Wentworth Arthur Matthew, Date of Birth, Date of Death

Wentworth Arthur Matthew

American rabbi

Date of Birth: 23-Jun-1892

Date of Death: 01-Jan-1973

Profession: rabbi

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Wentworth Arthur Matthew (June 23, 1892 – December 1973), a West Indian immigrant to New York City, was the founder in 1919 of the Commandment Keepers of the Living God, a Black Hebrew congregation.
It was influenced by the pan-Africanism and black nationalism of Marcus Garvey from Jamaica.
Matthew developed his congregation along Jewish lines of observance and the theory that they were returning to Judaism as the true Hebrews.
He incorporated in 1930 and moved the congregation to Brooklyn.
There he founded the Israelite Rabbinical Academy, teaching and ordaining African-American rabbis.
His theory of Black Hebrews was generally not accepted in that period by European-American Jews of the Orthodox and Conservative communities. According to Matthew, he was born in Lagos, Nigeria.
Other sources, including his own records, say he was born in St.
Kitts, British West Indies.
He and his family became naturalized United States citizens.