Igbo Jews

The Igbo Jews of Nigeria, Ibo Benei-Yisrael, are one of the Jewish components of the Igbo (Ibo) ethnic group who are said to be descended from North African or Egyptian Hebraic and later Israelite migrations into West Africa. Oral legends amongst the Igbo state that this migration started around 1,500 years ago. The Ibo Benei-Yisrael is currently led by Rabbi Howard Gorin, a 1976 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary.^[2]

History

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Some of the Igbo, the third largest ethnic group in Nigeria, believe that they are descendants of Jews who had migrated to western Africa over many centuries. The population came south into sub-Saharan Africa and west across North Africa, possibly following the path of the Arab conquests. Some Nigerian Jews hold that families amongst the community are descendants of Kohanim and Levites, the Jewish priests and their assistants who functioned in the Temple of Jerusalem. Descendants could also have arisen from migrants from Djerba, Tunisia who had fled to North Africa after the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples in Jerusalem. The Jewish community is said to be comprised almost entirely by descendants of Kohens. Some sources have explained that a Jewish presence was present in Nigeria as early as 638 BCE. The Igbos are not the only group that claims such a heritage; the Sefwi people of Ghana, too, believe they are descendants of Jews that made their way to West Africa. The Igbo Jews traditionally claim descent from three particular Israelite tribes: Gad, Zevulun, and Menashe. The Jews of Manipur and Mizoram, the Bnei Menashe, also claim descent from the tribe of Menashe. It is thought that these Jews fled to Africa after the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem and established communities all across the African continent. Israel has, to date, not recognized the Igbo as one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. It took many years before the Chief Rabbinate recognized the Bnei Menashe as Jews. The outreach to Nigerian Jews by the larger community gained official status between 1995-1997, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sent a team to Nigeria to find the “Lost Tribes.”^[3] There are currently several Jewish communities across Nigeria and the structure is getting stronger. There are 26 synagogues across the country and the community is estimated at around 40,000 individuals, in a country with a population of 140,000,000. Some of the larger and significant communities include the Gihon Institute in Abuja, as well as communities in the south such as Port Harcourt. There is a dearth of religious books and many are photocopied or stapled together. Western rabbis and educators such as the Conservative/Masorti Rabbi Howard Gorin has visited the community at times and Jewish communities in the west support those in Nigeria by sending books, computers, religious articles and many more periodically. The Igbo Jews have been receiving large shipments of books from communities in the United States in hopes of re-learning their forgotten Jewish past and strengthening the community.^[4] Such books include hundreds of Tanakhs and siddurim, as well as other books on Jewish history, wisdom and experiences. The Nigerian Jews are particularly interested in attempting to maintain an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and, as a result, western communities have refrained from sending ritual objects that have come from Reform congregations. Tikvat Israel, a Conservative synagogue has alone shipped over 4 tons of prayer books to Nigeria.^[5] In addition to Jewish communities, Messianic Jewish communities have sprung up in Nigeria and although they believe in Jesus, they claim to be full Jews. There are other communities in Nigeria that are not of the Igbo tribe that are practicing Judaism, such as those in Yorubaland.

Religious practices

Customs of the Igbo Jews include: circumcision eight days after the birth of a male child, a ban on eating un-kosher animals, separating men from women during the female cycle of menstruation, donning of the Tallit and Kippah, and the celebration of holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. In recent times, the communities have adopted holidays such as Hannukah and Purim, holidays that only were beginning to be observed after many of the tribes of Israel had already dispersed. For example, the Ethiopian Jews and the Benei Menashe had no knowledge of such holidays.

Notes

See also

• Jews and Judaism in Africa
• Lost Tribes of Israel
• Jews of the Bilad el-Sudan (West Africa)
• House of Israel - Jews of Ghana

External links

• Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria
• Jews of Nigeria and Uganda
• Kulanu
• Packing for Nigeria
• Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria