View source for History of the Jews in Africa

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
[[Image:Africa-jewish-population.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Proportion of [[Jewish population]] in Africa]]
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar |expanded=population}}
'''African Jewish''' communities include:
*[[Sephardi Jews]] and [[Mizrahi Jews]] who primarily live in the [[Maghreb]] of [[North Africa]], including [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]], [[Libya]], and [[Tunisia]], as well as [[Sudan]] and [[Egypt]]. Some were established early in the [[Jewish diaspora|diaspora]]; others after the expulsion from [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] in the late 15th century.
*[[South African Jews]], who are mostly [[Ashkenazi Jews]] descended from pre-[[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] immigrant [[Lithuanian Jews]].
*[[Beta Israel]] living primarily in the [[Amhara Region|Amhara]] and [[Tigray Region|Tigray]] regions of [[Ethiopia]] and sparsely in [[Eritrea]].
*[[Berber Jews]], the majority of whom were assimilated and converted to [[Islam]], especially during the historical persecutions of the [[Almohades|Almohadic Caliphate]] in the Middle Ages. The modern population of Berber Jews in Africa now numbers about 8,000 people in [[Morocco]], with the majority having emigrated to Israel since the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], along with smaller numbers scattered throughout Europe and North America. 
*[[Lemba_people#Religion|Lemba Jews]] in Southern Africa
*Historical communities which no longer exist in Africa due to assimilation, such as the [[Jews of Bilad el-Sudan]] in West Africa, who existed before the introduction of Islam to the region during the 14th century. 
*Various relatively modern groups throughout Africa, most of whom claim some form of a Judaic or Israelite identity, and/or ancestry.

==Ancient communities==
{{See also|Jewish exodus from the Muslim world}}
[[File:Berber Jews.jpg|thumb|[[Berber Jews]] of the [[Atlas Mountains]], c. 1900]]
The most ancient communities of African Jews are the [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian]], [[Jews of Bilad el-Sudan|West African Jews]], [[Sephardi Jews]], and [[Mizrahi Jews]] of [[North Africa]] and the [[Horn of Africa]].

In the seventh century, many [[Spanish Jews]] fled from the persecution which was occurring under the rule of the [[Visigoths]] and migrated to North Africa, where they made their homes in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-dominated cities along the Mediterranean coast. Others arrived after the [[Expulsion of Jews from Spain|expulsion from Iberia]]. Remnants of longstanding Jewish communities remain in Morocco, Tunisia, and the Spanish cities of [[Ceuta]] and [[Melilla]]. There is a much-diminished but still vibrant community on the island of [[Djerba]] in Tunisia. Since 1948 and the war to establish Israel, which aroused hostility in Muslim lands, most other North African Jews emigrated to Israel.

Of the seventh-century immigrants, some of them moved inland and proselytized among the [[Berber people|Berber]] tribes. A number of tribes, including the [[Jarawa (Berber)|Jarawa]], [[Uled Jari]], and some tribes of the [[Daggatun]] people, converted to Judaism.<ref>Hirschberg, Haim Z. "The Problem of the Judaized Berbers," ''Journal of African History'' 4, no. 3 (1963): 317.</ref> [[Ibn Khaldun]] reported that [[Kahina]], a female Berber warlord who led the resistance against the Muslim [[Arab]] conquests of North Africa in the 680s and 690s, was a Jew of the [[Jarawa (Berber)|Jarawa]] tribe. With the defeat of the Berber rebellion, none of the Jewish communities was initially [[forced to convert to Islam]].<ref>Ausbel, Nathan. ''Pictorial History of the Jewish People. New York: Crown, 1953. 225–227.''</ref>

===Ethiopia===
{{main|Beta Israel}}
{{see|History of the Jews in Ethiopia}}
In 1975, the Israeli religious authorities and the Israeli government both recognized the [[Beta Israel]] of [[Ethiopia]] as [[Who is a Jew?|an officially Jewish community]]. Hundreds of persons who wanted to emigrate to Israel were air-lifted under the leadership of Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]. Begin had obtained an official ruling from the Israeli [[Sephardi]] [[Chief Rabbi]] (or ''Rishon LeZion'') [[Ovadia Yosef]] that the Beta Israel were descendants of the [[Ten Lost Tribes]]. Rabbis believed that they were probably descendants of the [[Tribe of Dan]]; [[rabbi]]nical [[responsa]] discussing issues related to the people date back hundreds of years. With this endorsement, in later decades, tens of thousands of Beta Israel Jews were air-lifted to Israel. Significant immigration to Israel continues into the 21st century, producing an Ethiopian Jewish community of around 81,000 immigrants, who with their 39,000 children who were born in Israel itself, numbered around 120,000 by early 2009.

Due to certain aspects of Orthodox Jewish marital laws, Rabbi Yosef ruled that upon their arrival in Israel, the Beta Israel had to undergo a ''pro forma'' [[conversion to Judaism]]. They had to declare their allegiance to a ''[[halacha|halachic]]'' way of life and the Jewish people, in conformity with practices which are followed by adherents of Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism. He did not demand the normal formal requirements that the halacha imposes on potential [[gentile]] proselytes, (such as a [[brit milah]] or immersion in a [[mikveh]]). Few Ashkenazi [[posek|rabbinic authorities]] consider the conversions to be actual [[Conversion to Judaism|conversions]], not ''pro forma''.

[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Memorial ceremony for Ethiopian immigrants at Har Tayasim..jpg|thumb|Ethiopian Jews]]
Over time, due to their community's isolation from those in Europe and the Middle East, the practices of the Beta Israel developed to differ significantly from those of other forms of Judaism. In Ethiopia, the Beta Israel community was for the most part isolated from the [[Talmud]]. They did have their own [[oral law]]. In some cases, they had practices similar to those of [[Karaite Judaism]], and in others more similar to [[rabbinical Judaism]].

In many instances, their religious elders, or their priestly class, known as ''kessim'' or ''qessotch'', interpreted the Biblical Law of the [[Tanakh]] in a way which is similar to the way in which it is interpreted by [[rabbinite]] Jewish communities in other parts of the world.<ref>שרון שלום, '''מסיני לאתיופיה: עולמה ההלכתי והרעיוני של יהדות אתיופיה, כולל "שולחן האורית" - מדריך הלכתי לביתא ישראל''', עורך אברהם ונגרובר, ידיעות ספרים, 2012</ref> In that sense, the Beta Israel had a tradition analogous to that of the ''Talmud,'' although at times at variance with the practices and teachings of other Jewish communities.

One significant difference is the fact that the Beta Israel lacked the festivals of [[Purim]] and [[Hanukkah]], probably because they branched off from the main body of Judaism before these non-Biblical holidays began to be commemorated. Today, most members of the Beta Israel community living in Israel do observe these holidays.

They are a community which is in transition. Some of the kessim accept the rabbinic/Talmudic tradition that is practiced by non-Ethiopian [[Orthodox Jews]]. Many members of the younger generation of Ethiopian-Israelis have been educated in [[yeshivas]] and they have also received rabbinical [[ordination]] (''semikha''). A certain segment of traditionalist ''kessim'' insist on maintaining their separate and distinct form of Judaism, as it had been practiced in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Many of the Ethiopian Jewish youth who have immigrated to Israel or been born there have assimilated either to the dominant form of Orthodox Judaism, or to a secular lifestyle.

The [[Beit Avraham]] of Ethiopia consists of some 50,000 members. This community also claims to have a Jewish heritage. Several scholars think that they broke off from the Beta Israel community several centuries ago, hid their Jewish customs, and outwardly adopted Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

The Beit Avraham have traditionally been on the lower rungs of Ethiopian social life. They have held occupations which are similar to those which have been held by the Beta Israel, such as crafts. Recently, the Beit Avraham community has attempted to reach out to the worldwide Jewish community. They formed the [[Ethiopian North Shewa Zionist Organization]] in an attempt to save their [[Jewish identity]].<ref>[http://www.blackjews.org/Rabbi%20Paris%20Trip%20to%20Ethiopia%202006.htm "Ethiopia: Beit Avraham"], Black Jews Official website, visited 22 November 2006</ref> The members of this group refer to themselves as the ''[[Falashmura]].'' Because they do not have any reliable proof of Jewish ancestry, Israeli religious authorities and other religious Jewish communities require them to complete a formal [[conversion to Judaism]] before they [[Who is a Jew?|recognize them as Jews]]. Those Falashmura who do so are considered converts to Judaism.

The Gefat people (locally known by the pejorative "Fuga") are a southern Ethiopian tribe which is descended from Beta Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Serving the Scattered Tribes of Israel {{!}} Jewish Voice |url=https://www.jewishvoice.org/read/article/serving-scattered-tribes-israel |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=www.jewishvoice.org}}</ref>

===Somalia===
{{main|Yibir|History of Jews in Somalia}}
The [[Yibir]] are a tribe that lives in [[Somalia]], eastern [[Ethiopia]], [[Djibouti]], and northern [[Kenya]]. Though they have been Muslim for centuries, some of them assert they are descendants of [[Hebrews]] who arrived in the [[Horn of Africa]] long before the arrival of Somali nomads. These individuals assert that ''Yibir'' means "Hebrew" in their language.<ref name="Bader, Christian 2000">Bader, Christian. ''Les Yibro: Mages somali'', Paris 2000, 129–144</ref>

===Bilad el-Sudan===
{{main|Jews of Bilad el-Sudan}}
The historical presence of Jewish communities in Africa is well-attested to. Today, the descendants of these Jews live in nations such as Sierra Leone,<ref>Browne-Davies, Nigel, 'Jewish Merchants in Sierra Leone, 1831‐1934,' Journal of Sierra Leone Studies, Volume 6, Edition 2, pp 3-110, URL: http://thejournalofsierraleonestudies.com/downloads/Version11.pdf</ref> Liberia, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, and many other areas. According to the 17th century ''[[Tarikh al-Fattash]]'' and the ''[[Tarikh al-Sudan]]'', several Jewish communities existed as parts of the Ghana, Mali, and later Songhai empires. One such community was formed by a group of Egyptian Jews, who allegedly traveled by way of the [[Sahel corridor]] through Chad into Mali. Manuscript&nbsp;C of the ''Tarikh al-Fattash'' described a community called the Bani Israel; in 1402, it lived in Tindirma, possessed 333 wells, and had seven princes as well as an army.

Another such community was that of the Zuwa ruler of Koukiya (located at the Niger River).  His name was known only as ''Zuwa Alyaman,'' meaning "He comes from Yemen". According to an isolated local legend, Zuwa Alyaman was a member of one of the Jewish communities transported from Yemen by Abyssinians in the 6th century CE after the defeat of [[Dhu Nuwas]]. Zuwa Alyaman was said to have traveled into West Africa along with his brother. They established a community in Kukiya at the banks of the Niger River downstream from Gao. According to the ''Tarikh al-Sudan'', after Zuwa Alyaman, there were 14 Zuwa rulers of [[Gao-Saney|Gao]] before the rise of Islam in the second half of the eleventh century.

Other sources stated that other Jewish communities in the region developed from people who migrated from Morocco and Egypt; others later came from Portugal. Some communities were said to have been populated by certain [[Berber people|Berber]] Jews, like a group of [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] known as [[Dawsahak people|Dawsahak]] or Iddao Ishaak ("children of Isaac"). They speak a language related to [[Songhai languages|Songhai]], live in [[Ménaka Region]] in northeastern Mali and were formerly herders for Tuareg nobles.<ref>[http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?rop3=103948&rog3=ML People-in-County Profile: Dawsahak]; D. J. Philips, ''Peoples on the Move'', Pasadena, CA, 2001.</ref> In addition, some migrated into the area away from the Muslim rule of North Africa.

The well-known 16th Century geographer [[Leo Africanus]] - an [[Andalusian people|Andalusian]] [[Berber people|Berber]] convert to Christianity - mentions a mysterious small village of African Jews southwest of [[Timbuktu]], who traded in exotic spices, weapons, and poisons.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Medieval arrivals==

===North Africa and the Maghreb===
{{see also |History of the Jews in Morocco |History of the Jews in Algeria |History of the Jews in Tunisia |History of the Jews in Carthage |History of the Jews in Kairouan}}
The largest influx of Jews to Africa came after the [[Spanish Inquisition]] after the [[Fall of Granada]] and the end of [[Islamic Spain]]. The mass exodus and expulsion of the Iberian Jews began in 1492, Sicilian Jews were affected soon afterwards. Many of these [[Sephardi Jews]] settled primarily in the [[Maghreb]] under [[Muslim]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] patronage. [[Morocco]], [[Tunisia]], [[Libya]] and [[Algeria]] as well as [[Egypt]] became home to significant Jewish communities. These communities were later incorporated into the Ottoman [[millet]] system as Africanized [[Ottoman Jews]], bound by the laws of the [[Talmud]] and [[Torah]] but with allegiance to the [[Caliph]] of [[Constantinople]].

===Tanzania===
{{main|Nyambo}}
The [[Nyambo]] are a tribe that lives in [[Tanzania]], northern [[Tanzania]], and Southern [[Uganda]] as Ankole. Though they have been Christians for centuries, they assert they are descendants of Hebrews who arrived in the Horn of Africa long before the arrival of Somali nomads. Some say that ''Nyambo'' means "Hebrew" in their language.<ref name="Bader, Christian 2000"/>

=== Sudan ===
We know little more about the presence of Jews in modern times in the territories of today's Sudan, and what is known is that in the 20th and 19th centuries a permanent Jewish community was founded, which at its peak totaled approximately one thousand Jews, and that Jewish community was closed in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} Tales of Jewish Sudan |url=https://www.talesofjewishsudan.com/history |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Tales of JewishSudan |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=talesofjewishsudan.com is a blog.|date=June 2024}}

===Songhai===
In the 14th century many [[Moors]] and Jews, fleeing persecution in Spain, migrated south to the Timbuktu area, at that time part of the [[Songhai Empire]]. Among them was the Kehath (Ka'ti) family, descended from [[Ismael Jan Kot Al-yahudi]] of [[Scheida, Morocco]]. Sons of this prominent family founded three villages that still exist near Timbuktu—[[Kirshamba]], [[Haybomo]], and [[Kongougara]].  In 1492, [[Askia Muhammed]] came to power in the previously tolerant region of Timbuktu and decreed that Jews must convert to Islam or leave; Judaism became illegal in Songhai, as it did in Catholic Spain that same year. As the historian [[Leo Africanus]] wrote in 1526: ''"The king (Askia) is a declared enemy of the Jews. He will not allow any to live in the city. If he hears it said that a Berber merchant frequents them or does business with them, he confiscates his goods."''

The Kehath family converted with the rest of the non-Muslim population.  The Cohens, descended from the Moroccan Islamicized Jewish trader El-Hadj [[Abd-al-Salam al Kuhin]], arrived in the Timbuktu area in the 18th century, and the Abana family came in the first half of the 19th century. According to Prof. [[Michel Abitbol]], at the [[Center for the Research of Moroccan Jewry]] in Israel, in the late 19th century Rabbi [[Mordoche Aby Serour]] traveled to Timbuktu several times as a not-too-successful trader in ostrich feathers and ivory. [[Ismael Diadie Haidara]], a historian from Timbuktu, has found old [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] texts among the city's historical records. He has also researched his own past and discovered that he is descended from the Moroccan Jewish traders of the Abana family. As he interviewed elders in the villages of his relatives, he has discovered that knowledge of the family's [[Jewish identity]] has been preserved, in secret, out of fear of persecution.<ref>[http://www.kulanu.org/timbuktu/timbuktu.html The Renewal of Jewish Identity in Timbuktu] by [[Karen Primack]], on [[Kulanu]]'s website.  Viewed 22 November 2006. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029195949/http://www.kulanu.org/timbuktu/timbuktu.html|date=29 October 2005}}</ref>

===São Tomé e Príncipe===
{{main article|History of the Jews in São Tomé and Príncipe}}

King [[Manuel I of Portugal]] exiled about 2,000 Jewish children under the age of ten, to São Tomé and Príncipe around 1500. Most died, but in the early 17th century "the local bishop noted with disgust that there were still Jewish observances on the island and returned to Portugal because of his frustration with them."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/mozambique.htm |title=Sao Tome and Principe |first=Jay |last=Sand |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705120412/http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/mozambique.htm |archive-date=5 July 2009 |access-date=14 February 2016 }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=February 2016}} Although Jewish practices faded over subsequent centuries, there are people in São Tomé and Príncipe who are aware of partial descent from this population. Similarly, a number of Portuguese ethnic Jews were exiled to [[Sao Tome]] after forced conversions to Roman Catholicism. From São Tomé and by other means groups of Jews settled down the west coast of Africa, as far south as Loango.<ref>Silva Horta, P. Mark and J. da ''The Forgotten Diaspora: Jewish Communities in West Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World'', (New York  2011); Parfitt, Tudor  (2020)  ''Hybrid Hate: Conflations of Anti-Black Racism and Anti-Semitism from the Renaissance to the Third Reich''. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref>

==Modern communities==
===Cameroon===
{{main article|History of the Jews in Cameroon}}

Rabbi Yisrael Oriel, formerly Bodol Ngimbus-Ngimbus, was born into the [[Bassa people (Cameroon)|Bassa people]]. He says there were historically Jews in the area and that the word "[[Bassa people (Cameroon)|Bassa]]" is from the Hebrew for 'on a journey' and means "blessing".  Rabbi Oriel claims to be a Levite descended from Moses and reportedly made ''[[aliyah|aliya]]'' in 1988, and he was then apparently ordained as a rabbi by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi and appointed rabbi to Nigerian Jews.

Rabbi Oriel claims that in 1920 there were 400,000 'Israelites' in Cameroon, but by 1962 the number had decreased to 167,000 due to conversions to Christianity and Islam.  He said that although these tribes had not been accepted halachically, he believes that he can prove their Jewish status from medieval rabbinic sources.<ref>[http://www.haruth.com/JewsCameroon.htm "Jews in Cameroon"], Haruth, accessed 22 November 2006</ref>

The father of [[Yaphet Kotto]], an American actor, was a Cameroonian Jew. Kotto identified as Jewish.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Côte d'Ivoire===
{{main article|History of the Jews in Ivory Coast}}

Communities have been forming in Côte d'Ivoire in recent years and have been slowly growing throughout the region. The capital city of [[Abidjan]] has two synagogues, each with a population of about 40-70 congregants.<ref name="CDI">{{cite web|last1=Sussman|first1=Bonita Nathan|title=Kulanu: Developing Judaism in Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon|url=http://www.kulanu.org/gabon/cotedivoireandgabon.php|website=www.kulanu.org|access-date=24 March 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325201432/http://www.kulanu.org/gabon/cotedivoireandgabon.php|archive-date=25 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition, large groups of indigenous peoples referred to as Danites claim descent from the lost tribe of Dan and many from this ethnic group have shown interest in Judaic practices.<ref name="CDI"/>

===Ghana===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Ghana}}
From the eighteenth century on what is now Ghana was a favorite locus for theories positing Israelite origins for various  ethnic groups in the area. These theories were widespread and were taken up by powerful people in the twentieth century.<ref>T. McCaskie,   'Asante Origins, Egypt, and the Near East: an idea and its history' in D.R.Peterson,  and G. Macola(eds.) Recasting the Past: history writing and political work in modern Africa. (Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 2009) (New African Histories Series) 125–148;   Parfitt, Tudor (2013)  ''Black Jews in Africa and the Americas'', Harvard University Press pp.44-6,177-118</ref> The [[House of Israel (Ghana)|House of Israel]] community of [[Sefwi Wiawso]], [[Sefwi Sui]] has identified as Jewish since the early 1970s.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor  ''Black Jews in Africa and the Americas'', Harvard University Press (2013)  pp.118-119</ref>

===Kenya===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Kenya}}
Theories suggesting Israelite origins particularly of the Masai abounded in the nineteenth century and were gradually absorbed into religious and societal practices throughout the area.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (2002) The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson pp.190-1. Parfitt, Tudor  ''Black Jews in Africa and the Americas'', Harvard University Press (2013)</ref> The chief proponent of Masai Israelite origins was a German officer Moritz Merkel whose detailed research is still in use today.<ref>"The Maasai and the ancient Israelites: an early 20th century interpretation of the Maasai in German East Africa".December 2017, ''Scriptura'' 116(2)</ref>  Of the many Judaic manifestations in the religious sphere is a small emergent community  in [[Laikipia County]], [[Kenya]],  which has abandoned Christianity  and taken up Judaism. There are an estimated 5,000 of them at the present time. Although at first Messianic, they concluded that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and are now waiting to be instructed in traditional Judaism.<ref>Additional communities have emerged in Kasuku near the western part of the country after splitting off from Messianic movements. 
[http://www.timesnews.co.ke/16apr06/nwsstory/news5.html ''Kenyan Hebrew converts celebrate Easter in style''] from the Kenyan ''[[Sunday Times (Kenya)|Sunday Times]]'' newspaper.  Accessed 22 November 2006.</ref> Some of the younger children of this community have been sent to the Abayudaya schools in Uganda to be instructed in Judaism and other subjects. Luos in Kenya are  another of the groups considered by some to be  of Israelite origin. They claim to have migrated hundreds of years ago from the north  along  the river Nile from Egypt through South Sudan and then into Kenya.<ref>"[http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/6085/edition_id/113/format/html/displaystory.html Kenyan political exile finds Jewish home, soul in S.F.]", accessed from [http://www.jewishsf.com/ JewishSanFrancisco.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602173255/http://www.jewishsf.com/ |date=2 June 2006 }} on 22 November 2006.</ref>

===Madagascar===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Madagascar}}
In early modern times it was widely believed that  Israelites had settled in Madagascar. Works by the French scholar Alfred Grandidier and Augustus Keane, the British professor of Hindustani at University College, London provided what they saw as conclusive proof of  these ancient connections.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (2002) ''The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth'' p.203</ref> In 2010 a small community of Malagasies began practicing normative Judaism, and three separate communities formed, each embracing a different  version of Jewish spiritual practice.<ref name="JTAMAD2">{{cite web|last1=Josefson|first1=Deborah|title=In remote Madagascar, a new community chooses to be Jewish|url=https://www.jta.org/2016/06/05/news-opinion/world/in-remote-madagascar-a-new-community-chooses-to-be-jewish|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=24 March 2017|date=5 June 2016}}</ref> In May 2016, 121 members of the Malagasy Jewish community were converted in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals; appearing before a [[beit din]] and submerged in a [[mikvah]]. The conversion, organized with the help of the Jewish organization Kulanu, was presided over by three Orthodox rabbis.<ref name="JTAMAD2"/>

===Nigeria===
{{main|History of the Jews in Nigeria|Igbo Jews}}
At the present time, the existence of Israelite associations is mainly attributed to the Igbo, some of whom claim Israelite origins. Most of the Jews of Nigeria can be found among the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] ethnic group. Certain Nigerian communities with Judaic practices have been receiving help from individual Israelis and American Jews who work in Nigeria with outreach organizations like Kulanu.<ref>[http://www.kulanu.org Kulanu website], especially relevant is the [http://www.kulanu.org/nigeria/ Nigeria] page, which treats the Igbo question more extensively.</ref><ref name ="Kestenbaum">Sam Kestenbaum, [http://forward.com/news/331188/meet-the-igbo-nigerias-lost-jewish-tribe/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-1 'Meet the Igbo, Nigeria's Lost Jewish Tribe,'] [[The Forward]] 24 January 2016.</ref>
The number of Igbos in Nigeria who identify as Jews has been estimated to number around 4,000 (2016), along with 70 synagogues. Many have converted from Christianity.<ref name="Kestenbaum" /> Other sources give a higher estimate, claiming that some 30,000 Igbos were practicing some form of Judaism in 2008.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bruder|first=Edith|title=The Black Jews of Africa: History, Religion, Identity|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195333565|page=143}}</ref>

===South Africa===
{{Main|History of the Jews in South Africa}}

===Uganda===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Uganda}}
For centuries, it was believed that Jews inhabited the central portions of Africa. Some Africans were keen to adopt Judaism in recent times. One of these was Samei Kakungulu, one of the most remarkable Ugandans of his generation, a brilliant military strategist and a man who had a great amount of spiritual and intellectual curiosity. In 1919, having declared that "we now will be known as Jews," he was circumcised along with his first son, whom he called  Yuda. His second son was subsequently circumcised on the eighth day, in the Jewish fashion, and he was named Nimrod. In 1922, Kakungulu published a 90-page book, which was essentially a guide to Judaism. He died a Jew (albeit one with a residual belief in Jesus) and his followers in Mbale, who are known as the [[Abayudaya]], continued to practice Judaism, despite the persecution which they were subjected to during the rule of [[Idi Amin]], when many of them converted to Christianity or Islam, and today, they are some thousand strong. In the twenty first century, the Abayudaya are considered observant practitioners of Judaism, many of them have undergone formal Orthodox conversions, and they have forged strong links with Jewish communities in the United States and Israel, along with increasingly strong links with Black Jewish communities in Africa and elsewhere.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (2002) ''The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p.185; Parfitt, Tudor Black Jews in Africa and the Americas, Harvard University Press (2013) pp.121-3</ref> In a relatively new movement, the [[Abayudaya]] of [[Uganda]] have converted to Judaism since 1917, influenced by the American [[William Saunders Crowdy]], who claimed that [[African Americans]] were [[Black Hebrew Israelites|descended from the Jews]].<ref>Henry Lubega, [http://www.ugandamission.org/news/Abayudaya.htm "Mbale's Jews"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040517085541/http://www.ugandamission.org/news/Abayudaya.htm |date=17 May 2004 }}, Uganda Mission, accessed 22 November 2006.</ref>

===Zambia===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Zambia}}
A number of European Jews settled in [[Northern Rhodesia]] (now [[Zambia]]). At its peak in the early 1960s, there were 1,000 Jews living in the country, many in [[Livingstone, Zambia|Livingstone]]. The number began to fall after independence and there were estimated to be around 50 remaining by 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tutton|first1=Mark|title=The forgotten story of Zambia's Jewish settlers|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/19/world/africa/zambia-jewish-history/index.html|access-date=15 April 2018|publisher=CNN|date=19 January 2012}}</ref>

===Zimbabwe===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Zimbabwe}}

====Anglo-Jews====
{{main|History of the Jews in Zimbabwe}}
The Zimbabwe Jewish community was mainly of British citizenship, whose arrival coincides with the first white colonists in the 1890s.<ref>[[Barry Kosmin]], ''MAJUTA'', Mambo Press</ref> At its peak in the early 1970s, it numbered some 7500 people (80% [[Ashkenazi Jews]]) who lived primarily in the two communities of Salisbury (now [[Harare]]) and [[Bulawayo]] in [[Matabeleland]]. Smaller rural communities also existed for short periods in [[Kwekwe]], Umtali (now [[Mutare]]), and [[Kadoma, Zimbabwe|Gatooma]]. The community declined in part due to age, but most Jewish residents in Zimbabwe left after violence and social disruption. In 2007, the local Jewish community had declined to 270. The community had strong links with [[Israel]].

In 2003, the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation Synagogue burned down; this was followed by several letters justifying the fire based on [[economic antisemitism]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Around the Jewish World in Zimbabwe, Jews Carry on After Arson Destroys Biggest Shul |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/around-the-jewish-world-in-zimbabwe-jews-carry-on-after-arson-destroys-biggest-shul |access-date=22 September 2023 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=20 March 2015}}</ref>

====The Lemba People====
{{Main|Lemba people}}
The Lemba,"wa-Remba", or "Mwenye"<ref name=Parfitt2002>Parfitt, Tudor. (2002), "The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe", in ''Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism'', edited by Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E., London: Routledge Curzon, pp. 42–43</ref> are a [[Bantu peoples|Bantu-speaking ethnic group]] native to Zimbabwe and [[South Africa]], with smaller, little-known branches in [[Mozambique]] and [[Malawi]]. According to [[Tudor Parfitt]], when he first worked in the field among the Lemba in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi in the 1980s, they numbered an estimated 50,000. They speak the same [[Bantu languages]] which their geographic neighbours speak and they also bear a physical resemblance to their geographic neighbors, but some of their religious practices and beliefs are similar to [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Islam|Muslim]] practices and beliefs. According to Parfitt, the Lemba claim that they once had a book which described their traditions but it was lost.<ref>Parfitt, Tudor, ''Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel.'' London: Hodder and Stoughton</ref>

Parfitt has suggested that the name "Lemba" may originate in ''chilemba'', a [[Swahili language|Swahili]] word for the [[turban]]s which are worn by some Bantu men, or it may originate from ''lembi,'' a Bantu term for a "non-African" or a "respected foreigner".<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (1992) ''Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel.''see the full explanatory note on p. 263.</ref><ref name="Shimona2003">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRkpQAmnL8oC&q=lemba+halakhic&pg=PA178|title=Community and Conscience: the Jews in Apartheid South Africa|last=Shimoni|first=Gideon|publisher=[[Brandeis University Press]]|year=2003|isbn=978-1-58465-329-5|location=United States of America|page=178|access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> In Zimbabwe and South Africa, the people prefer the name ''Mwenye.''<ref name=Parfitt2002/>

They have a tradition of ancient Jewish or [[South Arabia]]n descent through their male line.<ref name="VanWarmelo">{{Cite journal|author=van Warmelo, N.J.|title=Zur Sprache und Herkunft der Lemba|journal=Hamburger Beiträge zur Afrika-Kunde|volume=5|year=1966|pages=273, 278, 281–282|publisher=Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung}}</ref> Genetic [[Y-DNA]] analyses in the 2000s have established a partially Middle-Eastern origin for a portion of the male Lemba population.<ref name="SpurdleJenkins">{{Citation | title = The origins of the Lemba "Black Jews" of southern Africa: evidence from p12F2 and other Y-chromosome markers. | pmid = 8900243 | pmc=1914832 | volume=59 | issue = 5 | date=November 1996 | journal=Am. J. Hum. Genet. | pages=1126–33 | last1 = Spurdle | first1 = AB | last2 = Jenkins | first2 = T}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=DNA and Tradition – Hc: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews |last=Kleiman |first=Yaakov |year=2004 |publisher=Devora Publishing |isbn=1-930143-89-3 |page=81 }}</ref> More recent research argues that DNA studies do not support claims of a specifically Jewish genetic heritage.<ref name="Soodyall">{{cite book|author1=Himla Soodyall|author2=Jennifer G. R Kromberg|editor1-last=Kumar|editor1-first=Dhavendra|editor2-last=Chadwick|editor2-first=Ruth|title=Genomics and Society: Ethical, Legal, Cultural and Socioeconomic Implications|publisher=Academic Press/Elsevier|isbn=978-0-12-420195-8|page=316|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9icBAAAQBAJ&q=Cohen+Modal+Haplotype+Lemba&pg=PA309|chapter=Human Genetics and Genomics and Sociocultural Beliefs and Practices in South Africa|date=29 October 2015}}</ref>

===Mauritius===
{{Main|History of the Jews in Mauritius}}
According to the 2011 census carried out by [[Statistics Mauritius]], there are 43 [[Jews]] in [[Mauritius]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Statistics Mauritius |title=2011 Housing and Population Census |url=http://statsmauritius.govmu.org/English/CensusandSurveys/Documents/HPC/2011/HPC_TR_Vol2_Demography_Yr11.pdf |access-date=2020-04-19 |page=69 |date=October 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Judaism|Africa}}
*[[African American–Jewish relations]]
*[[African-American Jews]]
*[[African diaspora religions]]
*[[Antisemitism by country]]
*[[Antisemitism in Islam]]
*[[Black Hebrew Israelites]], groups of [[African Americans]] who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient [[Israelites]]
*[[Black Judaism]]
*[[Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites]]
*[[History of the Jews under Muslim rule]]
*[[Islamic–Jewish relations]]
*[[Jewish diaspora]]
*[[Jewish ethnic divisions]]
*[[Jewish exodus from the Muslim world]]
*[[Jewish population by country]]
*[[List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa]]
*[[Madagascar Plan]], a plan to forcibly relocate the Jewish population of Europe to [[French Madagascar]] proposed by the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] government
*[[Moroccan citron]]
*[[Racism in Israel]]
*[[Racism in Jewish communities]]
*[[Uganda Scheme]], a British plan to create a Jewish homeland in [[East Africa]]
*[[Who is a Jew?]]
*[[Xenophobia and racism in the Middle East]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==

===General===
* Blady, Ken: ''Jewish Communities in Exotic Places'', Jerusalem, [[Jason Aronson]].
* Bruder, Édith: ''Black Jews of Africa'', Oxford 2008.
* Kurinsky, Samuel: ''Jews in Africa: Ancient Black African Relations'', Fact Paper 19-II.
* Dierk Lange: [http://dierklange.com/pdf/LOST_TRIBES_OF_ISRAEL.pdf "Origin of the Yoruba and the "Lost Tribes of Israel"],  ''Anthropos'', 106, 2011, 579–595.
* Parfitt, Tudor (2002) ''The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
* Parfitt, Tudor (2013) ''Black Jews in Africa and the Americas'', Harvard University Press. 
* Parfitt, Tudor (2020) ''Hybrid Hate: Conflations of Anti-Black Racism and Anti-Semitism from the Renaissance to the Third Reich''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* Parfitt, Tudor and Egorova, Y. (2005) ''Genetics, Mass Media, and Identity: A Case Study of the Genetic Research on the Lemba and Bene Israel''. London: Routledge.
* Rosenthal, Monroe and Isaac Mozeson: ''Wars of the Jews: A Military History from Biblical to Modern Times'', New York, Hipporcrene Books, 1990.
* Sand, Jay: [http://imageusa.com/the-jews-of-africa-4/ "The Jews of Africa"], ''Image Magazine,'' 5 May 2009
* Williams, Joseph J.: ''Hebrewisms of West Africa: From Nile to Niger With the Jews'', Ney York, [[The Dial Press]], 1931.
* [http://www.zjc.org.il ''History of the Zimbabwe Jewish Community'']

===Northern Africa===
*[[Jonathan I. Israel|Israel, Jonathan I.]] "The Jews of Spanish North Africa (1580–1669)" in ''Diasporas within a Diaspora: Jews, Crypto-Jews, and the World of Maritime Empires (1540–1740)''. Leiden: Brill 2002, pp.&nbsp;151–184.
*Israel, Jonathan I. "Piracy, Trade and Religion: The Jewish Role in the Rise of the Muslim Corsair Republic of Saleh (1624–1666)" in ''Diasporas within a Diaspora: Jews, Crypto-Jews, and the World of Maritime Empires (1540–1740)''. Leiden: Brill 2002, pp.&nbsp;291–312.
*Israel, Jonathan I. "Tangiers, Sephardic Jewry and English Imperial Ambitions in the Maghreb (1661–1684)" in ''Diasporas within a Diaspora: Jews, Crypto-Jews, and the World of Maritime Empires (1540–1740)''. Leiden: Brill 2002, pp.&nbsp;421–448.
*''Jews in Africa: Part 1 The Berbers and the Jews'', by Sam Timinsky (Hebrew History Federation)
*''Tarikh es Soudan'', Paris, 1900, by Abderrahman ben-Abdall es-Sadi (trad. O. Houdas)
*''The Jews of Timbuktu'', Washington Jewish Week, 30 December 1999, by Rick Gold
*''Les Juifs à Tombouctou, or Jews of Timbuktu'', Recueil de sources écrites relatives au commerce juif à Tombouctou au XIXe siècle, Editions Donniya, Bamako, 1999 by Professor Ismael Diadie Haidara

===West Africa===
*Mark, Peter and José da Silva Horta, ''The Forgotten Diaspora: Jewish Communities in West Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2011.
*[[Joseph Eidelberg]] "Bambara (A PROTO-HEBREW LANGUAGE?)" https://josepheidelberg.com/blog/

===Nigeria===
*Remy Ilona: ''Igbos, Jews in Africa?, (Volume 1)'', Mega Press Limited, Abuja, Nigeria, 2004.
*Charles K. Meek: ''Northern Tribes of Nigeria'', Volume 1, Oxford, p.&nbsp;66.
* Kannan K. Nair: Origins and Development of Efik Settlements in Southeastern Nigeria.  1Ohio University, Center for International, 1975.
*Eze Okafor-Ogbaji: [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026152220/http://www.kwenu.com/publications/ojukwu/interview/okafor_ogbaji.htm ''Jews of Nigeria: The Aro Empire''],

===Ethiopia===
*''Stigma "Gojjam": The Abyssinian Pariah Orits'', Guihon Books, University of Geneva, 1993, by Muse Tegegne

==External links==
* Gorin, Howard (Rabbi): {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20041016052020/http://rabbihowardgorin.org/ Site about travels Amongst Nigeria's and Uganda's Jews]}}
* Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce: [https://web.archive.org/web/20081219184242/http://www.dayan.org/articles/JewsandBerbers.pdf ''Jews and Berbers''],
* Sand, Jay: [https://web.archive.org/web/20040605184100/http://mindspring.com/~jaypsand/index.htm Site about African Jews]
*[http://www.issaj.com/ ISSAJ – International Society for the Study of African Jewry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126173800/http://issaj.com/ |date=26 January 2020 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071014173221/http://scatteredamongthenations.org/pages/nations/index.html Scattered Among The Nations]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051111025512/http://members.fortunecity.com/takruri/afri.htm The Awakening & In-Gathering of The Ibos]
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ghana.html History of the Jewish community in Ghana]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060517124605/http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?051209+ghana Shabbat in Ghana]

{{Africa topic|History of the Jews in}}

[[Category:History of the Jews in Africa| ]]