International Israelite Board of Rabbis

Not to be confused with Black Hebrew Israelites.

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 (see: De-'oraita and de-rabbanan, meaning "Torah commandments vs. Rabbinic enactments"). 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).

Synagogue Liturgy and Culture (Nusach & Minhag)

Congregational worship among constituents of the International Israelite Board of Rabbis can be characterized as Conservadox, complementarian, and based on Sephardic liturgy (using the ArtScroll Siddur as their standard prayerbook). The African Israelite minhag, which is the cultural expression of their Judaism, uses the upper register of African-American culture as the basis for preserving the positive communal aspects of the Black church in generations past and advancing a positive connection to Africa via the Black Arts Movement, while also serving as a bulwark against assimilation into antisocial urban subcultures. The standards of modest attire (Tzniut) assume knit or capped head coverings for men, and headscarves and ankle-length West African clothing for women, with a Tallit worn by men in suit jackets during worship services. Many men who opt out of wearing a suit jacket instead wear formal West African clothing with Tzitzit affixed on each corner. Musical expression ranges from Spirituals that exclusively draw from Old Testament themes, to chanting Pizmonim and Zemirot to the beat of Afro-Caribbean music. Cuisine for Friday night Kiddush and Saturday afternoon Oneg Shabbat often consists of Soul Food and Caribbean cuisine prepared in accordance with Kashrut.

History

The board in its current form was organized 1970 by students of Chief Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew. The board has its roots the Rabbi's 1919 founding of the Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation.

Since 2015, Capers Funnye has served as the Chief Rabbi for the organization.

Chief Rabbis

While congregational Rabbis have local oversight of affairs (see: Mara d'atra), the International Israelite Board of Rabbis holds the Chief Rabbi responsible for advocating for its constituents' interests and recognition by other national bodies. He also presides over the ordination of the Rabbis, and serves as the Rosh Yeshiva of the Israelite Academy (founded in 1925 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Rabbinical College).

1. Chief Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford (23 April 1877 – 16 September 1935): Prominent member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League who studied in Ethiopia in order to promote the way of life of Ethiopian Jews during the Great Migration (African American) as an alternative to Black Christianity for those seeking spiritual enlightenment. He is said to have gained an ordination in Ethiopia with the approval of the Beta Israel, and went on to ordain Wentworth Arthur Matthew in his "Ethiopian Hebrew" approach to the Torah. This is the origin of the appellation "Hebrew" to followers of Biblical Judaism of African descent.
2. Chief Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew (1892-1973): Founder of the board and founder of the Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, the first Black synagogue to formally incorporate in New York City (1919).
3. Chief Rabbi Levi Ben-Levy: Served from 1935-1999.
4. Chief Rabbi Capers (Shemuel) Funnye: Current Chief Rabbi (inaugurated in 2016). and member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. In 2009, he led the first Passover Seder at the White House, at the invitation of his cousin, then-First Lady Michelle Obama.

Relations with Normative American Judaism

Originally, the need for an independent Board of Rabbis was necessitated by the reluctance of the American Jewish community to accept the legitimacy of Black leadership and institutions, especially before the Civil rights movement. The reasons for this estrangement stemmed from several factors, including long-standing tensions in the relationships between Jewish religious movements as well as social acceptance of racial segregation in certain Jewish enclaves during the early 20th-century African American Great Migration.

Among Black Jews, there are some who deny the Jewishness of anyone, including those of African ancestry, who do not have a recognizably Jewish parent or who have not converted. Black Orthodox Jews typically only regard people as Jewish if they have converted or if they have a Jewish mother, in accordance with Orthodox halakha. One example of this stance is the Black Orthodox Jewish writer and activist Shais Rishon, who has written that the International Israelite Board of Rabbis is not a Jewish organization, rejecting their use of their word "rabbi". According to Rishon, Wentworth A. Matthew, Levi Ben Levy and others associated with the board never "belonged nor converted to any branch of Judaism", with the exceptions of Capers Funnye and Eli Aronoff. Funnye has undergone a Conservative conversion and is thus recognized as Jewish by Conservative and other non-Orthodox denominations. Aronoff had an Orthodox conversion.

Importantly, the Rabbinical Council of America has similarly disqualified Ashkenazi Jews in the United States who are recognized as Rabbis by the movements for Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism and even Open Orthodoxy from membership in their council, because those movements are not recognized as halakhic by the Orthodox Union. This context is necessary to understand that barriers regarding the Jewish identity and legitimacy of Black Jewish leaders are sometimes rooted in broader disagreements over standards of observance (see also: Relationships between Jewish religious movements).

See also

• African-American Jews
• Black Jews in New York City
• African American–Jewish relations
• List of African-American Jews

External links

• International Israelite Board of Rabbis