Wentworth Arthur Matthew

Wentworth Arthur Matthew was born in 1892 on Saint Kitts, British West Indies. He married his wife Florence (August 29, 1893—July 1980), who was also from the British West Indies. They had at least four children together, recorded as follows in their 1927 naturalization records in the United States: • Arthur (July 12, 1917 —June 1987) • Florence, born March 25, 1920 • Samuel E. (February 20, 1923—June 1987) • Joseph, born August 24, 1926 In later years, Matthew sometimes said that he came from Lagos, Nigeria. But, in his 1927 petition for naturalization, Matthew lists his place of birth as Spooner's Village, British West Indies. When he registered in 1942 with the Selective Service during World War II, he listed his place of birth as St. Christopher, British West Indies. ==Immigration to the United States==

Matthew immigrated to New York City and arranged for his family to join him. In 1919, he founded the Commandment Keepers Congregation of the Living God in Harlem, a Black Hebrew movement. He was strongly influenced by the white Jews he had met. When he learned about the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, he began to identify with them. Matthew trained rabbis, who set up synagogues throughout the United States and the Caribbean. When interviewed, many of the older members of this community recall memories of their parents observing Jewish dietary laws, such as abstaining from pork or salting their meat. Matthew and his congregation were also strongly influenced by the pan-African philosophy of Marcus Garvey from Jamaica, and his black nationalist organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford composed the UNIA's Universal Ethiopian Anthem and its hymnal. He also led the UNIA band and conducted its choir. There he established the Israelite Rabbinical Academy, where he taught and ordained rabbis in his movement. Wentworth Matthew's teachings are followed today by many Black Hebrews and Black Hebrew Israelites, which have developed along different lines. The latter reject whites altogether. Matthew believed that black people who converted to Judaism 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, as he did not satisfy their rules of Jewish descent or conversion by recognized Orthodox or Conservative courts. They resisted his introducing African, Caribbean or African-American practices into Jewish worship. According to a 2002 article by Rabbi Sholomo Ben Levy, also a Black Hebrew, after Matthew's death in 1973, there was little connection between Black Jews and white congregations in New York and elsewhere. ==Legacy==

Rabbis ordained from the Israelite Rabbinical Academy in Brooklyn have become spiritual leaders of Black Hebrews in numerous cities. For instance, Capers Funnye, Jr. of Chicago studied with and was ordained by Levi Ben Levy, the spiritual leader of the Hebrew Israelite movement in Brooklyn from the Commandment Keepers tradition. In 1985 Funnye started as an assistant rabbi at the Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago, ==References==