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NEWS
Tenth Anniversary for African Jewish Organization
by D. Saks
This year, a still little-known but important Jewish umbrella
organization, the African Jewish Congress, celebrates its
tenth anniversary.
Exactly ten years ago, the various Jewish communities of Sub-
Saharan Africa came together to form the AJC to represent
their communities on the international Jewish stage. South
Africa, which has by far the largest concentration of Jews on
the African continent, took the lead in establishing the
organization, through the offices of the South African Jewish
Board of Deputies (SAJBD). Since then, the AJC has provided
an important forum in which the small, scattered African
Jewish communities have built bridges with and assisted each
other in the maintenance of Jewish life in the region.
The AJC is affiliated to the World Jewish Congress, a
voluntary association of representative bodies, communities
and organizations throughout the world that seeks to ensure
the well-being of the Jewish people and foster their unity.
The head offices of the AJC are based in Johannesburg, South
Africa, located within the administrative structure of the
SAJBD. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Spiritual Leader to the AJC,
regularly travels to the affiliated countries to officiate at
religious services and life-cycle events, visit individual
Jews living in isolated areas, oversee the maintenance of
Jewish cemeteries and various other duties.
Affiliated countries to the AJC include Botswana, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Kenya, Lesotho,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Of these
countries, only Kenya (scene of last November's horrific
suicide terrorist attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in
Mombasa) and Zimbabwe today still have Jewish populations in
excess of a hundred souls. However, in bygone years several
others had substantial Jewish populations: over 500 in the
case of Mozambique and Namibia (formerly known as South West
Africa) and over a thousand in Zambia.
The country with the smallest Jewish presence is Lesotho, a
small, mountainous kingdom completely surrounded by South
Africa, where the Jewish community numbers, at most, ten
people. In 2001, the AJC co-sponsored two rabbinical students
to travel to Tanzania, where they organized the first Friday
night service in the capital, Dar Es Salaam, in at least 30
years.
While most African Jewish communities are aging and
shrinking, several are bucking the trend and showing modest
growth. This is true of Botswana, a large, semi-arid republic
located between South Africa to the east and south and
Namibia to the west. After being unable to muster a minyan
for several years, the Botswana community now holds
services every Friday night and on all festivals, using a
room in the only fully kosher home in the city which has a
room specially designated for that purpose. The shul
also doubles as a cheder for the growing number of
Jewish children in the community.
The most prominent member of the community is Richard Lyons,
the only Jew who is currently a Motswana (i.e. a full
citizen). A prominent lawyer, Lyons has close relations with
the President and his government, as well as with the
opposition in Parliament. Two years ago, he was appointed
Honorary Consul for Israel.
Another AJC country whose Jewish community has increased in
recent years is Mauritius, a subtropical island in the Indian
ocean just off Madagascar. From a Jewish point of view,
Mauritius is best known as the place where 1670 Jewish
refugees from Nazi-held Europe were interned by the British
during World War II after they had been refused permission to
land in Palestine, then under the British Mandate. Over a
hundred of the detainees died during this period and were
buried on the island. The cemetery was later handed over by
Deed of Grant to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies,
which has overseen its maintenance ever since. Nearly all of
the detainees immigrated to Israel after the war and the Jews
currently living on the island are comparatively recent
arrivals.
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