Jewish community forms in Africa

Avraham Yago, a married father of five who works as a linguistics professor at the University of Abidjan in the West African nation of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), has visited Israel four times to learn about Judaism and practice his Hebrew.

Yago, 64, grew up without any religious affiliation. As a teenager, however, he embarked on a religious journey that led him, by way of Christianity as well as studies at the Kabbalah Center in Abidjan, to Judaism.

“For me, the Torah is the truth,” he told JTA from Abidjan, the country’s largest city.

Last month, after over 20 years of studying Judaism, Yago converted to Judaism along with 47 others, most of whom are members of the community he leads.

Gathering in the coastal town of Jacqueville, community members answered questions in front of a beit din, whose members flew in from Israel and the United States. For the immersion required of converts, they used a lagoon that served as a mikvah. Male converts underwent a ritual drawing of blood since they were already circumcised.

The conversions were facilitated by Kulanu, a New York-based group that supports communities around the world seeking to learn about Judaism. Kulanu, which has been in touch with the community since 2012, had brought a Torah scroll, prayer books and other ritual items there on an earlier visit in 2014.

After the conversions, rabbis performed Jewish weddings for six couples in what Kulanu believes is a first in the country. The converts belong to two communities in Abidjan, Kulanu Vice President Nathan Sussman said. The larger one, led by Yago, has 42 members, consisting of five families as well as singles. Another six people identify as a separate group.

Like most members of his community, Yago believes he has Jewish roots. That’s not unique in the communities that Kulanu works with. Last year, the group brought rabbis to Nicaragua to convert 114 people, and in 2016 it helped 121 people become Jewish in Madagascar. Both communities also believe they have Jewish heritage, with the Madagascar community believing they are members of a lost tribe.

The Cote d’Ivoire community is relatively affluent, allowing them to buy Jewish ritual objects and books, said Nathan Devir, an assistant professor at the University of Utah who researches emerging Jewish communities.

“They are a very privileged kind of community, I think much more so than any other African communities could ever dream of being,” said Devir, who visited the Cote d’Ivoire community in 2015. The community counts among its members doctors, dentists, university professors and diplomats.

Members follow Sephardic Orthodox customs and eat a pescatarian diet since they do not have access to kosher meat, according to Sussman.

“They dress very modestly. They’re very into laws of niddah and mikvah,” she said. “On Shabbat they have a full day of prayers.”

Shabbat services are held in Yago’s home, but he said the community hopes to construct a shul and mikvah.