The Commandment Keepers: Preview at the Temple Beth ElJanuary 29, 2009
Documentary on African American Jews, a “Minority’s Minority” Preview of The Commandment Keepers with the Filmmaker, Rabbi – Jan. 29
Learn about a fascinating community of Jewish Americans that challenges stereotypes and the myth of monolithic race and religion. Attend the Rochester sneak preview of The Commandment Keepers, a documentary work-in-progress by Rochester native Marlaine Glicksman about the Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, an African American synagogue founded in 1919 in Harlem, where it carried on more than four generations. The film will be shown on Thursday, January 29 at 7PM at the Temple Beth El, 139 Winton Road South, near the 490 exit and East Ave. (parking is available). It is free and open to the community but tickets are required; seating is limited.
Both the filmmaker and Rabbi Schlomo Levy, spiritual leader of the Beth Elohim Hebrew Congregation in Queens, New York, will be on hand to offer commentary after the screening. An open discussion will follow. Black-Jewish relations will also be addressed. The program will conclude at 9PM.
The Commandment Keepers is a one-hour film (currently in post-production) on the Commandment Keepers Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, a highly observant synagogue where Hebrew is heard throughout, and whose members keep kosher and steadfastly observe the Jewish holy days and laws. It’s also a synagogue where the rabbi carries an African cane and members wear African dress. The film is the dramatic story of a people caught between two often-conflicting worlds, Black and Jewish, a "minority's minority" struggling to hold on to its faith and identity despite the obstacles.
The film explores the influence and impact of faith, color, and identity on community—especially when the identity claimed conflicts with how that identity is perceived. “People see you as Black first,” says Rabbi Sholomo Levy, “so it's not a question of how you see yourself—but how others see you.”
The Commandment Keepers also illuminates African Americans’ long-held affiliation, born in American slavery, with the biblical Hebrews and, especially, Exodus’s story about exile, suffering, and redemption. As Rabbi Levy explains, “There has always been an identification in the African American community with the people of the Old Testament and its stories of slavery and liberation.”
In its members’ own words, and in contemporary and archival footage and photos, The Commandment Keepers is a portrait and history of the community, which established its foothold during the Garvey movement and the Harlem Renaissance and now encompasses a rabbinic institute and sister synagogues nationally and internationally.
Director/Producer Marlaine Glicksman is a filmmaker/screenwriter, and journalist based in New York City. She is currently an editor at Vogue.
Rabbi Sholomo Levy traces his family's roots and devotion to Judaism back 600 years. His grandfather and father were also rabbis.
This film is being presented in celebration of Black History Month and in appreciation of the diversity within American Judaism. The program is sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation / Community Relations in cooperation with the Baobab Cultural Center.
Tickets for The Commandment Keepers may be picked up at the Jewish Community Federation, the Baobab Cultural Center, Aenon Baptist Church, or Temple Beth El. For further information, contact Isobel Goldman the Jewish Community Federation, 461-0490 or the Baobab Cultural Center, 563-2145.
Please follow this link if you would like to reserve tickets from the Baobab Cultural Center. Please note: tickets will be reserved for you, but you must claim them during the center's regular hours (5:30-7:30 PM Mon.-Thurs., Sat. 2-4 PM)