The American Sephardi Federation (ASF) and Association Mimouna presented their Jewish Africa Conference from Sunday, January 27th 2019 through Tuesday, January 29th at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. The event was intended to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, for we are one people. We share in each other’s successes and feel each other’s tragedies.
Opening night was attended by more than 300 people who viewed the exhibitions in the various galleries and were then presented with an Ethiopian feast. The buffet had an ethnic flavor and was quite sumptuous. We would like to give a shout-out and a yasher koach to Jason Guberman, Executive Director of the American Sephardi Federation, for organizing this conference with the Association Mimouna, an organization founded by Moroccan Muslims to educate about Jewish history in their country as well as an increased interest in Africa in the Jewish community. “This idea of Jewish Africa grows out of [our connection with Association Mimouna] and our working together and the recent pivot to Africa of many in the Jewish community, of many in the Moroccan community, of Israel of course, looking to Africa and seeing both some of the oldest and some of the newest Jewish communities,” he said.
Mr. Guberman introduced speakers such as Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Yosef Abramowitz, President & CEO, Energiya Global Capital.We were also graced by the words of Elmehdi Boudra, Co-Founder & President, Association Mimouna and he views the conference as a way to think ahead. “This is the goal of this conference, to bring an emerging circle of leaders to promote and think about the future of African Judaism,” he said. Boudra and Guberman are planning a second conference, which will take place next year in Africa, most likely in Morocco. We were even honored by the presence of several diplomats including the Consul General of Morocco and the UN Representative from Morocco and representatives from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Israel, and Nicaragua and Adama Dieng, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide.
The conference is considered as first of its kind, featured a multitude of entrepreneurs, scholars, diplomats, rabbis and community leaders from around the world for a discussion about the past, present, and future of the Africa’s incredibly diverse array of Jewish experiences.
The conference was also the opportunity to feature and honor people and organizations that support and help African Jewish communities from Cape Verde to Cape Town and Kampala. The 2019 JAC saw the most diverse attendance by country to date for Mimouna Association. 30 Scholars from 17 countries at the forefront of research and academia delivered 49 mind opening talks, discussions and workshops about communities they have been studying for decades.
Once again Mimouna Association and the American Sephardi Federation, this time with the support of the OCP Group, created a unique experience for attendees, combining plenary sessions with innovative speakers, interactive workshops, and endless learning and networking opportunities.
Program Review
Opening remarks were delivered by Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, David E.R. Dangoor, President of the American Sephardi Federation and Yosef Abramowitz, President and CEO of Energiya Global Capital. The conference honored with the “Moses, The African: Jewish Leadership Awards”,Mr. Abramowitz, Dr. Ephraim Isaac, Institute of Semitic Studies, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, represented by Chaya Singer, SAJBD’s Diplomatic and Parliamentary Representative, Michael Landau (Lifemobile Uganda), and Carole Castiel, Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project. The Grammy-nominated Innov Gnawa, Ethiopian singer Habte Awalom, and AbayMengist with Eskista Dancers performed.
The Jewish Africa Film Festival sponsored by KULANU was held both evenings as a companion program to the Jewish Africa Conference. It featured film makers and leaders of the Jewish communities in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, and Nigeria.
Starting day two, lecturers covered the Beta Israel ofEthiopia and their identity until 1991 withfascinating insights by Dr.Shalva Weil from the Hebrew University into the first self-described “Falashmura” who trekked by foot from Ethiopia to Jerusalem in theearly 1900s. We also heard from a young student Abere Endeshaw Kerehu who lives in Addis Ababa today and seeks to enhance the lives of the Jews still living there whilst struggling with Israel’s slow response to bringing the remaining 8,000 members of the community to the Jewish State. Ethiopian-born Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom spoke with great insight and conviction about the challenges facing Ethiopian Jews in Israelin the context of preserving their culture, traditions and identify.
Dr. Jay Waronker, an architect by profession, displayed and spoke about his unique drawings and personal commitment over many years to record the synagogues of Africa. You can see the attention to detailand professionalism in his work at www.africansynagogues.org
Well known photographer Jono David presented a humorous and yet very impressively serious expose of his journey throughout Africa to visually record disparate Jewish communities – from Madagascar to the Cameroon and from the Cape to Morocco. He spoke about his visits and showed photographs of the Lemba of South Africa and Zimbabwe and the Djerba community on the island off the coast of North Africa where Jews have lived for over 2,500 years. He visited and photographed the Igbo Jews of Nigeria near Abuja. To get a sense of Jono’s work visit his site at www.jewishphotolibrary.com.
Ilona Remy gave an ardent speech expressing his frustrations of how the Igbos Jews with some 26 synagogues in Nigeria and approximately known 30,000 members are ignored by mainstream Jewish institutions, the Rabbinate and by Israel. Referring to the “Israelites of Biafra”, Mr. Remy estimated that the total community could be“50 million” people.
Maguy Kakon spoke eloquently about her experiences and challenges as the first Jewish woman to run for a seat in Moroccan parliamentary elections.
Carol Castiel gave a fascinating presentation on her work in preserving the story of the Jews of Cabo Verde.
Dr. Tudor Parfitt from Oxford University gave a spell-binding lecture on his research and published books about the Lemba tribe of South Africa and Zimbabwe who claim Jewish heritage. His work involved physically tracking the possible route the Lemba may have taken down the East Coast of Africa based on the oral history from their tribal elders. He reached the town of Sena in Yemen where the Lemba believe they came from. His studies involved a series of DNA tests which showed the male Lemba displayed a high proportion of paternal Semitic ancestry, DNA (called Cohen Modal Haplotype) that is common to both Arabs and Jews from the Middle East. You can see the attention to detailand professionalism in his work at www.africansynagogues.org
Dr. Tudor Parfitt from Oxford University gave a spell-binding lecture on his research and published books about the Lemba tribe of South Africa and Zimbabwe who claim Jewish heritage. His work involved physically tracking the possible route the Lemba may have taken down the East Coast of Africa based on the oral history from their tribal elders. He reached the town of Sena in Yemen where the Lemba believe they came from. His studies involved a series of DNA tests which showed the male Lemba displayed a high proportion of paternal Semitic ancestry, DNA (called Cohen Modal Haplotype) that is common to both Arabs and Jews from the Middle East.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The conference provided a whole new perspective on Jewish Africa and a realization that across the continent there is a Jewish life with ups and downs alongside a relatively new, growing Jewish identity which requires a better understanding.
Building on the findings and conclusions of the Strategic Planning Lunch, a session with the goal of Developing Plans and Projects for the Future of Jewish Africa, the focus groups determined that Most of the recommendations converged toward one major idea which is the need to organize a second edition of the Jewish Africa Conference.
Mr. El Mehdi Boudra, and while delivering his opening speech, he announced that the second edition would ideally be held in Morocco, the northern gates to Africa to explore in depth and width the present and future of Jewish Africa and share the experience with the rest of the continent.
