THREE YEARS AGO, African Jewish Voices (AJV) started with a simple question: who is telling the story of Jewish life in Africa? Today, with its fifth edition just launched, the answer keeps growing.
What began as an ambitious vision to document the lives, experiences, and activities of Jewish communities across Africa has grown into a significant platform for telling the African Jewish story to the world.
The 5th edition of African Jewish Voices was launched at the Beth Harachaman Jewish Community in Uruan, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The event brought together members of the host community, guests from within and outside Akwa Ibom State, as well as students and staff of Brachot Yeshiva International School.
For Beth Ha’arachaman, the occasion, which took place August 5th was a celebration of an idea that had survived, grown, and continued to make its mark. In his opening remarks, Yerimyahu Ukpong, the leader of Beth Ha’arachaman Jewish Community, expressed his delight:
“I am happy that African Jewish Voices is not just a dream but a project that has been actualized and sustained.”
He called on Jews, Jewish organizations, and supporters around the world to find ways to support the vision of the African Jewish Voices, stressing the importance of ensuring that this first publication of its kind in Africa continues to grow and reach its full potential.
Three Years, More Than 100 Stories
The launch also marked a major milestone: three years and over 100 published articles documenting Jewish life across Africa. The management of the African Jewish Voices has maintained a commitment to producing two editions every year, creating a growing archive of stories about communities, people, events, traditions, achievements, and challenges across African Jewry.
For many communities whose stories might otherwise remain unknown beyond their surroundings, the magazine has become a means of ensuring their experiences are recorded and shared. This latest edition, with the theme “Building Stronger Communities,” focuses on entrepreneurial enterprises, scaling success, creating opportunities, and strengthening Jewish life across Africa.
The launch also recognized service beyond journalism. We witnessed an evening that took time to honour a genuine service to Jewish Education. Brachot Yeshiva, a school run by the synagogue management presented an appreciation award to Chief Editor Avraham Ben Avraham for his charitable work and support for the school.
Among his recent contributions was the donation of Wi-Fi equipment and data, giving students and staff easier internet access and supporting computer training. The award highlighted that African Jewish Voices is not only about telling stories, but also about doing.
African Judaica Marketplace Opens a New Door
The launch introduced a new dimension to the platform: the African Judaica Marketplace.
Integrated into the African Jewish Voices website, the marketplace will create an online space where people anywhere in the world can purchase Jewish products made in Africa. This will be the first time any platform is committed to host and feature Jewish craftsmen and women across Africa borders.
Products will include Nigerian-made tallitot, Ugandan kippot, Ghanaian challah covers, and other handcrafted Judaica produced by artisans across the continent. This initiative expands the publication’s role beyond storytelling, creating a direct link between African Jewish creativity and the global Jewish marketplace. Buyers can simply browse through collections on the website, and with a click make their orders, which would be shipped to their destination anywhere across the world.
Sukkot Village Documentary Postponed to Next Year
Another major announcement concerned the highly anticipated Sukkot Village documentary. During the launch, the film poster of the proposed documentary, Voices from the Sukkot Village, hung alongside the posters of the front and back covers of the new magazine.
Emmanuel Yerimyahu Ukpong, the leader of the community, announced that the documentary would be postponed until next year to allow sufficient time for preparation and to properly capture the uniqueness of the Sukkot Village experience.
Sukkot Village is distinctive for how families celebrate. Rather than gathering around a single communal sukkah, families construct their own sukkah where they live and remain connected to the festival throughout Sukkot. Each Sukkah unit in the village is occupied by a family, with some units separated from others, and each unit contains different rooms for sleeping, cooking, and sitting. In these makeshift shelters, the members manage to stay for the week, abandoning the comforts of their homes to dwell in the Sukkah.
The celebration combines religious observance with education and culture: Children set off to school from their family sukkah, and afternoons feature Torah classes, while evenings after Maariv in the central prayer Sukkah include Jewish-themed plays and traditional cultural performances. Musical performance and football have also become popular. The postponement will allow us to capture these elements for a wider international audience.
During the launch, Chief Editor Avraham Ben-Aravraham also took us into the future of the magazine by announcing the title of the upcoming sixth edition as “The Tribes of Africa.” “The forthcoming edition will continue to explore the diversity and richness of Jewish life across the continent,” he said.
Abba Ori Otu emphasized the urgency of documentation:
“Please, you must amplify our voices. This magazine is the hope of most African Jewish communities. “Document every tiny detail; it will surely be needed tomorrow.”
The need for such documentation is vital on a continent where Jewish communities differ in history, culture, geography, and experience. Some are isolated, many are returning, while a few others are emerging. Each community has a story, and together those stories form the larger narrative of African Jewry.
The launch of the 5th edition was therefore not just the celebration of another publication. It was a celebration of three years of consistency, documentation, and vision—and a glimpse into an even more ambitious future.
As African Jewish Voices looks toward its 6th edition, “The Tribes of Africa,” it remains committed to being the voice of African Jewry: publicizing Jewish life, providing current updates, amplifying unheard voices, and creating a link between Africa’s Jewish communities and the international Jewish community.