Cantor's Corner by Eric Miller

Although it is a coincidence this year that the same weekend in January (Jan. 17-19) plays host to Tu Bishvat (the Jewish New Year for Trees) and Martin Luther King Day, it also gives us a chance to explore the roots, branches and fruits, as it were, of our various communities, and how they might even intersect in surprising and unexpected ways. It may be obvious to anyone who has been to Jerusalem and visited synagogues from Yemen, Italy, Morocco, Russia, Germany, etc that Judaism is not an “ethnicity,” and certainly the Eastern European heritage of most American Jews is not the beginning and end of Jewish culture, yet it may surprise some to learn that there is an equally diverse branch of Jewish civilization throughout the continent of Africa. Putting aside for a minute the Sephardic communities of North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia) and the thriving Jewish community of former European immigrants in South Africa, there are also black Jewish communities in Uganda, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, all of whom have taken their own unique path towards living in two civilizations. The Beta Israel (formerly known as Falasha) of Ethiopia are probably the best known of Africa’s non-white Jewish communities. Their 3,000 year-old Jewish history, and dramatic airlift to Israel in 1985 are fairly well-known. More information on this community is widely available, and I’d rather focus instead on the lesser-known African Jewish communities described below.

The next most widely-known (thanks to a successful CD of their music and a just-published book of photographs) Jewish community in Africa is the Abayudaya of Uganda. In many ways their journey to Judaism is the polar opposite of the Ethiopian community. Instead of a unique, Biblically-inspired Jewish tradition nurtured over a millennia of isolation, this group of 500 Jews centered around the large Eastern Ugandan city of Mbale have a history less than a century old. It began when the popular and powerful Bagandan warrior Semei Kakungulu, who had been used as an ally by the British to gain territory in Eastern Africa since the 1880’s, became disillusioned with the British and converted himself and his followers to Judaism in 1919. After his death, the group split in two, and the half that remained devoutly Jewish called themselves Abayudaya (meaning “Jews” in Luganda, the local language). Under the direction of their current spiritual leader, Gershom Sizomu, the Abayudaya observe Judaism identically to modern Jews in the West,praying in both Hebrew and Lugandan, and keeping the same holidays, dietary laws, lifecycle andShabbat practices as other observant Jews. Although they endured hostility from neighboring Christians and violent persecution during the reign of Idi Amin, the Abayudaya remained faithful to their Jewish way of life, and have five synagogues, a high school and a Jewish Youth Group. At the urging of the rapidly aging original members of the community, the younger generation began reaching out to the larger Jewish world community, and, in addition to publicity garnered from a CD and book, they now have regular contact with Jewish supporters in the US and Israel, such as visiting delegations, the Brown Hillel, which raised money to repair their largest synagogue, the Moses Synagogue, and the donation of a Torah from a congregation in Delaware.

The House of Israel community of Ghana is an intriguing mix of the patterns described above. Like the Ethiopians, this group of Ghanaians from the village of Sefwi Sui retained ancient customs not shared by their neighbors such as infant male circumcision, rest on the 7^th day, and a prohibition from eating pork. Like the Abayudaya of Uganda, this community in Ghana did not officially declare themselves “Jewish” until very recently. It happened 25 years ago when a Ghanaian man named Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa, in a spiritual vision, realized the connection between his people’s practices and that of the ancient tribes of Israel. In fact, an ancient Jewish community from as far away as Timbuktu may have made their presence felt in the Sefwi’s original home in the Ivory Coast centuries ago, perhaps influencing the Sefwi before they migrated deep into Ghana. The Sefwi are determined to increase their Jewish knowledge practices, and since the 1990’s, Jewish visitors from the west have donated prayerbooks, Torah commentaries, and other implements to help guide the House of Israel on their journey towards Jewish identity.

Although limitations in space prevent an equally thorough examination of the Jewish community in Rusape, Zimbabwe, who trace their Jewish heritage both through the Judaic-like rituals of their Bantu ancestors and a century-old relationship with charismatic leaders who influenced their decision to become practicing Jews, anyone who reads the Shaliyah Online can go to http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/index.htm for extensive information on this, and many other Jewish communities throughout Africa. I also invite all of you to attend our Shabbat services on Friday night, January 17^th, when we will be exploring the musical traditions of these various African communities in honor of the annual celebration of Jewish music known as Shabbat Shira, The Sabbath of Song.