The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

, Reform

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

, Conservative

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

 and Reconstructionist

Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...

 rabbis in New York State

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and the surrounding portions of Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 and New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

.

The roots of the New York Board of Rabbis date to 1881 with the establishment of the New York Board of Jewish Ministers by Rabbis Gustav Gottheil

Gustav Gottheil

Gustav Gottheil was a Prussian born American rabbi. Gottheil eventually became one of the most influential, well-known and controversial Reform Jewish leaders of his time...

, Adolph Huebsch, Henry S. Jacobs, Kaufmann Kohler

Kaufmann Kohler

Kaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...

, Frederick de Sola Mendes

Frederick de Sola Mendes

Frederick de Sola Mendes was a rabbi, author, and editor.He was the son of R. Abraham Pereira Mendes. He was educated at Northwick College and at University College School, London, and at the University of London...

 and Abraham Pereira Mendes

Abraham Pereira Mendes

Abraham Pereira Mendes was an English rabbi and educator.He was the first master of the Beth Limud School of Kingston, but resigned in order to prepare in London, England for the vocation of preacher and rabbi. He studied under Dr. Meldola, the dayyan, and the Rev. D. A...

, who came from differing branches of Judaism, hoping to work together to foster Jewish education and advance Judaism. The New York Board of Rabbis was formally adopted as the organization's name in 1946.

Protests were lodged against the 1948 film Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist (1948 film)

Oliver Twist is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dicken's 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony...

noting that Alec Guinness's

Alec Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...

 portrayal of Fagin

Fagin

Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...

 was considered anti-Semitic. Guinness wore heavy make-up, including a large prosthetic nose, to make him look like the character as he appeared in George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...

's illustrations in the first edition of the novel. As a result of objections by the Anti-Defamation League

Anti-Defamation League

The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...

 of B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....

 and the New York Board of Rabbis, the film was not released in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 until 1951

1951 in film

The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...

 with seven minutes of profile shots and other parts of Guinness's performance removed from the film.

Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew

Wentworth Arthur Matthew

Wentworth Arthur Matthew was the founder of the Commandment Keepers.According to Matthew, he was born in Lagos, Nigeria, although others say he was born in St. Kitts. In his 1927 petition for naturalization, Matthew lists his place of birth as Spooner's Village, British West Indies...

 (1892–1973), founder of the Commandment Keepers

Commandment Keepers

The "Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God Pillar & 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...

 a sect of Black Jews

Black Jews

The history of the Jews in the African diaspora is related to the Jewish people's long history in Africa, dating to the Biblical era.As the African diaspora grew, because of the movement of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, African Jews were part of that diaspora. In addition,...

, applied for membership in the New York Board of rabbis, but was denied.

In 2005, the Board of Rabbis and the New York Catholic League issued a joint statement condemning the pop-culture Chrismukkah

Chrismukkah

Chrismukkah is a pop-culture neologism referring to the merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah as celebrated in interfaith households where one parent may be of Christian heritage and another parent of Jewish heritage. The word itself is a portmanteau arisen...

, calling it a "multicultural mess" that is "insulting" to both Jews and Christians.