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The "Commandment Keepers: Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living G-d Piar and Ground of Truth, Inc.are a sect of Black Jews, founded in 1919 by Nigerian-born Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew, who believe that people of Ethiopian descent represent one of the lost tribes of Israel. They claim King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as their ancestors, and believe the biblical patriarchs to have been black.
The mother congregation of the movement has since 1962 been located at 1 West 123rd Street in Harlem, New York City. The synagogue and it founder the late Chief Rabbi W. A. Matthew appear in a brief scene in the film The Angel Levine, which starred Zero Mostel and Harry Belafonte in 1971. Most of its members are black but it has always had white visitors and occasionally white members. They use the De Sola Pool Spanish and Portuguese prayerbook, the Hertz Chumash, parchment Torah scrolls, and offer standard orthodox Sephardi style Sabbath and Jewish Holyday services.
In 1973, Matthew died, David Matthew Doré, who was 16 years old at the time, was named spiritual leader of the congregation just before Matthew’s death. Doré continued to host services at the synagogue until the early 1980s, when Willie White an older rabbi ordained by Rabbi Matthew began locking original members out of their synagogue. Willie White and his son-in-law Julian Wormley created a rival and fictitious congregation naming it Commandment Keepers Congregation, Inc. a shortened and unauthorized version of the legitimate and original Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living G-d Pillar and Ground of Truth, Inc. At the time of the death of Willie White in 1996, Julian Wormley was set up as President of Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, Inc. Doré at this time was working as a lawyer, but states that he often tried to enter the synagogue. A lawsuit was filed by Wormley's Commandment Keepers Congregation, Inc. against Doré that year for wrongfully claiming himself to be the spiritual leader of the congregation. The court ruled against Doré. This rulng was overturned in July 2007 and a judgment was entered in favor of Rabbi David Matthew Dore, dismissing the complaint with costs awarded to Rabbi Dore'. Currently, Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living G-d Pillar and Ground of Truth, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Julian Wormley for selling the historic landmark. A defendant buyer is 31 Mount Morris Park LLC and Colleen Tayor. The action is pending in New York State Supreme Court Index #106102/07.
The congregation will be profiled in a documentary film currently under development, which will be released in the near future.
References
- ^ The Manhattan African-American History and Culture Guide, Museum of the City of New York
- University of Virginia New Religious Movements website
- Herschthal, Eric (July 6, 2007). "Decline Of A Black Synagogue". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - "The Commandment Keepers" film website
- Article on Black Jewish community, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
- Synagogue profile at nyc-architecture.com
- Congregation description at film website
- New York Post article on congregation.
External links
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