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The "Commandment Keepers: Holy Church of the Living God" are a non-mainstream sect of Jews, founded in 1919 by Nigerian-born Rabbi Arthur Wentworth 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. It is a black congregation but has always had white visitors and occasionally white members. They use the De Sola Pool Spanish&Portuguese prayerbook, the Hertz Chumash, parchment Torah scrolls, and offer standard orthodox Sephardi style Sabbath and Jewish Holyday services.

The congregation will be profiled in a documentary film currently under development, which will be released in the near future.

References

1. ^ The Manhattan African-American History and Culture Guide, Museum of the City of New York
2. University of Virginia New Religious Movements website
3. "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

• official website
• another Commandment Keepers site

• Jewish denominations