Monk Eastman - Eastman's Ethnicity

Eastman's Ethnicity

Although generally referred to as a Jewish gangster (including by papers of his own time), there is little evidence to establish that Eastman was Jewish. He worked closely with many Jewish criminals and was reported to be circumcised (a Jewish cultural tradition). In his book The Jews of Sing Sing, the writer Ron Arons notes that none of Monk's sisters (or his parents for that matter) were married in Jewish ceremonies. His maternal grandfather George Parks died in a Baptist rest home. Also, Parks was born in the United States at a time when there were very few Jews in New York. Eastman's brother-in-law told the medical examiner after Monk's death that the gangster was "not a Hebrew."