African Jewish Voices magazine makes its debut on Purim, with Gihon Hebrew Synagogue as host venue.

By: Israel Abraham

The 2024 Purim was another milestone for African Jews and the world-wide Jewish community, as it marked the birth of a special magazine that is dedicated to telling the stories of Jews in Africa. As its name suggests, African Jewish Voices, serves as an online news aggregator platform, empowering the African Jewish population to share their stories independently. It is kicking off with an inaugural magazine launch to introduce writers in its growing network. The plan is to publish a quarterly soft copy magazine for free download, offering the option of print on demand. The magazine aims to showcase the diversity and richness of Jewish life in Africa, shedding light on the experiences and contributions of African Jews. Through this platform, African Jewish Voice hopes to foster a sense of community and connection among Jews across the continent.

The launch of the magazine marked a significant moment for all African Jews on a personal and communal level since the start of a new wave of Judaism among black Africans. Speaking at the event, which took place at the Gihon Hebrew Synagogue in Abuja, Nigeria, Avraham Ben Avraham, the visionary and editor-in-chief of the magazine, stated that the magazine is a product of his over seven-year journey in the field of journalism as a Jew. He emphasized his humble labor as a blog writer and manager for the Tikvat Israel Synagogue blog for two years, without receiving any payment. This, he further explained, was a sacrifice he made so as to see the ongoing activities of Judaism in the country captured and documented for future generations to make reference to.

What you are witnessing today is not something that started yesterday, not at all. It is a journey that began many years ago, like 7 years to be precise. My journey began at Tikvat Israel Synagogue, where I took the lead in creating, writing, and managing the synagogue’s blog without receiving any payment. But with my second blog, which was better and bigger, featuring Jewish activities across the federation, at least I was glad to have achieved something that stopped to an extent—the questions we get from many of the white Jews asking, surprisingly, if there are Jews in Nigeria!

One of Avraham’s main motivations was the challenge of the lack of media coverage facing many existing Jewish communities. Saying that the stories of African Jews are not being told, and when they are told, they are not being told the way they should be told—that is, to represent the reality on the ground. He asserted that the inclusion of African Jewish Voices will provide African Jews with the chance to narrate their own stories, allowing the world to hear them in their authentic form rather than the frequent misunderstandings and misrepresentations they encounter. He also pointed out that he believes that many diaspora Jews outside the continent will want to hear the real stories devoid of misplacement of fact. Speaking further, he said that another motivation is his zeal to give African Jewish writers a platform to showcase their stories.

Our stories are not being told well, and this is because we are relying on people who are not African Jews to tell our stories. This is because African Jews are lagging behind media-wise, and I believe that with this magazine, we can change that scenario. With this magazine, I know we can tell our stories better. We founded this magazine with the intention of empowering other African Jewish writers. Now they have a platform to excel as writers. I am confident that working with them will enhance and expedite the telling of our stories. Because they have a platform very close to them—a platform that will have their stories published easily.

Avraham narrated a story of what he witnessed back in Uganda, where a visitor was telling the story of how Judaism sprouted in Uganda according to what she read in a book written by someone who is not from among Ugandan Jews. The book’s author misrepresented the true story by suggesting that Semei Kakungulu, the founder of Judaism in Uganda, converted to Judaism to retaliate against the British colonial masters for rejecting his request to become king in eastern Uganda. Avraham asserted that these and numerous other narratives exemplify the misrepresentation of African Jews, and the emergence of African Jewish Voices will enable African Jews to narrate their own stories.

While I was in Uganda, something happened to my amazement. A visiting Israeli Jew told us what she heard about Ugandan Jews—and how they became Jews. She said she read in a book that the reason the founder of Judaism in Ugandan joined the Jewish way of life was to spite the British colonial authorities because they refused to make him a king. This wrong narrative was immediately corrected by a Ugandan Jew who has also authored a book on Judaism in Uganda by telling the visitors that the father of Judaism joined Judaism because of the divine inspiration he got after reading the Bible given to him and not because he wanted to get back at the British. He added that if he wanted to spite the British, he would have joined Islam, which was a strong religious movement back then, and not Judaism, which no one was practicing in Uganda as at then.

This inaugural edition features stories from Jewish writers primarily residing in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Sudan. Avraham went on to welcome onboard Jews from all over the world to come with their talents and resources in order to build African Judaism to a greater height. 

I thank everyone and welcome them to join hands together to make this magazine succeed. This very maiden edition comprises articles, book reviews, and interviews by Jewish writers from across sub-Saharan Africa. We are hoping that more writers will join us as we go on. African Jewish Voices belong to all Jews, and they are free to make contributions towards its growth.

Highlights of the event included reading from the magazine, the award presentation, wine tasting, grant giving, and the Gihon Children’s song and drama presentation. Earlier in the day, Camp Sarah hosted a colorful Purim costume-making project for children. Also, during the magazine launch, Mishael Agugoesi received a Bar Mitzvah certificate.

The magazine featured two stories read were: one about a group of Ethiopian Jews who managed to escape the Ethiopian war, only to find themselves ensnared in the ongoing war in Sudan, and another detailing the activities of Camp Sarah since its inception in Nigeria in 2023. Two individuals, Shlomo Yakov and Imma Melekyah Aboh, received awards for their significant contributions to the advancement of Judaism. Shlomo was recognized for his dedication to teaching the Torah and Hebrew language to children and fresh returnees to Judaism. We recognized Imma Melekyah for demonstrating love through the Sabbath meal.

Just as it is tradition in Judaism, wine is essential at every gathering, but this time around, we witnessed a wine tasting for the very first time. Kedem Kosher Wine, a relatively new brand based in the United States, was tasted by some selected attendees. Each person gave a review of the wine after the tasting, concluding that it was of high quality and suitable for Shabbat, festivals, and personal consumption.

In his tradition of supporting Jewish courses and individual Jews, Avraham, through his foundation, the Avraham Ben Avraham Foundation, supported two individuals with microgrant support to aid their entrepreneurial works. The Avraham Ben Avraham Foundation supported Gideon Ben Israel in his poultry farming business and awarded a writing grant to Israel ben Abraham, one of the featured writers in African Jewish Voices magazine, to enhance his Jewish media journalism. Another donation was made to provide web hosting for the Gihon’s Synagogue website for 24 months. Also provided was unlimited free WiFi for the magazine launch event, enabling everyone to enjoy high speed internet browsing and to download the magazine as it went live on the internet. Some of the event’s supporters made this possible.

The event ended with joy as people who spoke praised the magazine idea. This includes the community’s chairman, Elder Kelvin Dimunah, who declared the event open. Also speaking at the end of the event, the community leader and one of the pioneers of Judaism in Nigeria, Elder Ovudai Agbai Okonji, praised the worthy course and advised every Jew to continue in the emuna. He ended by singing the song “Ana Adonai Hoshia Na,” which everyone inside the venue joined in singing with joy.

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