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From: ok
Date: Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 12:26 AM
Subject: NigerianID | In Nigeria, 'A Very Jewish ... Very African' Community
To: nigerianid@yahoogroups.com, nigeriansncanada@yahoogroups.com, NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com, omoodua@yahoogroups.com
From: ok
Date: Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 12:26 AM
Subject: NigerianID | In Nigeria, 'A Very Jewish ... Very African' Community
To: nigerianid@yahoogroups.com, nigeriansncanada@yahoogroups.com, NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com, omoodua@yahoogroups.com
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/14/167180589/nigerias-jews-celebrate-hanukkah
William Miles/Markus Wiener Publishers 
William Miles/Markus Wiener Publishers
In Nigeria, 'A Very Jewish ... Very African' Community
by NPR STAFF
December 14, 2012 9:14 AM
Listen to the Story
9 min 5 sec
"Being welcomed by and embraced by Igbos, who take Judaism so seriously ... it raises the question of what it means to be a Jew," says William Miles.
A handmade menorah in Abuja.
Three years ago, Miles, a self-proclaimed semi-practicing Jew, decided to celebrate Hanukkah in Africa's most populous country. He wrote about his experience in a new book called Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey. He tells NPR's Tell Me Morehost Michel Martin that he found "a very Jewish community, but also a very African community."
The Igbo are an ethnic group in the southeast of the country. Miles explains that a long oral history connects them to one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel. "The tribe of Gad made its way all the way to West Africa, and they have been preserving ancient Israelite Hebrew traditions ever since, and so they claim they are just rediscovering their old roots," he says.
But based on his experience, Miles explains, there is more to the recent embracing of their beliefs.
"Even though they claim that they're going back to their ancient roots, it's only in the last couple of decades that they are actually practicing as Jews in a way that is recognized in global Judaism," he says.
Miles describes the Jewish Igbo as the "world's first Internet Jews." Through online research, they learned more about how Judaism is practiced throughout the world and started to master Hebrew. "It's really tough to learn Hebrew on your own," Miles points out, but "they are masters at it."
Miles says their celebration of Hanukkah would be "very familiar to any American Jew who plops down in Abuja." The main difference is their access to Jewish ritual objects to celebrate with. For example, instead of lighting candles at home, they lit a makeshift menorah at the synagogue. "Picture this: Coke bottles, which they painted ... a wooden box to put them in, and then put whatever candles they have."
A Nigerian boy receives a dreidel for Hanukkah.
"I have to say, Nigerians take religion very seriously," he says. Miles describes meeting Jewish Igbos who had made some significant sacrifices for their faith. One told him, " 'My wife ... insisted that we should go back to Christianity. Look, I said, I have found the faith of my forefathers, there's just no going back. So we parted, just like that, because of the religion.' "
The Jewish Igbo are not yet recognized by Israel's rabbinate, but Miles says that does not matter to them. "They are happy to be acting, practicing, worshipping as Jews," he says.
It's this commitment that Miles feels should raise questions for him and others in the Diaspora who "don't really feel that it's that important to practice Judaism." He claims that "if any Jew has the privilege to spend time with this Igbo Jewish community ... they would acknowledge that they have a lot to teach Jews around the world what it means to be Jewish."
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"No part of any discussion on NigerianID may be used, quoted, or referred to, without the express permission of the individual author, or the Chief moderator All discussions on NigerianID are the express property of the author and NigerianID." Copyright 2006-2012. NigerianID. All Rights Reserved.
Nigerians In Diaspora Organization. Our mission is to promote the spirit of patriotism, networking, and cooperation among Nigerians in Diaspora....
Donate your used Glasses to the "Seeing Changes the View" Nigeria Project at http://www.proudNigerians.org and help someone today. ProudNigerians.Org is an informal movement of like-minded people who wants to see incremental changes in Nigeria and who are leading by taking simple actions and paying it forward. Mobilizing the people is our primary goal.
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