There are about 14
million people
worldwide who claim
to be Jews but who
are not as of yet
recognized as such
by the Jewish
community. This
is the story of one
such group of
Jews, the large Igbo
tribe of Nigeria.
Above: Remy Ilona. (Credit: William F.S. Miles.)
The Forward reports :
…[Remy] Ilona’s success
[at documenting the Igbo
tribe’s oral history of
Israelite ancestry] belies
difficult questions that face
the Judaizing communities
of Nigeria—and others
emerging elsewhere. Can
these communities, each
with their own stories, be
accepted by global Jewry
as they are? And, in
looking for acceptance,
where should they turn?
Who are the gatekeepers to
Judaism today?
The Igbos’ oral history of
their Israelite origin,
foundational for Ilona’s
work, has perhaps posed
the most challenges. In
one case, detailed in Lis’s
book, which began in
1988, an Igbo man named
Chima Onyeulo—a one time
soldier in the Biafran War,
who had also lived in Italy
—tried to immigrate to
Israel under the Law of
Return. Regional rabbinical
courts in Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv, the Ministry of the
Interior and the Chief
Rabbinate all weighed in.
The religious authorities
told Onyeulo repeatedly
that he would have to
convert. He wasn’t
interested. Arguing his
case, Onyeulo offered both
Igbo and colonial accounts
of Jewish customs among
his people. (The chief rabbi
of Israel’s Ethiopian Jews
also spoke on Onyeulo’s
behalf.) But in 1994,
Israel’s Supreme Court
dismissed the case. “There
are no historical, halachic
or national grounds,” the
court ruled, “to view the
members of the Igbo tribe
as Jews.”
[Even so, rabbis from the
Conservative Movement
(and even one or two from
parts of Orthodoxy) have
been involved with trying to
help the tribe for want of a
better term, Judaize, and
Kulanu, a Jewish
organization which reaches
out to groups of "lost"
Jews helped the Igbo open
a modest Jewish center
several years ago.]
In 2006, around 80 Tel
Aviv-based Igbos went
through a mass conversion,
overseen by rabbinical
judges from the ultra-
Orthodox Sephardic
community. But because
most of the converts did
not hold residency permits,
they were kicked out.
(Despite deportation, they
continued practicing
Judaism while back in
Nigeria, said Ilona, who
was close with one of the
men.)
Kulanu has been most
active in Nigeria, but
Shavei Israel, an Israel-
based foundation that
supports isolated
communities, may also
offer a path into the
mainstream. Unlike Kulanu,
Shavei places a special
emphasis on immigration
to Israel. Its outreach
elsewhere has been fruitful:
The organization has
helped thousands of Bnei
Menashe from India, who
hold similar claims of
Israelite heritage,
immigrate to Israel.
Controversially, many were
initially settled in the West
Bank. This past May,
Shavei sent its first
emissary to Nigeria.…
[Noted academic Tudor]
Parfitt, whose scholarly
work has focused on such
remote communities with
Jewish claims, estimates
that apart from Jews
already ensconced within
mainstream Jewry, there
are 14 million self-
identifying Jews
worldwide…
Read it all here .
POSTED AT 03:20 PM IN RELIGION, RELIGION
& STATE | PERMALINK
COMMENTS
Comments on this post are closed.
Posted by: Hershl |
January 24, 2016 at
06:41 PM
I meet so call
orthodox educated
Jews everyday who
know nothing of
being Jewish- I also
met tons of "Russian
Jews in Israel &
Bklyn NY ...Who
know nothing of
being Jewish..So
your comment proves
nothing!!!
Try Again- Peddle
your hate & racism
elsewhere!!!
JANUARY 27, 2016
AT 02:37 PM
Co said...
I would have
dismissed their
claims until I saw the
Igbo in Sabbath
prayer on YouTube.
Let me put it this
way- I would rather
daven with Bisiriyu
and Emeka than
Heshy and Yitz at the
local single malt
kiddush club minyan.
JANUARY 27, 2016
AT 11:36 AM
Spaced out BT said...
Niggers......
JANUARY 26, 2016
AT 01:37 AM
testicle swallower said...
If Judaism hasn't
been dumbed down
enough, we are now
to invite the
Nigerians to help in
the downward
gyration...
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 03:24 PM
Kushmich said...
I for one think that
these Igbo and other
Nigerians should be
welcomed with
widespread open
arms into the Jewish
people and not only
to bring them to
Israel but also to
create strong vibrant
communities in
Nigeria and
elsewhere in Africa.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 04:52 AM
Baal Shem Tov HaSheni said...
Shmarya, I disagree
with a lot of what you
say, but I have to
give you three cheers
for the way you put
Hershel in his place
about people that
know nothing about
Judaism.
Rabbenu Tam, yes
we see that pervert
rabbis are nothing
new. In them days
one could get away
with lifting up a
woman's skirt. Most
of the time they are
aberrations. As for
the Akumim, it would
seem to me that they
are fake Israelites
such as your black
supremacist Hebrew
Israelites or white
supremacist British
Israelitists.
Wirbelwind, what do
you mean by
'negrification of the
State'? I have met a
number of Ethiopian
Jews and have found
them respectful, hard
working, and
intelligent. Much
more pleasant to be
around than the
average Israel, so if
they are anything to
go on, a certain
'negrification of the
State' in Israel would
be most welcome.
Moshe ODA, I'm
sorry but I can't see
what Bernie
Sanders's campaign
has anything
whatsoever to do
with the Igbo Jews of
Nigeria. Please
explain.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 04:51 AM
Baal Shem Tov HaSheni said...
I got an Email from
this tribe in Nigeria,
they wrote to me that
I inherited 6 Million
Dollars and they need
my bank account Info
to transfer the
money.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 03:42 AM
Klutz Kaashe said...
The lgbo tribe is full
of jewish tradition
and practices and are
concidred jewish.
You have to be an
ignorant and a racist
to ignore that. Vote
Berni Sanders and
make him win and
see how fast the
israely goverment
will accept the lgbo
tribe.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 01:21 AM
Moshe aron Kestenbaum ODA
said...
The Israeli authorities
under the corrupt
Minister of the
Interior Aryeh Deri are
indeed prepared to
see further
negrification
(hitkushanut) of the
State, but as we saw
with the Falash Mura,
only at a rate of 200
Blacks arriving at Ben
Gurion per month.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 01:02 AM
Wirbelwind said...
And shall the Akum
travel to the
marketplace and
declare before all
“behold! On this day
I have declared for
myself a Sabbath so
that I may be like the
Jews, and on this
day I shall not work
and I will rest and I
will dedicate this day
to sing to the Lord of
the Israelites then he
should be flogged
until his soul departs
because this is our
heritage and does
not belong to him.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 12:48 AM
Rabeinu Tam said...
Says the Talmud, that
there was once a
blacksmith who
wished to divorce his
wife but did not want
to pay her a
settlement. So he
gathered together his
friends and invited
them to feast and
intoxicated them with
wine and intoxicated
them with meat and
placed them in bed
together and
sprinkled egg whites
upon them. And the
Talmud continues,
that the blacksmith
then brought with him
witnesses and he
testified "behold my
betrothed has not
been faithful, has not
been loyal, and has
violated her oath with
me." And the court
heeded him and sent
the authorities to
seize her. It was then
suggested to the
rabbis that when
brought before fire
semen will contract
and when brought
before fire egg-whites
will expand. And they
tested it out and they
saw that this was so.
They brought the
blacksmith back
before the court and
they flogged him and
forced him to pay her
a settlement.
And it happened that
Rabbi Ezriel bar Zutra
of Tiberias, the
authority of modesty
was patrolling the
marketplace where
he came across a
woman who was
wearing robes of red
that made visible the
shape of her body.
He then approached
her and lifted her
skirt above her head
so that her
nakedness would be
exposed before all
and he flogged her.
And Rabbi Shimon
ben Gamliel asked: if
they were virtuous
why were they
punished? Abeye
answered: because
they did not mourn
for Jerusalem as it
says: Rejoice ye with
Jerusalem and be
glad for her, all ye
that love her, rejoice
for joy with her all ye
that mourn over her.
we learn from the
Gemara, that rabbi
Yosi says the
messiah will come
on the 16 of the
month and the sages
say the messiah will
come on the 18 of
the month.
And behold, when the
messiah will come
the Talmud informs
us that you the
Akumim will be
enslaved so that you
will produce for us
wine you will
produce for us bread
and you will produce
for us fruit
And it will be that
every Jew who was
righteous in his ways
that he did not know
sin nor did he
stumble into
transgression, it will
be for him that he
will approach the
Akum in the field and
will say "make me
bread" then the Akum
will make him bread.
And if the Jew
approaches the Akum
in the vineyard and
says "make me wine"
then the Akum will
make him wine.
And shall the Akum
declare for himself a
Sabbath or shall he
attempt to study
Torah then he will be
flogged until his soul
departs.
JANUARY 25, 2016
AT 12:48 AM
Rabeinu Tam said...
Hershl –
Without judging the
Igbo's claims, there
are plenty of people
who *are* halakhicly
Jewish but who know
nothing about
Judaism. Many don't
even know they're
Jewish. Following
your logic, we
shouldn't reach out to
them, either.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stan –
Take your racist
garbage elsewhere.
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 10:46 PM
Shmarya said...
they arent jews, just
like Im not a NBA
star.
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 07:49 PM
stan said...
I recently met one of
these "Jews" from
Nigeria.
She was about as
ignorant of anything
Jewish as the typical
African.
In fact, most
American reform
Jews probably would
know ten times what
she knew.
Don't read much into
these figures
especially from
Africa.
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 07:41 PM
Hershl said...
Everyone knows that
the only "authentic"
Jews are from
די עלטערע היים
i.e. Poland, Hungary,
Rumania, etc.
In fact, in just
yesterday's Torah
reading in Parshas
Beshalach, it says
that the Lord told
Moshe Rabainu to
raise his staff to
cause the Red Sea to
split. . .and as he
did so, he knocked
off his shtreimel.
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 07:17 PM
Wigmore said...
The lost tribe in
Wales. Oh wait a
minute, they don't
want to improve their
lives by moving to
Israel. It's only the
ones from the 3rd
world who are
discovering their
Jewishness.
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 06:55 PM
Malka Batsheva said...
If they truely are a
lost tribe, why would
they want to defile
themselves by
merging with the
Rabbinism religion?
JANUARY 24, 2016
AT 05:41 PM
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