African-American Jews are people who are both African American and Jewish. African-American Jews may be either Jewish from birth or converts to Judaism. Many African-American Jews are of mixed heritage, having both non-Jewish African-American and non-Black Jewish ancestors. Many African-American Jews identify as Jews of color, but some do not. Black Jews from Africa, such as the Beta Israel from Ethiopia, may or may not identify as African-American Jews.
Black Hebrew Israelites are a new religious movement claiming that African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups believe that Native and Latin Americans are descendants of the Israelites as well. Black Hebrew Israelites combine elements to their teaching from a wide range of sources to varying degrees. Black Hebrew Israelites incorporate certain aspects of the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism, though they have created their own interpretation of the Bible, and other influences include Freemasonry and New Thought, for example. Many choose to identify as Hebrew Israelites or Black Hebrews rather than Jews in order to indicate their claimed historic connections.
The Church of God and Saints of Christ is a Black Hebrew Israelite new religious group established in Lawrence, Kansas, in the United States, by William Saunders Crowdy in 1896. William Crowdy began congregations in several cities in the Midwestern and Eastern United States, and sent an emissary to organize locations in at least six African countries. The congregation later established locations in Cuba and the West Indies.
Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem, transliterated from Hebrew to mean the Congregation of Israel Tree of Life, is a Conservative Jewish synagogue located at 3525 Cloverdale Road in Montgomery, Alabama, in the United States.
The Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of the Living God Pillar & Ground of Truth, Inc. are a group of Black Hebrews, 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 were black. They originated in Harlem, New York City, in 1919.
Wentworth Arthur Matthew, 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. It was influenced by the pan-Africanism and black nationalism of Marcus Garvey from Jamaica. Matthew developed his congregation along Jewish lines of observance and the theory that they were returning to Judaism as the true Hebrews. He incorporated in 1930 and moved the congregation to Brooklyn. There he founded the Israelite Rabbinical Academy, teaching and ordaining African-American rabbis. His theory of Black Hebrews is not accepted by Jews.
Capers C. Funnye Jr. is an African-American Conservative 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.
Congregation Rodeph Shalom, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established in 1795, it is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform movement among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique 1927 Byzantine and Moorish Revival synagogue building, with Art Deco finishes, on North Broad Street, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.
Beth Israel Synagogue is the synagogue of the Aruban Jewish community, located in Oranjestad, Aruba. Beth Israel Synagogue is an independent congregation with a liberal style similar to Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism.
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 3600 Riverside Boulevard, in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Founded in 1852 as an Orthodox community, the congregation is the oldest Jewish congregation in Sacramento. The congregation dates the California Gold Rush of 1849, when Jewish settlers gathered to observe the High Holy days. The congregation purchased its first building at 7th and L streets on September 2, 1852, making it the first synagogue west of the Mississippi River.
B'nai Jeshurun is a non-denominational Jewish synagogue located at 257 West 88th Street and 270 West 89th Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, United States.
Adath Shalom was a Conservative synagogue located at 607 W Ritner Street, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The synagogue opened in 1922 and closed in 2007.
Black Jews in New York City comprise one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Commandment Keepers movement originated in Harlem, while the Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. New York City is home to four historically Black synagogues with roots in the Black Hebrew Israelite community. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by the New York Board of Rabbis, an organization representing mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. However, some Black Hebrew Israelite individuals in New York City are recognized as Jewish due to converting through the Orthodox, Conservative, or other Jewish movements.
The International Israelite Board of Rabbis is the oldest historically African American Rabbinical board in the United States, whose founders preserved synagogues in Black neighborhoods in New York City and Chicago, and whose teachings launched the spread of nonviolent Torah observance among thousands of African-American Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite adherents since 1919. The board originated from the 1925 incorporation of Ethiopian Hebrew Rabbinical College in New York City. As a non-denominational institution, it has focused on guiding Rabbis and scholars under its auspices to advance Torah observance among Black Jews in New York City, and build bridges with both mainstream American Jewish communities and non-Messianic Black Hebrew congregations. With time, the board has grown to represent Rabbis of congregations in the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. The board tolerates leniency in Halakha provided that Rabbis adhere to a maximalist view of the Tanakh, and require observance of Biblical commandments by members of their congregations. While the International Israelite Board of Rabbis has a century-long congregational history, the trend of broader recognition of the Board and its constituent Rabbis as equal to other American Jewish leaders has accelerated since the 2019 centennial celebration of its oldest congregation and the heightened focus on Black–Jewish relations during the ensuing racial unrest in the United States (2020-Present).
The Israelite Rabbinical Academy is a Black Hebrew Israelite academy in the United States that is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.
