah and had a revelation.
After two years of intense study, Robinson moved back to Brooklyn and immersed himself in Jewish life. He ditched the Italian sports car and rode the subway. He worked at the liquor store to stay afloat. In time, Robinson became a beloved figure much in demand by Jewish groups eager to hear his story.
“Most of us Jews in Brooklyn are not that interesting,” said a neighbor, who asked not to be named. “Yoseph was the most interesting and charismatic person.”
On Facebook, Robinson wrote that to resist the pull of his old life he only had to see his tzitzis, a fringed garment worn by observant Jewish men, and “a smile spreads across my face.”
“I am content with my decision,” he wrote.
Am I reading this right?
He has 4 children scattered in three different places, and was an orthodox Jew in the midst of divorcing a wife, and died protecting a girlfriend?
I keep cleaning my glasses.
Anonymous
sounds like a novel!!!!!
Devorah
#1-please keep ur negative comments to yourself-we try not magnifying something seemingly negative after ones death-just a bit of sensitivity please
yes you are reading correct
yes it does make sence if he decided he wanted to become jewish at age 23 became jewish at 25 26 he could of had 3 kids before he decided he wanted to become jewish and once he became jewish got married had a child and gave her a GET and was working on legal issues so he can have a girlfriend!
Mendy Hecht
If you look at the Midrashim on Yisro, you’ll see that he also had a background that would keep you cleaning your glasses. Let’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t know the man’s life story. Especially now that he’s gone.
Dassi in CH
@ “Am I reading this right?”: obviously NOT!
He converted over 10 yrs ago & since has had 1 daughter (now 6)for whom he was fighting for custody rights b’cuz the mother was accused “of straying from an observant lifestyle”. He left that life you seem stuck on…hmmm.
Reuven
B”H
Yeah…it’s called life before doing Teshuva…and Jews DO sometimes get divorces…and he died protecting a woman he had just begun dating. You don’t need to clean your glasses…you need to clean out your heart. The next three weeks are a good time to start.
WE NEED MOSHIACH NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enough golus. Moshiach Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
real inspiration
To comment #1, you are so insensitive and out of line to raise such questions. This man is a Ger Tzedek period, no questions asked.Yosef Robinson is a real inspiration and a tzadik. I wish I couls have met him. Hashem Yinakem Damav.
BDE
And he’s not being buried in a Jewish cemetery al pi halacha? How sad.
GOING TO JEWISH CEMETERYS !
#10 YES HE IS! THERE IS 2 JEWISH CEMETERYS IN JAMAICA.
HE IS GOING TO 1 OF THEM! do your home work before you write things which are untrue!
CR
That is so sad. Please don’t make comments about his life before or even after he converted. Converts go through so much suffering, you wouldn’t believe. And the Jewish people are commanded so many times in the Torah to be nice to them, not to hurt them, etc…
Please let him rest in peace, and remember what the Rebbe said to the Shliach who said (about his congregant), “but he’s just a Ger.” The Rebbe said that the Ger has a neshama higher than “yours or mine.”
East 30-s
yoseph ben avrohom robinson hy”d was an inspiration to so many people in our community. Watching him daven made you daven with more kavana. His bright smile and endless optimism lifted everyones spirits. He will be truly missed. Boruch Dayan Emes.
Ariella
My husband knew him and he was an amazing man. To all the hateful people out there remember he gave up his life protecting someone else. How many of you hateful cowards would do that?
I-m # one poster
Guys I didnt mean it in a negative way, more of an “oh my gosh, this guy’s life story is crazy, I cant imagine what he has gone through way…”
Like as number 2 said, his story sounds like a novel…
I ask humble mechilla from the niftar if anything negative was derived about him because of this.
My reaction was of incredulous disbelief. Thats all.
#10
So his grandmother, Pearl, was Jewish as he’s being buried next to her (according to this article)? Just for the record, no I didn’t know there was even one Jewish cemetery in Jamaica. I apologize for my ignorance. Can you do the same for your rudeness at a simple question/statement based on the information provided?
Mushky
Boruch dayan haemes is all we should be saying, not analyzing details of his life-story which we can never understand especially now after his death.
A little sensitivity, people!
Rachel
I used to live in that neightborhood and would shop at that liquer store quite often. I was able to tell what a wonderful soul Yosef was just by his smile,the way he carried himself and his midot. Did not know him on a personal level but could tell that he was a special person.
Yisroel
I met him several times in his place of work, and it is true, he is quite an interesting man who’s story can serve as inspiration for all. To come from such a background, and to discover truth on his own, this man is certainly deserving (and has in fact achieved) a great ascent for his soul.
Boruch Dayan, Haemes
Dovid Chaim
Wow a great story.
Hashem should avenge his blood.
Joseph Isaac from Cozumel Mexico
I am so proud of him, he showed twice the effort to be a Jew!
Someone who knows
I happen to know the story… This great man risked his own life and gave up his own life with total Mesiras Nefesh to save another Yid. He was Shidduch dating a refined Bas Yisroel in a %100 kosher manner and they were very close to getting engaged and building a Jewish home together. When the gunman came in the store demanding money Yosef was willing to cooperate– however when the gunman turned his gun on his soon to be Kallah– Yosef attacked the gunman to save her– which resulted in him getting shot… We should be in awe of such a great Neshama who has certainly reached the highest of levels… We should only take it to heart to learn to be as great as this man…
NOTE TO ALL
I PERSONALLY KNOW HIM AND HIS EX-WIFE AND ADORABLE 6 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. HE GOT DIVORCED A FEW YEARS AGO AND HAD 3 CHILDREN FROM A DIFFERENT WIFE BEFORE HE BECAME JEWISH. HE WAS A VERY SWEET MAN THAT COULDN’T HURT A SOUL.
I DONT THINK ANYONE SHOULD BE JUDGING HIM, HE WAS A GOOD MAN. THIS ARTICLE IS A LIL EXAGGERATED AND NOT COMPLETELY TRUE.
YECHi
@#1 would u give up what he gave up for yidishkiet????
michaltastik.com
No matter what people think (that’s not as easy to control), speaking ill of the dead is a lashon hara on a lower level than speaking it about a person alive which is definitely wrong, too. In short, #1, you need to learn to bite your tongue.