2nd Edition

Why a Second Edition ?

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 in the African continent.

The Context

The second edition of the Jewish Africa Conference focused on the Jewish experiences in Cabo Verde, which served as a refuge for Moroccan Jews in the 19th century, highlighting the deep-rooted ties between Jewish communities and Africa. With Jewish presence in Africa dating back over 2,700
years in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, the continent’s Jewish life today reflects remarkable ethnic and religious diversity. The conference aims to unite representatives from these communities in Morocco, known as the gateway to Africa, to promote dialogue, celebrate
Jewish heritage, and strengthen connections across the continent and beyond.

The Speakers

This summit brought together leaders from various Jewish African communities, alongside specialists in Jewish African studies and academic researchers, to discuss Jewish life in Africa, historical migrations, and the current status of these minority groups.

The Guests

The summit is privileged to host representatives and ambassadors from various African countries, alongside the esteemed presence of King Mohammed VI’s advisor, André Azoulay. In addition to these distinguished guests, the event welcomes leaders from Moroccan institutions, members of civil society, and influential figures from diverse sectors, all coming together to engage in meaningful discussions about Jewish life in Africa, cultural heritage, and the promotion of dialogue and cooperation across the continent.

Jono David Exhibit

This conference provided participants with a unique opportunity to explore the cultural richness of Jewish communities across Africa through a collection of photographs captured by renowned anthropologists.

The Venue

The Policy Center for the New South generously provided their venue in Rabat as an in-kind contribution for the three-day event. The final day’s exhibition took place at the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca.

3
Days
51
Speakers
2
Shows
100
Attendees
2
Exhibitions
Why in Rabat ?
A city of religious tolerance

Rabat has traditionally been a crossroads of the Moroccan cultural heritage. It is a combination of the Amazigh, Mediterranean, Jewish, African, Muslim, and Andalusian cultures and a global platform for promoting the values of coexistence and dialogue between cultures. In 2019, after 35 years of the papal visit of Jean-Paul II, Rabat welcomed Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics as part of the development of interreligious dialogue.

Rabat has been chosen as the Islamic world’s cultural capital for 2022 by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), in appreciation of the city’s successful implementation of an urban and cultural development program initiated in 2015. Rabat’s nomination by ISESCO is based on the successful implementation of the “Rabat Capital of Culture, City of Lights” initiative which was launched by HM King Mohamed VI to protect the city’s cultural history while simultaneously making local services and facilities more accessible. On June 2nd, 2022, Rabat was officially elected as the capital of African culture to recognize the rhythm of important cultural events that carry the African dimension and which reflects the commitment of the Kingdom to work for the African continent.

Thus, Mimouna Association believes that Rabat is the perfect city to host the second edition of the Jewish Africa Conference, an opportunity to gather groups of Jewish African academics, diplomats, religious figures, and activists to enshrine interfaith dialogue and cultural preservation.

Cabo Verde
Guest of Honor 2021

Cabo Verde is an archipelago of ten small islands off the coast of the African continent. In the 19th century, a group of mostly Jewish men from different Moroccan cities sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle on the African Islands in quest for better economic opportunities.

The advent of the North African Jewish community added to the cauldron of Portuguese-African cultures in the country. Today, there is a proud community of those Moroccan immigrants with some distinctly Moroccan Jewish last names like (Benchimol, Benlolo, Benoliel, Maman and Pinto).

The Jewish Moroccan community in Cabo Verde had intermarried with catholic women and had gradually lost affiliation with their Jewish Sephardic customs and tradition, However, The Moroccan surnames, etched onto the gravestones in the burial grounds across the islands, are considered as a tangible reminder of the Jewish North African presence in this African region.

In 2015, the Moroccan ministry of migration and Moroccan living abroad invited a delegation of Cape Verdeans from Jewish descent to visit the land of their ancestors. This visit to Morocco, which was at the invitation and the expense of the Moroccan government, was extremely meaningful. The ten Cape Verdeans toured Morocco to visit the cities from which many of the Jews of Cabo Verde hailed.

With the financial support of HM king Mohammed VI and his deep commitment in preserving the cultural heritage of the Moroccan Jewish Diaspora, the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage project restored multiple Jewish cemeteries on different islands of the archipelago. The restoration of the Jewish cemeteries, on the Christian islands, by the Muslim monarchy sent a strong and a powerful message to the world that religious harmony and coexistence is not a myth.

Jewish African Summit
Register Now - Limited availability
Provisional Program
Explore the conference program.

Facilitator: Dr. Zhor Rehihil, Curator of the Casablanca Jewish Museum

Dr. Jamaa Baida, Director of the Moroccan Archives
2000 years of Jewish Life in Morocco

Dr. Aviad Moreno, Head of research hub, The Azrieli Center for Israel Studies; faculty member at The Ben-Gurion Research Institute, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Expanding the dimensions of Moroccan Jewish migration: perspectives from South America

Dr. David Fachler, University of Cape Town
The religious developments in Johannesburg Jewry over the past century

Dr. Brigitte Benkemoun, FormerEditor in chief in French television
The exodus of Jews from Algeria in the context of the Algerian war

Facilitator: Carol Castiel, President, Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project (CVJHP)
Professor José Alberto Tavim, Senior Researcher and Professor; Chair of the Seminar “The Jews in Portugal and in The Diaspora”. Center for History, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon
Cape Verde’s Jewish Heritage: A glance at the Portuguese past

Januario Nascimento, CVJHP Advisory Board member
Pioneering Preservation of Cabo Verde’s Jewish Heritage: The Auday family from Tangier

Sofia de Oliveira Lima, CVJHP Representative in Cabo Verde
Brief History of CVJHP in Cabo Verde and The Wahnon family

Nuno Wahnon Martins, CVJHP Advisory Board member
At the intersection of four Moroccan Jewish families: Pinto, Benoliel, Benathar, and Wahnon

Facilitators: Dr. Drora Arussy, Senior Director of the ASF Institute of Jewish Experience

Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, Senior Lecturer & Director of the International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry at Ono Academic College
Preserving Ethiopian Jewish Culture and Traditions

Professor Bat-Zion Eraqi Klorman, History at Open University of Israel and former Dean of Academic Studies
Jewish trade and immigration between Arabia and East Africa

Professor Shalva Weil, Senior Researcher at the Seymour Fox School of Ed., Research Fellow in the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies at University of South Africa
The Status of Beta Israel Women in Ethiopia and in Israel

Professor Marla Brettschneider, Political Philosophy and Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire
Rhizomic Networks of African Jewish Indigenity: A study of continuity and change The Beta Israel of Kechene and North Shewa Ethiopia

Facilitator: Dr. Miloud Loukili, Mohammed V University in Rabat

H.E. René Trabelsi, Former Minister of Tourism of Tunisia
Jewish life in Tunisia. Spotlight: Djerba

Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila, Chief Rabbi of the D.R.C., Head Chabad Lubavitch Emissary to Central African Countries
Establishing Jewish communities in Central, East, and West Africa over the past 30 years

Magda Haroun, President of Cairo’s Jewish Community
Egyptian-Jewish life and heritage

Chaya Singer, Executive Director of SAZF
South Africa’s foreign policy and its impact on SA Jewry

Facilitator: Dalya Arussy Di Veroli, ASF Institute of Jewish Experience

Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, “The Travelling Rabbi”, Spiritual Leader and National Director of the African Jewish Congress (AJC) and the Small Jewish Communities Association (SJCA)
The role of the African Jewish Congress and its projects: Small Jewish communities bordering South Africa

Rabbi Ruben Suiza, Sephardi chief Rabbi of Lisbon, Rav Emeritus of the Sephardi Hebrew congregation of Cape Town. Former member and Dayan of the Beth Din of Cape Town
The History, development and transmigration of the ancient Jewish Community of Rhodes, Greece

Andrea Barry, Strategy Director of Pupkewitz Group
Jewish life in Namibia

Joseph Kably, Vice President of SJCA-SA
Jewish life in Zimbabwe

Dr. David Fachler, University of Cape Town
The demographic, social and religious trends in South African Jewry as reflected in the 2019 survey

Facilitator: Abdelhak ElKaoukabi, General Secretary of Mimouna Association and Mimouna Dakira coordinator

Dr. Zhor Rehihil, Curator of the Casablanca Jewish Museum
The preservation of Jewish sites in Morocco

Samy Ibrahim, Director of Drop of Milk in Egypt
The last guards of Egypt Jewish Heritage

Professor Afef Mbarek, Menouba University in Tunisia
Social and political use of Jewish Tunisian heritage

Didier Nebot, President of MORAL
Initiatives to preserve Algerian Jewish memory outside of Algeria

Facilitator: Chaymae Aboubou, ROH Director

Jonathan Braun, President of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and Vice President of the World Jewish Congress

Jamie Lee Hack, Vice President, World Union of Jewish Students and executive member of the South African Union of Jewish Students

Isaac Choua, Operations Manager, World Jewish Congress Jewish Diplomatic Corps, North America and Latin America

Opening of Jono David exhibit “The Jews of Africa” curated by Zhour Rehihil at the Casablanca Jewish Museum

Eddy Toledano, Vice President of the Foundation of Moroccan Jewish Heritage

El Mehdi Boudra, Founder and President of Mimouna Association

Newsletter
Join our e-newsletter list to follow closely all news.
Event Organizers
Discover the summit organizers.
Looking back at the 1st edition
Latest Posts
September 8, 2020
November 23, 2019
Categories