The Israelite Rabbinical Academy is a

Black Hebrew Israelite Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups belie ...

academy in the United States that is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.

History

The academy originated as an offshoot of

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 ...

's Royal Order of Ethiopian Hebrews, founded in 1925. In 1970, under the leadership of Chief Rabbi

Levi Ben Levy Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and M ...

, the Ethiopian Hebrew Rabbinical College was renamed the Israelite Rabbinical Academy. The academy was established under the charter of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis in the

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 ...

Relationship with Rabbinic Judaism

The Black Orthodox Jewish writer and activist

Shais Rishon Shais Rishon, also known by the pen name MaNishtana, is an African-American Orthodox rabbi, activist, and writer. He has written for ''Tablet'', '' Kveller'', ''The Forward'', ''Jewcy'', and '' Hevria'', as well as writing a semi-autobiographic ...

has written that the Israelite Rabbinical Academy is not a Jewish institution, rejecting their use of the word

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 ...

. According to Rishon, Wentworth A. Matthew, Levi Ben Levy and others associated with the board never "belonged nor converted to any branch of Judaism", nor have any graduates of the academy with the exceptions of

Capers Funnye Capers C. Funnye Jr. (; born April 14, 1952) is an African-American rabbi, who leads the 200-member Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of Chicago, Illinois, assisted by rabbis Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter. Born in ...

and

Eli Aronoff Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

Graduates

References

{{Reflist

External links

Israelite Academy
BlackJews.org 1925 establishments in New York City International Israelite Board of Rabbis

History

Relationship with Rabbinic Judaism

Graduates

See also

References

External links