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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation
Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, more commonly known as Beth Shalom B'Nai Zaken EHC, or simply Beth Shalom, abbreviated as BSBZ EHC, is a Black Hebrew Israelite congregation and synagogue, located at 6601 South Kedzie Avenue, in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. The congregation is led by rabbi Capers Funnye; and assistant rabbis are Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter. Beth Shalom is affiliated with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis.

History

The congregation was started by Rabbi Horace Hasan from Bombay, India, in 1918 as the Ethiopian Hebrew Settlement Workers Association, and was influenced by Wentworth Arthur Matthew's Commandment Keepers.

In 2021, Tamar Manasseh became the first woman ordained as a rabbi at the synagogue.

Overview

The congregation has approximately 200 members, the majority of whom are African American.

Along with African-Americans, members include Hispanic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews, as well as former Christians and Muslims. As is traditional with Judaism, they do not seek converts, and members must study Judaism for a year before undergoing a traditional conversion requiring men to be ritually circumcised and women to undergo ritual immersion in a mikvah.

The congregation has been described as being "somewhere between Conservative and Modern Orthodox" with distinctive African-American influences; while men and women sit separately as in Orthodox synagogues, a choir sings spirituals to the beat of a drum. It follows traditional Jewish liturgy and laws, including Sabbath and "a modified version of kosher dietary laws".

The congregation is currently housed in a previously existing synagogue purchased from the Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation, a Conservative temple of Ashkenazi Lithuanian Jews at West 66th Street and South Kedzie Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

References

  1. ^ Kestenbaum, Sam (October 15, 2015). "With new chief rabbi, black Hebrew-Israelites make bid to enter the Jewish mainstream". Haaretz. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Sokol, Sam (December 17, 2019). "Black Hebrew Israelite Leader Condemns Jersey City Shooting". Haaretz. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  3. ^ Washington, Robin (December 18, 2019). "Who Black Hebrew Israelites Are—And Who They Are Not". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  4. ^ "Divine Law or Sexism?". NPR. July 12, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  5. ^ "Visit Our Synagogues" (PDF). International Israelite Board of Rabbis. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  6. ^ Koppel, Niko (2008-03-16). "Black Rabbi Reaches Out to Mainstream of His Faith". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Chireau, Yvonne (2000). "Black Culture and Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism, 1790–1930, an Overview". In Yvonne Patricia Chireau; Nathaniel Deutsch (eds.). Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 48. ISBN 0-19-511257-1.
  8. ^ Angell, Stephen W. (Spring 2001). "Yvonne Chireau and Nathaniel Deutsch, eds , Black Zion: African American Religious Encounters with Judaism". The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History. 4 (2). Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  9. ^ Kovac, Adam (November 8, 2022). "With Roe's demise, a Chicago rabbi revives a clandestine abortion network". The Forward.
  10. ^ "Mazal Tov Rabbi Tamar Manasseh". July 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Chafets, Zev (April 5, 2009). "Obama's Rabbi". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  12. ^ Hecktman, Adam. "Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation". Archived from the original on July 1, 2017.
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