Memories of the 2019 Centennial Celebration

The Meaning of this Commemoration

Rabbi Sholomo Ben Levy

This centennial is more than an anniversary for us. It is even more important than commemorating the founding of a synagogue. For us, it represents the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. God told Abraham, the first Hebrew, that his descendants will be slaves for 400 years. (Genesis 15:13). After the exodus from Egypt, God revealed to Moses that the children of Israel would, once again, go into slavery. That we would be “carried away in ships” and forced to worship deities that were unknown to our ancestors.  (Deut. 28). History records that the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in the year 1619.  In the year 1919, Chief Rabbi Wentworth A. Matthew founded the Commandment Keepers E.H. congregation in Harlem, New York. Hence, the year 2019 represents our spiritual emancipation on a number of levels.

God told the prophet, Jeremiah, that the process of gathering the lost tribes of Israel from the “four corners of the earth” would be gradual. As it is written: “Return [שׁוּבוּ], faithless people,” declares your God; “for I am married unto you; I will choose you–one from a town and two from a city–and bring you to Zion.” (Jeremiah 3:14).Therefore, we are witnessing the divine hand at work. Just as it was foretold, so is it happening: God is choosing us—often as individuals from within families, sometimes as small groups in remote places in Africa and around the world. God is calling us out of the churches, mosques, idolatry, and states of disbelief where we languished and bringing us back to Zion.

It is important to recognize that in all of these prophecies God used the first person pronoun; e.g. “I will choose” or “I will gather” Many do not agree with the choices that God is making. Many do not accept the people whom God has gathered.  This rejection, though unfortunate, should be expected. We believe with perfect faith that when God’s work is done; when the Children of Israel are finally gathered together at the time of the coming of the true Messiah, then everyone will recognize and be ashamed for as David wrote, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Psalm 118:22). Please join us in celebrating the return of the Children of Israel from the four corners of the earth. Welcome those from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Greet those emerging from the wilderness of dying religions and say unto them: “Shalom brother and sisters. Welcome home!”

Stony The Road We Trod!

Chief Rabbi Capers Shmuel Funnye

As the Israelite/Black Jewish communities come together to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the founding of our community by Chief Rabbi Wentworth A. Matthew, and the Elders of Blessed Memory, my mind turns to the words of the song written by James Weldon Johnson, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” the Black National Anthem. I found in the words in the second stanza of the song most interesting, and befitting an occasion such as we celebrate today. Stony the road we trod, Bitter the Chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet come to the place for which our fathers sighed. The road has been bitter that we have trotted over these last four-hundred years, (one hundred years,) since our awakening, under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Wentworth A. Matthew.

Now we have come to the point in our history, when we must give ear to the words of the prophet Isaiah and his words in the 60^th chapter:  .קומ’ אןר’ כ’ בא אורך וכבוד ‘הוה על’ך עולם“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” One hundred years and it is time for us to bring the light, we must not let our differences stop us from bringing the light of Torah to the world. Throughout the years, every obstacle has been place in our path, but still we rise. It is time for Ethiopia to lift our hands collectively to the Eternal One of Yisrael. So, I ask all of you to rise and shine, for truly Hashem’s light is shining upon us! One Nation, One Aim, One G-D!

Finally, I want to offer my heartfelt todah rabah to the entire centennial committee for your hard work and many sacrifices in making this week possible. Without all of you this glorious week could not have happened.