Wentworth Arthur Matthew
Encyclopedia
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...
.
According to Matthew, he was born in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, 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. When he registered with Selective Service during World War II in 1942, he lists his place of birth as St. Christopher, British West Indies
Saint Kitts and Nevis
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....
.
Matthew married his wife Florence (August 29, 1893—July 1980), who was also from the British West Indies. This union produced at least four children, who were as follows:
- Arthur (July 12, 1917 —June 1987)
- Florence, born March 25, 1920
- Samuel E. (February 20, 1923—June 1987)
- Joseph, born August 24, 1926
In 1919, Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. He was heavily influenced by the white Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
he met, and when he learned about the Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
, he began to identify with them. Matthew trained rabbis, who set up synagogues throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. When, interviewed, many of the older members of this community recall memories of their parents observing Jewish dietary laws
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
, such as abstaining from pork or salting their meat.
The group was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
and his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford
Arnold Josiah Ford
Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford was the first black rabbi in America, and a prominent member of Harlem's Black Jews.Ford was born in Barbados to Edward Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Augustine Ford...
was the composer of the UNIA's Universal Ethiopian Anthem and its hymnal. He also led the UNIA band and conducted its choir.
Matthew believed black Jews were the original Jews, and white Jews were the descendants of the Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
who had kept and preserved Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. Matthew, however, eventually concluded black Jews would not be accepted by the white Jewish community.
Matthew's congregation followed traditional Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
. Men and women were seated separately, standard Orthodox Jewish
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...
prayer books were used, and the laws concerning Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
were observed.
Wentworth Matthew's teachings are followed today by many Black Hebrew Israelites
Black Hebrew Israelites
Black Hebrew Israelites are groups of people mostly of Black African ancestry situated mainly in the United States who believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Black Hebrews adhere in varying degrees to the religious beliefs and practices of mainstream Judaism...
. Matthew believed that blacks who convert to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
were not converting, but rather returning to Judaism.
Matthew applied and was rejected twice to become a member of the New York Board of Rabbis
New York Board of Rabbis
The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis in New York State and the surrounding portions of Connecticut and New Jersey....
. After his death in 1973, his Jewish orientation was taken on by Capers Funnye, who is now a rabbi at the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which he founded in 1985.
External links
- Black Jews
- Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew BlackJews.org