On Sunday, 28th September 2025, the management and team members of the Maccabi Football Club of Nigeria gathered at the Jabi Recreational Park, situated in the center of Abuja. They assembled to engage in the 8th annual Reverse Tashlich exercise, a globally recognized event taking place simultaneously in many countries. The Reverse Tashlich is an environmental conservation activity rooted in Jewish tradition, aimed at removing marine debris, including plastic waste, from the vicinity of our water bodies. This initiative represents a reversal from the ancient tashlich rituals observed during the High Holidays, as participants focus on cleaning the environment rather than casting bread into the water.
This would be the second time that the Maccabi Football Club of Nigeria takes part in the activity. The first time was in 2024, when the Reverse Tashlich first made its debut in West Africa. The team got to the Jabi lakefront, the most popular place with a big body of water in the arid capital city, early to start their volunteer work. While waiting for the Reverse Tashlich cleanup to start, some of the team members used the opportunity of being near a body of water to carry out the Rosh Hashanah Tashlich rituals and the annulment of vows at a corner of the park.
Prior to the commencement of the exercise, participants were provided with safety vests, nylon bags to gather plastic waste, latex hand gloves, and nose masks and were instructed on safe practices during the exercise. Exactly at about 11:45 AM, the team comprising the management crew, football players, and members of the fans club started to clean up areas littered with all sorts of solid waste. Thereafter, they converged at the lakefront after an extensive cleaning of some part of the park. Some aquatic weeds were pulled out of the water, and plastic bottles found along the shoreline were collected.
Plastic trash and plant debris have continued to be a problem, building up over time and polluting the lake heavily. And sadly, the lake is in a much worse situation than it was last year when we conducted the cleanup. There were dead fish floating in the lake, and the lake smelled bad. The team could only perform a little bit of cleaning because they didn’t have the right tools and had to use sticks instead of rakes to pull some floating plastic bottles and nylon out of the lake.
Organizing outdoor events like this comes with a lot of commitment to plan and bring everyone on board. Sholomo Ben Yakov, the technical director of the club, who also doubles as the founder and lead instructor of the Gihon Eden Hebrew class, played an important role in organizing the cleanup activity, showing leadership both on and off the pitch as we cleaned up the park. “Today is a wonderful day for me as we are fulfilling this year’s Reverse Tashlich obligations. I want to thank the members of the Maccabi football club who made it a duty to participate this year. Last year, we visited Jabi Lake in Abuja for the cleaning exercise, and today we have gathered here to do it again. It is part of giving back to the society and making the world a better place.”
Every day, over one hundred people visit Jabi Recreational Park, which serves as both an event center and a tourist attraction site. The activities of visitors and tourists eventually result in the littering of the park with plastic waste that can directly find its way into the lake, posing a serious environmental threat. Yet it appears that the park management is doing little to combat the pollution of the park and lake.
After one hour of cleaning, the team had to trek fifteen minutes to the designated dump collection site located outside the park for proper disposal of the waste. There happens to be no refuse dump or bin within the park. After that, Engineer Jator Abido provided some refreshments and then addressed the team.
“Today we, the members of the Maccabi Football Club of Nigeria and members of IPJD, gathered here to clean this body of water in commemoration of reverse Tashlich. We started this program last year, and we are here today again to fulfill the Halacha of ensuring that the water body is clean. We know that in Africa, malaria is a serious sickness, and it will be worthy to note that dirty water increases the malaria epidemic. I thank the members of the Maccabi Football Club of Nigeria, everyone who participated, and those of us who supported the event, especially Abraham Ben Abraham, for his immeasurable support in helping us enroll for the event.”
Speaking during the event, Abah Shaul, a member of Gihon Hebrew Synagogue who was taking part in the cleanup for the first time, lauded the initiative and praised the players of the Maccabi football club for championing the worldwide Repair the Sea organization’s Jewish marine conservation exercise in Nigeria.
“I am happy that I participated in this great environmental cleanup volunteer event. I want to thank the benefactor who ensured that the event happened. I thank Maccabi FC of Nigeria and everyone who participated in this year’s Reverse Tashlich. The exercise is a wonderful experience for me in repairing the world and likewise for everyone who is here to volunteer. I want to encourage the footballers who are hoping to someday feature and compete in the Maccabi Games in Israel, and I wish them well.”
Since its formation, the club has been in the spotlight, including making cover page headlines in newspapers in Israel. Back here at home, it has displayed its Jewish status, and recently we saw the Maccabi FC Nigeria take part in Camp Sarah 2025 activities. The assistant captain of the team, Shimon Yakov, acknowledged the management after the reverse Tashlich cleanup.
“As you can see, the members of the team came out in their numbers to participate in the event. Although the members here today are some percentage of our numbers because some of us have traveled to their various states to participate in Yom Kippur in their various synagogues across Nigeria. I also want to thank the team management for everything they are doing for us, for their efforts in providing financial and moral support. I’m looking forward to playing someday in Israel for Nigeria.”
During the reflection section at the close of the event, Yoshi Ben Obadiah from the Gihon Hebrew Synagogue in Abuja expressed his enthusiasm for the Reverse Tashlich initiative, describing it as a meaningful and unifying experience for Nigerian Jews. He explained that the community first participated in the program in 2024, and it has since become an important avenue for bonding and giving back to society through environmental service. Yoshi noted with pride that the number of participants has continued to grow, reflecting the community’s commitment to this global Jewish environmental movement. He commended the organizers for sustaining the effort, saying that their dedication has inspired members to return each year to help clean local water bodies. Looking ahead, he expressed optimism that next year’s exercise would be even more impactful.
As the 8th annual Reverse Tashlich concludes, participation has reached a remarkable milestone, with about 307 teams registered from 30 countries across six continents joining this global Jewish environmental movement. This year’s edition welcomed Kenya and Cameroon as first-time participants, expanding the initiative’s reach across Africa. Among other dedicated African teams was the Beth Harachman Jewish Community in southern Nigeria, who were in action at the Ibeno Atlantic Ocean beachfront, joined by students from Brachot Yeshiva Primary and Secondary School, who continued their commitment after debuting in last year’s cleanup. The Repair the Sea movement continues to inspire Jewish communities worldwide to unite in the shared mission of protecting oceans and waterways— a calling that beautifully intertwines environmental stewardship with profound spiritual responsibility.