We recently mentioned that the old Ethiopian Hebrew Synagogue on the corner of 123rd Street and Mount Morris Park West had reportedly gone into contract but the new signs on the boarded up exterior portend an uneasy time ahead for all involved. Since vestiges of its Jewish past was removed at some point in time, supporters of the old congregation have recently posted makeshift symbols on the exterior plywood and some new signs warning would-be brokers and property owners to steer clear have been placed prominently in sight. Apparently sold in a dubious transaction, the fate of this Mount Morris Park Historic District building will unfold further as the court dates progress. Does anyone have an update on the legal side? Read more about 1 West 123rd Street in our past post:
LINK. Photos by Ulysses
We recently mentioned that the old Ethiopian Hebrew Synagogue on the corner of 123rd Street and Mount Morris Park West had reportedly gone into contract but the new signs on the boarded up exterior portend an uneasy time ahead for all involved. Since vestiges of its Jewish past was removed at some point in time, supporters of the old congregation have recently posted makeshift symbols on the exterior plywood and some new signs warning would-be brokers and property owners to steer clear have been placed prominently in sight. Apparently sold in a dubious transaction, the fate of this Mount Morris Park Historic District building will unfold further as the court dates progress. Does anyone have an update on the legal side? Read more about 1 West 123rd Street in our past post: LINK. Photos by Ulysses
Tis' a bizarre situation with this historic house in Harlem. There is a deed transfer recorded for 04/18/2007 and the Buyer is listed as; 31 Mt. Morris Park LLC and the seller is: The Commandment Keepers Ethiopion Hebrew Congregation. Apparently a sale went forth for about $1.6 million. But members of the original congregation are not having it and are determined that the building belongs to their congregation. There is a different version of the situation for each registered member of the congregation, so go figure!
ReplyDeleteThese people aren't ethnically Jewish, and the premise on which their entire set of beliefs rests - that they, and not Ashkenazi, Sephardi, or Mizrahi Jews, are the actual descendants of ancient Hebrews - is entirely fallacious and only serves to propogate pernicious anti-Semitic myth.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel!
ReplyDeleteI love Harlem. Even the Jews are effing nuts!
*propAgate (see two posts up)
ReplyDeleteThe fact they are not "ethnically jewish" is ridiculous. What does ethnically jewish mean? These people are a group whose beliefs simply follow Judiasm, which is a religion, point blank. Lets not inuse something into this that isn't there. And to top it all off, this is about the property and not who is a jew and who isn't! UNDERSTAND?
ReplyDeleteAll Said..... Does that mean you "have" to be "Black" to
ReplyDeletelive in Harlem?!?!?!
Without engaging in too lengthy a diatribe, Judaism, quite simply, is simultaneously an ethnicity and a religion, a fact that DNA analysis of contemporary Jewish populations corroborates conclusively. Granted, not all ethnic Jews practice the religion, and, as the existence of the Commandment Keepers demonstrates, not all who purport to practice the Jewish religion are ethnically Jewish. The founder of the Commandment Keepers movement, Wentworth Arthur Matthew, "believed black Jews were the original Jews, and white Jews were the descendants of the Khazars who had kept and preserved Judaism," according to Wikipedia. Such reasoning, while wholly at odds with reality, has nevertheless been -- and continues to be -- proffered repeatedly by anti-Semites seeking to malign and denigrate Asheknazim in particular and the Jewish people in general. Thus, while this topic is perhaps not directly pertinent to the controversy surrounding the ownership of the property on 123rd Street, I bid adherents of such an inherently bigoted institution good riddance from a neighborhood as diverse and vibrant as Harlem.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably safe to say that bigoted facts can probably found in all religions. Really about how people act in modern day and respect one another.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said, "I bid adherents of such an inherently bigoted institution good riddance from a neighborhood as diverse and vibrant as Harlem".
ReplyDelete...and that property on 128th and Lenox? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When it comes to inherent institutional bigotry, racism, (and a little hush hush polygamy on the side), they're hard to top!
In the interest of consistency, I say they're just as deserving to bid good riddance to!
Guys, guys, Harlem is big enough to encompass all religions and it has for years and years. Storefront churches, big Baptist and AME churches, the sadly derelict but gorgeous St. Martin’s on 122nd and Lenox with its historic carillon (and weird Masonic symbols inside) to Mormons. My son’s Godfather became a Mormon and he’s from Congo so go figger.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the church with really offensive sign on Lenox and, what, 123rd?. The one that's now evolved to say President Obama is a member of the Taliban that I don’t understand. What’s their story?
Focus People! This is so not about religion, race, and ethnicity, its about the building & its future. Calm the f---k down people, its really not that deep!
ReplyDeleteUlysses has done a great job of providing this wonderful blog which is a valuable resource. This blog seems to attract good, positive, constructive and informative comments, mostly due to the very high quality of the content. Let’s try to keep it that way and leave religious positions aside, if for no other reason than out of respect for Ulysses.
ReplyDeleteSanou's Mum...I am equally bemused as to what that Obama message means. They seem to switch it up every couple of months.
ReplyDeleteDidn't realize that beautiful church with the bell tower is derelict. So is it actually used for anything? I would love to take a look inside some time.
As for all of the different relgious beliefs, let's keep it that way. Why sanitize Harlem to the point of say the Upper East Side? The diversity makes it an intriguing place to live.
I love Harlems diversity. Coming from a diverse background I like the fact that everyone is here. Many places in NY are "one culture" and not so welcoming.
ReplyDeleteIf payment was made and a deed recorded the fight is over. Give it up people and find another building to use as your house of worship. After all, it's not the building that makes a congregation special. It's the people who make up the congregation.
@Chris. Misused the word “derelict”. It still has services but a very small congregation. It’s Episcopalian. A member of my church, Church of the Holy Apostles in Chelsea, attended it as a child when it was strongly West Indian and says that its base congregation has moved away. When I said derelict I was thinking of the roof and belltower which are just in dreadful shape but the bell tower does still have a world class carillon.
ReplyDeleteDo go inside. There is a sexton and often a rector there although he shares a parish. It’s just wild inside with Masonic “eyes” all over the place.
SO PLEASE DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE ANY OF THE MEMBERS ARE FROM THE :
ReplyDeleteThe Commandment Keepers Ethiopion Hebrew Congregation IS ??? , I'VE GOT to get intouch with them !!! It's a must ! I have Numerous of people trying to get intouch with them to BECOME MEMBERS THEMSELVES !!!
CONTACT : TheFortress772@Gmail.com send their contact info STAT ! ASAP !!!!!
Commandment Keepers
ReplyDeleteMain article: Commandment Keepers
Wentworth Arthur Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation in Harlem in 1919.[2] Matthew was influenced by the white Jews he met and by Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. One of the accomplishments of Garvey's movement was to strengthen the connection between black Americans and Africa, Ethiopia in particular, and when Matthew learned about the Beta Israel — Ethiopian Jews — he identified with them.[34]
The Commandment Keepers follow traditional Jewish practice and observe Jewish holidays.[15] Members observe Jewish dietary laws, circumcise newborn boys and celebrate bar mitzvah, and their synagogue has a partition to separate men and woman during worship.[35]
Wentworth Arthur Matthew holding a Torah scroll.The Commandment Keepers believe they are descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[36] Matthew taught that "the Black man is a Jew" and "all genuine Jews are Black men",[37] but he valued white Jews as those who had preserved Judaism over the centuries.[2] Matthew maintained cordial ties with white Jewish leaders in New York and frequently invited them to worship at his synagogue.[38]
Matthew established the Ethiopian Hebrew Rabbinical College (later renamed the Israelite Rabbinical Academy). He ordained more than 20 rabbis, who went on to lead congregations throughout the United States and the Caribbean.[37][38] He remained the leader of the Commandment Keepers in Harlem, and in 1962 the congregation moved to a landmark building on 123rd Street.[39]
Matthew died in 1973, sparking an internal conflict over who would succeed him as head of the Harlem congregation. Shortly before his death Matthew named his grandson, David Matthew Doré, the new spiritual leader. Doré was 16 years old at the time. In 1975, the synagogue's board elected Rabbi Willie White to be its leader. Rabbi Doré occasionally conducted services at the synagogue until the early 1980s, when White had Doré and some other members locked out of the building. Membership declined throughout the 1990s and by 2004 only a few dozen people belonged to the synagogue. In 2007 the Commandment Keepers sold the building that housed their synagogue while various factions among former members sued one another.[35][40]
Beside the Harlem group, there are eight or ten Commandment Keeper congregations in the New York area and others throughout North America and in Israel.[41] Since 2000, seven rabbis have graduated from the Israelite Rabbinical Academy founded by Matthew
DNA tests can't prove anything in J1 or J2 strands or even R1a1. It’s not consistent… DNA test are not accurate enough to prove who are Jews or not... DNA testing is a business now, so don’t believe everything you hear, because they will tickle your ear by telling you what you want to hear. With DNA testing, one can match markers of another and not be related to them. A person from the Philippines matched someone in Switzerland. If one gives all there DNA samples to each testing facility, there would be many different results. By taking samples of people from people at a certain location of today does not mean that they have always been there. there are two sides of the argument and people saying that the Asheknazis are from Khzars and that Black Jews are not Jews at all... I think the point is missed that it is not DNA YHWH is looking for, but a "broken heart and a contrite spirit." A true Jew "is circumcised inwardly" Ro 2:29. Just as sacrifices were a stench to His nostrils so is bickering about who is who. Why don't we unit as Torah Keepers and fight injustice, poverty, and crime. We are the minority, so why bicker about minor issues. Our DNA is not going to save us, but only "according to our deeds." Yes, the Khzars converted to Judaism, which was developed in Babylon about 500 BC, and many others: King Harold was an Edomite that converted many Palestinians (this would make many more Jews that were not by DNA). Many are salaciously seduced by the pulchritude of “being Jewish” that they forget to act like it, which is very quixotic. We are thousands of years away and we inchoately and incipiently understand His plan. Quit fussing about this and let's "be that light that shines before men that they see our good deeds and praise YHWH." Anything else is futile. Many of these comments are circumlocution and obstreperous distractions to the true issue of how Micah told us to live “to love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly.” Many will focus on these issues and not “mussar” (correct) themselves to be a better “Jew” to make this world a better place to make that change. If we do this, then we will have a place with the father and not because of our DNA.
ReplyDeleteFrom Afromations: “ask somebody”
Since the babalonian invasions,, the records and knowleges of hebrew ancestry has been being slowly erased. Bye jesus' time nearly all erased. A few decades later when the temple was destroyed, and the hebrew people were scattered...nothing. Being jewish was as ethnicity thousands of years ago. But for over a thousand years the amount of converts from places like russia ugaslavia,ukrain,poland,the netherlands, astria,romania,germany, has changed the FACE of Judaism. Archeological discoveries have put a clear face on Judaism, but the adopted seeds see themselves as always in the picture genetically. Its funny because Moshe strictly prohibited because of GODS will, the mixing of the true descendents of abraham,and the giants. Yet when the hebrews were scattered about ,thats exactly who the jews who went to Europe did. The dna of those people contains genes from Neanderthals. Its weird to me that its the European jews who suffer from ethnocetrism. Hitler always threw it in their face that they were racially impure ,based on scientific evidence. What evevidence do European jews use to support their racism, or ethnocentric beliefs. Just like their decendent(imperialists) they took over judaism like locusts devouring everything in their path thats good! I stand for the TRUTH not wishful thinking, because it sounds right. Open your eyes, our abba is the truth, thats what the light means. Like king David yous (European jews) r lost. Only the in the light can u be found bye our abba. The only TRUE shepherd dont have flesh. Shalom to all. Good luck in these last dayz. Pray Obama dont strick like a leo.
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