The Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God Pillar & Ground of Truth, Inc. are a group of
Black Hebrews, who believe that people of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
n descent represent one of the
lost tribes of Israel
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, As ...
.
They claim
King Solomon and the
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
as their ancestors, and believe the
biblical patriarchs were black. They originated in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, in 1919.
Most of its members are
Afro-Caribbean but since its founding it has had diverse visitors, and occasionally white members. They use the
De Sola Pool Spanish and Portuguese
Portuguese and Spanish, although closely related Romance languages, differ in many aspects of their phonology, grammar and lexicon. Both belong to a subset of the Romance languages known as West Iberian Romance, which also includes several othe ...
prayerbook, the
Hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that o ...
Chumash Chumash may refer to:
*Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism
*Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California
*Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California
See also
*Chumash traditional n ...
, parchment
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
scrolls, and offer standard orthodox
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
style Sabbath and Jewish Holy Day services.
History
The Commandment Keepers were founded in 1919 by
Wentworth Arthur Matthew
Wentworth Arthur Matthew (June 23, 1892
– December 1973),
a West Indian immigrant to New York City, was the founder in 1919 of the Commandment Keepers of the Living God, a Black Hebrew congregation.''The Manhattan African-American Histor ...
.
[''The Manhattan African-American History and Culture Guide,'' Museum of the City of New York] The
Anti-Defamation League notes that while some other Black Hebrew organizations are anti-semitic or racist, Matthew refrained from anti-semitic or racist teachings, and advocated for kindness between his followers and white Jews.
In 1962 the mother congregation of the movement purchased the historic John Dwight house at 1 West 123rd Street/31 Mount Morris Park West Harlem, New York City.
The congregation is featured in a scene from the 1970 motion picture ''
The Angel Levine'' which starred
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
and
Zero Mostel.
On June 12, 1971, Rabbi W.A. Matthew ordained three individuals as
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s, his grandson Rabbi David Matthew Doré, Rabbi Jonah McCullough, and Rabbi Willie White.
In 1973, Matthew died, creating an internal conflict over who would be the new leader. David Matthew Doré, who was 18 years old at the time, was named by Rabbi Matthew as spiritual leader of the congregation just before Matthew's death. In 1975, the board of the congregation elected Willie White to be the new leader and without congregational approval shortened its name to Commandment Keepers Congregation.
Doré continued to host services at the
synagogue until the early 1980s, when White began locking people out. Doré at this time was working as a
lawyer, but states that he often tried to enter the synagogue. Throughout the 1990s membership was declining. In 2004, Zechariah ben Lewi became the rabbi for the Commandment Keepers, and membership had dropped to eight people, with over two hundred actual members locked out of the temple.
A
lawsuit was filed against Doré that year for wrongfully claiming himself to be the spiritual leader of the congregation. The court ruled against Doré.
The ruling was overturned on July 9, 2007. The board proceeded to sell the building at 1 West 123rd Street. Doré, as attorney for Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God Pillar and Ground of Truth, Inc., filed a lawsuit against the board for selling the historic landmark, and in October 2007 a court vacated the sale and ordered a trial.
As of 2011, Doré's suit against the buyer and the individual who claimed authority to sell the historic landmark was pending.
The named defendants submitted motions to dismiss the action, Doré, as counsel for the congregation, filed opposition papers and both motions were denied. Defendants then appealed to the Appellate Division First Department. After oral argument the Appellate Division, in a unanimous decision issued June 4, 2013, denied defendants appeal to dismiss the case and affirmed the ruling of the lower court that denied defendants motion to dismiss.
[Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God v. 31 Mount Morris Park, LLC 107 A.D.3d 406, 965 N.Y.S.2d 727 N.Y.A.D. 1 Dept. 2013.] The case was on the trial calendar for April 2, 2014 before Justice Richard F. Braun.
The Dwight house is now owned by poet
James Fenton
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
and his partner
Darryl Pinckney
Darryl Pinckney (born 1953 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American novelist, playwright, and essayist.
Early life
Pinckney grew up in a middle-class African-American family in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he attended local public schools. He w ...
who purchased it in 2010 from a development company.
As of 2014 Black Jews influenced by the Commandment Keepers continue to practice at Mt. Horeb Congregation in the Bronx, Beth Shalom in Bedstuyvesant in Brooklyn, B'nai Adat in Brooklyn, and Beth Elohim in Queens; and as of 2009 at
B'nai Zaken in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
In 2014 they compiled their first
Siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.'
Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, '' ...
, a Jewish prayer book, prepared specifically for Black Jews.
According to a 2014 piece in
Tablet magazine
''Tablet'' is an online magazine focused on Jewish news and culture. The magazine was founded in 2009 and is supported by the Nextbook foundation. Its editor-in-chief is Alana Newhouse.
History
''Tablet'' was founded in 2009 with the support ...
, the practices of the Commandment Keepers have gradually become more orthodox in observance over time, and there is diversity in the traditions of individual temples.
References
{{Reflist
Bibliography
Article on Black Jewish community jewishvirtuallibrary.org
at nyc-architecture.com
at film website
on congregation.
External links
Websitedeath of Zechariah Ben Lewi in 2015
African American–Jewish relations
Jewish organizations established in 1919
1919 establishments in New York (state)
Black Hebrew Israelites
Religious belief systems founded in the United States