The Awakening of African Jewry and the Call for Giyur.

In recent years, there has been an awakening among people from diverse backgrounds, especially in Africa, who are rediscovering their Jewish roots. Numerous communities are, at long last, reconnecting with a long-lost heritage, thereby giving hope to the idea of “Kibbutz Galuyot” (Ingathering of the Exiles), as written in Devarim 30:3: “Then Hashem, your G-d, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you.”

Rudy Rochman, an Israeli Jewish rights activist, made a logical statement in an interview with the a magazine during one of his trips to West Africa. In my interactive conversation with a few non-African Jewish individuals I have met, never have I seen anyone reason in such a manner, putting themself in a replacive position, as he spoke with considerable emotion and seriousness.

“When I first found out that there were Jews in Africa, I felt a sense of shock and responsibility to connect with them. I asked myself, what if they had come to Israel first while we were still suffering in the diaspora? Wouldn’t we want them to come, help, and recognize us?”

Looking at the scripture, the return of the Jews of Africa, whether by bloodline or by spiritual calling, is more of a prophetic fulfillment of Yeshayahu 11:12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel. He will assemble the scattered people of Yehudah from the four quarters of the earth.”

The Concept of Baal Teshuvah and the African Jews

In Judaism, a returnee (Baal Teshuvah), like the African Jews, refers to a Jew who, after a period of non-observance or a less strict religious lifestyle, returns to a more observant and traditional practice of Judaism. This concept is what could be said of the African Jews (the lost tribes of Israel and the emerging communities), who are returning to G-d with a commitment to live according to Jewish principles. Yet, with this return comes a sacred responsibility—conversion to Judaism.

Conversion to Judaism (Giyur) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. For the African Jewry, who have embraced and followed the practice of Rabbinical Judaism for over decades, it is not easy to hear that they need to convert to their original ancestral religious path, but this is not personal. We can liken this circumstance to the same scenario that the entire Jewish nation underwent after leaving Egypt. Despite all the suffering and torment for being Jewish, the Israelites, upon reaching Mount Sinai, were told that they had to formally accept the Torah and convert to Judaism by immersing in a mikvah.

According to Rabbi Aron Moss, “The Israelites could have had the same complaint: ‘We have always been Jewish, we have suffered terribly for it, and now we are told to become Jewish?”

The Jews of old also had a time and moment to ponder and choose if they were ready for this formal recognition and commitment to Hashem for a lifetime. Therefore, today, the African Jewry, mostly the communities of Jews of color, should know that conversion is not a rejection of our past as a lost tribe of Israel but an embrace of the future—a formal acceptance of our destiny and identity as Jews.

Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum, known as the Yehudi Olami (The Wandering Jew), once said in an interview, “It is clear that the only way they, as returning Jewish communities, can join the Jewish nation is through Giyur.”

This statement reiterates the Psak made by Rav Chaim Kanievsky (the Chief Rabbinical Authority of the Charedi Community in Israel, 2016 [5776]), who stated “Giyur Lechumra” that the Igbos, an ethnic tribe in Nigeria claiming to be descendants of the Tribe of Gad, need to undergo a form of conversion to dispel any doubts. And without a doubt, this is a call to our African Jewish brothers and sisters to consider embracing conversion and to be eventually integrated into the mainstream Jewish community.

The Growing Number of Conversions in Africa

Today, so far, the continent has witnessed pockets of conversions within the sub-Saharan states, which include the following:

• In 2017, there was an Orthodox conversion in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa.
• Furthermore, we witnessed 2021 and 2024 Masorti conversions in Nigeria, which took place in Abuja and Rivers State, respectively.
• In that same 2024, a Giyur took place in Cameroon, at the capital in Yaounde.
• The Abayudaya in Uganda has had numerous Masorti and Orthodox conversions in the past in its various communities. And through their effort, they organized conversion for a Jewish community in Kenya. In December 2024, conversion also took place in Mbale, at the headquarters of Abayudaya.

The most recent event involved a second batch of Sephardi Orthodox conversions that took place in a Jewish community in Mukono, central Uganda, and was led by Rabbi Sjimon Den Hollander in February 2025. Although these conversions are a step toward African Jewish integration into mainstream Jewry, they fail to meet the demand for full-scale Jewish conversions needed across Africa, as many communities are yearning to be carried along.

The Challenges of Conversion for African Jews

The conversion process in Judaism poses challenges for Africans who have limited financial resources to pursue it. Most Jewish conversions require an officiating beit din, usually made up of 3 or more rabbis in most cases. The other option is for the individual involved to travel to South Africa, Europe, the United States, or Israel to join a Jewish community. Obviously, one or two individuals can arrange funding to move abroad for their conversion, but it is impossible for the entire Jewish community to travel overseas for this purpose.

Nonetheless, an increasing number of African Jews are keen to witness a rise in conversions within their community. Many believe it is time for world Jewry to reflect on some of the limitations facing these communities. There have been requests and appeals for the relevant authorities to embrace and integrate the Jews of Africa into the broader Jewish community by facilitating conversions for them.

Heaven forbid that I should clamor for a watering down of Judaism by quick and easy conversions, but my opinion is that the Jews of Africa, who have been practicing Rabbinical Judaism for a long time now, through the guidance of good-hearted rabbis, should be supported to bring conversions to their various communities. We should establish Jewish organizations specifically for the African giyur and encourage people to financially support them. Jewish schools should be built as alternatives to the missionary and secular schools around them. They should be helped to build mikveot so their women can fulfill their mitzvah of purity after nidah, and more of their youth should be encouraged to go to rabbinical schools to educate their communities.

The giyur of the African Jewry is a mitsvah that should not be delayed any longer, as stated in the Gemara (Yevamot 47b) about the convert: “He is circumcised immediately, as we do not delay (the performance) of a mitsvah.” Yes, it is a mitzvah, and it is important.

Divine Call for Inclusion

This is a divine call, as stated in the Gemara, Pesachim 87B: “And Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed is He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that the converts would join them, as it is stated, ‘And I will sow her to Me in the land’ (Hosea 2:25). Does a person sow a seed of grain for any reason other than to bring in several kor of grain during the harvest? So too, the exile is to enable converts from the nations to join the Jewish people.”

In our thirteenth blessing in the Amidah prayer, which we recite three times a day, we even remember the gayray tzedek (the righteous convert). Another aspect that shows how important converts are is the fact our sages chose the book of Ruth to be read to the congregation on Shavuot, which marks the giving of the Torah; meanwhile, Ruth was a convert. It even gets fascinating when we read in the Hagadah that our fathers were idolaters and heathens, thereby reminding us that the African convert, even from an emerging community, also could become Jewish. All that the African Jewry needs is a chance to be carried along and to be recognized.

At this point, it is a proven fact that moving an entire community, such as one from West Africa, to join a community abroad to access a beit din is practically impossible. A realistic approach would involve communities having their own trained and ordained rabbi in the future, after they have rebuilt their communities to meet standard requirements and possess the necessary facilities. But before this future would be realized, more rabbis should be kind enough to make plans to come to interested communities, observe, teach, and convert them if they have met the necessary standard.

However, an African proverb says, “He who doesn’t clean his mouth before breakfast always complains that the food is sour.” This is advice to the majority of interested African Jewish congregations about the need to put their communities in the right order to meet Jewish standards and avoid complaints. It is a call to unite, build strong, joyful kibbutzim, and set a sustainable leadership structure that is void of rancho. They should be strict in their observance of mitzvot as much as they can and promote good middot to sustain the communities.

We should also understand that even as a convert, we are not inferior to Jews by birth. In reality, according to Ari HaKadosh in Shaar HaGilgulim Hakdamot ב and ג, “The convert was never really a goy but rather a Nefesh HaGer (a Jewish soul in a non-Jewish body).” The Talmud also refers to the convert as “a convert who comes to convert” rather than “a gentile who comes to convert,” thereby supporting the idea of conversion even as a lost tribe of Israel or an emerging Jewish community.

Another point that is of utmost importance is the issue of divisions of sects. Should African Jews strictly divide themselves along the path of Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform sects? Should they give themselves brand names? I believe that African Jews should not feel compelled to adopt these labels if doing so would lead to rifts, segregation, or favoritism within their broader community. I’ve seen how strict many strive to be in observance, even among those who converted here in Nigeria, which is good for them. I believe the African Jewry can adopt the Reb’s words, which say, “A Jew is a Jew.” We must remember that there were never such divisions in the Torah until recently. The Jews of Africa should not allow conversion to disrupt their identity; they should not follow the path of divisions in extreme ways. Instead, the idea of giyur should strengthen our unity, even as we unite with mainstream Jewry.

On a final thought, what is the level of hope for the future of recognition and inclusiveness that we crave? The Israeli anthem “Hatikvah” conveys a promise through its lyrics, promising us, inclusive of African Jewry, that as long as the Jewish souls within us yearn toward Zion, our hope will not be lost.

The conversions in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, and other countries provide strong evidence that African Jewish recognition through Giyur is potent. Bezrat Hashem, more conversions will be seen in Africa in the coming years, and some of these communities will eventually rebuild themselves, having their own indigenous ordained rabbis who will create their Beit Din, thereby fast-tracking the universal requirements of reconnecting to Judaism.

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