History of the Abayudaya

Learn about the Jews of Uganda and our long relationship with them.

Abayudaya

2020

Re-Election Campaign

Rabbi Sizomu runs for a second term in Uganda’s Parliament but ultimately is not successful. He continues to lead the Abayudaya.

2019

Centennial Celebration

The Abayudaya celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of their community June 28-30 in Nabugoye. Be’chol Lashon led a trip to Uganda to celebrate with the Abayudaya and tour the country Festivities began on Friday with Shabbat and the Bat Mitzvah of Gershom’s daughter Naavah and his niece Mia. It culminated on Sunday, when over 6,000 thousand joined in a community-wide celebration. We were delighted that members of the Ugandan Parliament, Masorti Olami, Shomrei Torah, and the Zeigler School, among others, participated in the ceremony. If you would like to support the community as it embarks on its next 100 years, please donate to the Abayudaya Microcredit Fund.

Famine Relief

East Africa experienced a severe drought. Water supplies and food production were low and placed millions at risk of starvation. Stephen O’Brien, Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations called the famine ‘the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the U.N.” Most Ugandans are subsistence farmers who are at the mercy of the harvest in order to feed their families. Funds were raised to not only provide emergency food relief, but also to improve agricultural practices and long-term food management, including collecting water, installing drip-irrigation systems, and storing food to provide nutrition, improve the local economy, and build community stability into the future.

2017

Jewish Agency Recognizes Abayudaya

Jewish Agency Recognizes Abayudaya

All of these efforts have significantly contributed to achieving the goal of greater visibility of the Abayudaya, including official recognition as Jews by the Jewish Agency in Israel in Spring 2017. The community’s struggle for recognition by Israel’s Ministry of the Interior continues.

Sizomu Wins Seat in Parliament

Gershom Sizomu again entered the race for Uganan Parliament. Gershom is a relentless optimist and a man of action. He doesn’t subscribe to perpetuating negative troupes of oppression and negativity. Having grown up under the reign of Idi Amin, he understands the importance of democracy and using political power to enhance development, peace and friendship. “I could have chosen to stay in the United States,” he explains, “but here in Africa we have important work to do and we must do it together.” He has faith not only in God but in the people of Uganda, and Rabbi Gershom Sizomu reported on Sunday February 20, 2016 “I’m happy to inform you that I was announced winner of the Bungokho north seat for Uganda parliament. The contest was very close and the loser is petitioning court claiming that there were some irregularities. I thank you so much for your support and for believing in me.” His opponent lost his case.

2016

Stern Synagogue

Stern Synagogue

A new Synagogue & Community Center is part of the strategic vision to ensure the health and security of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda for generations to come. In addition to religious worship and lifecycle events, the community center will provide social services that benefit the entire community: 1) Most Ugandans are subsistence farmers who are at the mercy of the harvest in order to feed their families. There is a critical need for to store food for the time of the year when food is scarce. The Community Center will include space where community members can store surplus crops; 2) Across the world women are faced with the universal challenge of balancing education and work with having a family. In Uganda the concept of institutional childcare is still new. A Childcare Center will both ensure the active participation of women in the economy and provide pre–school children with access to a safe educational environment; and 3) Building Jewish community in Africa requires local training. The Community Center will provide space for the Abayudaya Yeshiva and eo allow students to study with Rabbi Sizomu.

Sizomu Runs for Parliament

Gershom Sizomu is proud that he built a coalition of Christians, Muslims and Jews to support running for election to the Ugangan Parliament. He won favor with the residents of Bungokho North Mbale district by focusing on accountability, development and his vision of religious tolerance as the foundation of the future of Uganda. Although he was the frontrunner leading up to the election, Rabbi Sizomu lost in the official ballot count. At the behest of his supporters, he is challenging the official results and collecting evidence documenting the ballot stuffing, violence, and other irregularities. Like others committed to true democracy in Africa, Rabbi Sizomu and his followers are non-violent in their attempts to change the political system, although he lost and the case was settled.

2010

Tobin Health Center

The next step in Abayudaya Community Health & Development Plan was to build a health center. It was decided that it would be centrally located in Mbale providing accessible health care to the most villagers. In June 2010, the Be’chol Lashon team and major funders traveled to Uganda to dedicate the Tobin Heath Center, named in honor of Dr. Gary Tobin z”l. The 4,000 sq ft facility has two stories with 20 rooms licensed by the Ministry of Health. Unlike many clinics in town, there is a generator to handle the frequent power outages in Uganda. The Tobin Health Center is making a significant contribution to the health and well being of not only to the Abayudaya but to the larger community as well. As a minority in the region, improved healthcare and community development provided by the Abayudaya Jews to their Christian and Muslim neighbors promotes peaceful co-existence and helps combat anti-Semitism. At one net distribution the district health officer remarked, “I have been in office for over 12 years working with different NGOs but I have never seen services like the Abayudaya: providing education to over 400 orphans, providing safe water to the community, distributing treated mosquito nets, and unrestricted access to affordable medical care has provided hope to so many. The Abayudaya community is an example to the whole Namanyonyi sub-county. Let us look at each other as brothers and sisters.” Since Tobin Health Center opened, deaths from malaria have been reduced by 90%.

2008

Ordination in Uganda

Ordination in Uganda

Sizomu studied to be at rabbi at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and after five years, he returned to Uganda where he was formally ordained. He returned to Uganda to continue his goal of bringing the Ugandan community into mainstream Jewish life and to open a Yeshiva to train teachers and rabbis to serve Jewish communities throughout Africa. The festive installation was preceded by a two-day-long Beit Din (religious court), in which some 250 individuals, who had been living as Jews, were formally converted into Judaism.