FOCUS

PREVIOUSLY OWNED LUXURY CARS

$23,900

1988 MERCEDES 190 E

BLACK / GREY 48,000

1987 MERCEDES 420 SEL . $34,900

GOLD / BROWN 34,000

$33,900

1985 MERCEDES 380 SL

BLACK / GREY 47,000

Harlem's Hebrews

Continued from preceding page

$44,900

1988 MERCEDES 560 SL

RED / TAN 70,000

1988 MERCEDES 560 SEC . . $51,000

TAUPE / PARCH 29,000

$16,900

1986 BMW 535

BLUE / BLUE 42,000

$8,900

1986 AUDI 5000S

BLACK / GREY 58,000

1988 SAAB CONV. 900T .. .$23,900

BLACK / TAN 28,000

1986 HONDA LXI ACCORD . .$8,995

GREY / GREY 38,000

1988 CONTINENTAL SIG. . .$16,995

BRONZE / BROWN 29,000

1988 CONTINENTAL SIG. . .$16,995

BLACK / GREY 33,000

$6,995

1985 CADILLAC SDN.

GREY / GREY 81,000

1987 CADILLAC TOURING

$12,300

BLACK / GREY 52,000

$35,900

1990 LEXUS LS400

BLACK / TAN 15,000

$5,450

1983 AUDI 400 ES

SILBLUE / BLUE 43,000

$34,900

1990 LEXUS L5400

BLUE / BLUE 5,000

LEXUS OF LAKESIDE

726-7930

Used Car Department

TWO FOR ONE!

BUY THE MITSUBISHI MOBTI
AND GET THE TRAVEL PAK FREE!*

AMITSUBISHI

-V

832 Channel Operation
4 Dual Telephone Number
Capability
Electronic Menu of Key Functions
100 Telephone Number Memory
Signal Strength Meter
4 Automatic Re-Dial
4 Memory Scan

.

MUNIEN ► CS

4tbk

DRIVE•IN
CELLULAR

31075 John R
Madison Heights
Just North of 13 Mile Rd.

585-4520

c

32825 Northwestern Hwy.
Farmington Hills
Just South of 14 Mile Rd.

626-8480

( Authorized

CELLPET

Agent

*Travel pak includes bag, antenna,
and cigarette lighter adapter. Two for one
offer applies to mobile and transportable
functions.

116

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990

O

MOBILE
COMMUNICATIONS

AUTMOR41110 RESELLER

We Feature Ameritech
Mobile Communications

played a part in causing the
split.
"No one ever questions the
background of a Mr. Cohen or
a Mr. Bernstein and asks,
`Wait a minute, are you a
Jew?' " says Rabbi Irving
Block, a member of the Board
of Governors of the New York
Board of Rabbis, who remem-
bers attending services at the
Commandment Keepers more
than 40 years ago when the
congregation was headed by
its founder, Rabbi Wentworth
A. Matthew. "Again and
again, I've heard people say
that we need to do a sociolo-
gical study and determine
their credentials."
Says Rabbi A. James
Rudin, a religious affairs ex-
pert with the American Jew-
ish Committee: "I'd hoped
the breach would have healed
by now. Here we are trying to
bring Jews together, but
there's always been a lot of
unnecessary questioning.
After the Holocaust, every-
one who wants to be a Jew is
needed. You need honey, not
vinegar, to work with people.
Who knows? We may find we
have more in common with
them than we think. Let's at
least open the gates."
Many Jewish leaders insist
skin color has nothing to do
with it. Rather, it's viewed en-
tirely as a basic question of
religious law.
"You're Jewish either by
descendancy or conversion,"
says Rabbi Yitzchok Brand-
riss, director of public affairs
for Agudath Israel of Amer-
ica. "The fact that somebody
practices Judaism doesn't
make them Jewish. Even if
it's a second generation.
What is the claim based on?"
A spokesman for the Israeli
consulate responded similar-
ly: "The only criteria we can
rely on is birth certification,
which should mention that
the mother is Jewish. It's the
same principle that's applied
to the recent Soviet immigra-
tion."
The failure of the Jewish
"establishment" to reach
some kind of understanding
with black leaders has fos-
tered resentment.
"They want us to go
through conversions," com-
plains Rabbi White. "But
we're already Hebrews:'
As a result of these differ-
ences, the blacks formed their
own rabbinate council to or-
dain their leaders. And
they've adopted an "equal,
but separate" mentality.
For instance, Rabbi White's
congregants always make a
point of referring to them-

selves as Hebrews or Israel-
ites. This, they feel, allows
them to stress their black
culture and African roots.
Jews, so the story goes, have
a European or Arabic back-
ground, making them very
different, even if they are
practicing the same religion.
As Rabbi White likes to
note, only one of the 12 tribes
was called Yehuda, from
which the word Jew is de-
rived. Such arguments, if you
stop to think about it, turn
many assumptions on their
heads.
The African connection, as
one might imagine, is a sub-
ject of great debate. Rabbi
White and his colleagues else-
where maintain that their de-

"We're Hebrews,
Israelites. It
doesn't matter if
people call us
Hebrews or
Israelites or Jews.
We're all brothers."
Rabbi Chaim White

scendants were members of
African tribes who, many cen-
turies ago, had Jewish cus-
toms, such as circumcision
and lighting candles once
every seven days. Migration
led these people westward
across the Sahara Desert to
the horn of Africa. From
there, they went in slavery to
the Caribbean and North
America.
Of course, this argument is
hard to prove. They're not
recognized as true Ethiopian
Jews by the American Asso-
ciation for Ethiopian Jews or
the North American Con-
ference on Ethiopian Jewry.
In their defense, though,
black Jews are quick to cite
stories of the Hebrew-like
Ashanti tribe on Africa's west
coast as supporting evidence.
They also point to Israel's ac-
ceptance of Ethiopian Jews
as living proof that their mi-
gration theory has substance.
Others suggest that many
black Americans adopted
Judaism earlier this century
as an offshoot of the back-to-
Africa movement.
"They're self-converted.
Black Hebrews emerged in
the 1920s, about 10 years
before Black Muslims came
about," says Howard Brotz,
who retired as a sociology
professor from McM asters
University in Ibronto and is
the author of a book about
Harlem's black Jews. "Mar-
cus Garvey ignited black

nationalism and Rabbi Mat-
thew was a great admirer of
Garvey. The Muslims have
the same root:'
Coincidentally perhaps,
some of the men at the Com-
mandment Keepers wear
skullcaps that more closely
resemble the wide, knitted
headcoverings worn by
Muslims than a fashionably
knitted kippa.
In other ways, however, the
services are conducted largely
according to Orthodox Jew-
ish practice. At times, I can
close my eyes and feel at
home. But there are a few dif-
ferences. Prayers, of course,
are said in Hebrew, but every-
one stands all morning except
for readings of the lbrah. And
the Haftorah is read com-
pletely in English. Acknowl-
edging an old Orthodox cus-
tom of not turning one's back
to the lbrah, congregants
called for an aliyah must walk
around the bimah and then
descend to their seats back-
wards. Moreover, no one at
the bimah wears shoes, emu-
lating Arabic practice. And,
for a touch of authenticity,
sweet incense burns as it did
in the Ibmple in Jerusalem
2,000 years ago.
There are also touches that
might be found in a Baptist
church, or perhaps a Reform
congregation. A Hammond
organ is used to accompany a
choir of eight women and two
men who belt out several
hymns. And Rabbi White
concludes services with an
hour and a half long sermon
admonishing his congregants
about many of today's evils,
all the while sounding like a
preacher from the deep south.
But Rabbi White dismisses
such similarities, "We live ac-
cording to Torah. We don't go
outside our religion. The
Hebrew way of life is not a
gentile way of life." And he ex-
presses regret that his con-
gregation is still viewed with
suspicion by most white
Jews.
"We're not hateful people,"
he says. "We don't have hard
feelings against Jews no mat-
ter what their complexion.
There are other light-skinned
people and white Jews who
belong to us, who worship
with us. Everybody has
looked down on us. But my
people aren't poor or looking
for help. No Jewish philan-
thropist has given us any-
thing. We're all made by the
same creator. We just want to
follow the Commandments."
And, as he has at the begin-
ning and end of every conver-
sation, he says "Shalom." ❑