A bar mitzvah (masc.) or bat mitzvah (fem.) is a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they are said to "become" b'nai mitzvah, at which point they begin to be held accountable for their own actions. Traditionally, the father of a bar or bat mitzvah offers thanks to God that he is no longer punished for his child's sins.
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.
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Jewish synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, USA. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Jewish Reform congregation and the second chartered Jewish congregation in the state.
Morris Jacob Raphall was a rabbi and author born in Stockholm, Sweden. From 1849 until his death he resided in the United States. He is most remembered for having declared, on the eve of the Civil War, that the Bible and God endorse slavery.
The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU is located in two restored historic buildings that were formerly synagogues, at 301 & 311 Washington Ave., in Miami Beach, Florida. The main museum building, at 301 Washington Ave., was built in 1936, is on the National Register of Historic Places, has Art Deco features, a copper dome, a marble bimah and 80 stained glass windows. The adjacent building located at 311 Washington, which served as Miami Beach's first synagogue, was purchased by the museum in 2005 and restored in 2007 as a museum expansion.
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 B'nai Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in Sacramento, California. The congregation, which began as an Orthodox community, traces its history back to 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 congregationally owned synagogue west of the Mississippi River.
B'nai Jeshurun is a synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City.
Ansche Chesed is a synagogue at West End Avenue and 100th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.
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.
Beth Shalom, formally Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, is a Hebrew Israelite synagogue in Chicago, Illinois. The congregation leader is Rabbi Capers Funnye. Assistant rabbis are Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter. Beth Shalom is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.
Aaron L. Raskin is an American Chabad Lubavitch rabbi and writer. He serves as spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Avraham, an Orthodox synagogue in Brooklyn Heights, New York, and dean of Brooklyn Heights Jewish Academy.
Temple Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. It is the only Reform synagogue in Memphis, the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in Tennessee, and one of the largest Reform congregations in the U.S. It was founded in 1853 by mostly German Jews as Congregation B'nai Israel. Led initially by cantors, in 1858 it hired its first rabbi, Jacob Peres, and leased its first building, which it renovated and eventually purchased.
B'nai Israel Synagogue is a synagogue in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its original name Chevra B'nai Yisroel Synagogue in 2007.
Temple B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation located in Oklahoma City, and is the oldest active Jewish synagogue in Oklahoma.
Dutch people have had a continuous presence in New York City for nearly 400 years, being the earliest European settlers. New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded on the southern tip of Manhattan Island by Dutch colonists in 1624. The settlement was named New Amsterdam in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. Because of the history of Dutch colonization, Dutch culture, politics, law, architecture, and language played a formative role in shaping the culture of the city. The Dutch were the majority in New York City until the early 1700s and the Dutch language was commonly spoken until the mid to late-1700s. Many places and institutions in New York City still bear a colonial Dutch toponymy, including Brooklyn (Breukelen), Harlem (Haarlem), Wall Street, The Bowery (bouwerij, and Coney Island.
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.
Racism in Jewish communities is a source of concern for people of color, particularly for Jews of color. Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, and other Jews of color report that they experience racism from white Jews in many countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Kenya, South Africa, and New Zealand. Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews also report experiences with racism by Ashkenazi Jews. The centering of Ashkenazi Jews is sometimes known as Ashkenormativity. In historically white-dominated countries with a legacy of anti-Black racism, such as the United States and South Africa, racism within the Jewish community often manifests itself as anti-Blackness. In Israel, racism among Israeli Jews often manifests itself as discrimination and prejudice against Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, Ethiopian Jews, African immigrants, and Palestinians. Controversially, some critics describe Zionism as racist or settler colonial in nature.
