Igbo Jews

Some of you may remember that the 3 biggest ethnic groups in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. You also might remember that almost all citizens are either Christian or Muslim. However, I just learned that the Igbo people, among others, may actually be Jewish:

The Igbo Jews, are members of the Igbo people of Nigeria who practice the Jewish religion and are said to be descended from North African or Egyptian Hebraic and later Israelite migrations into West Africa. Oral legends amongst the Igbo state that this migration started around 1,500 years ago.

The Igbo are not the only Nigerian group claiming Jewish heritage; there are other communities practicing Judaism in Nigeria that are not of the Igbo people, such as those among the Annang, Efik and Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State. The Sefwi people of Ghana, too, believe they are descendants of Jews who made their way to West Africa. In addition, Messianic Jewish communities have sprung up in Nigeria.

Some sources assert that a Jewish presence existed in Nigeria as early as 638 BCE. It is thought that Jews fled to Africa after the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and established communities all across the African continent. The population came south into sub-Saharan Africa and west across North Africa, possibly following the path of the Arab conquests. Descendants could also have arisen from migrants from Djerba, Tunisia who had fled to North Africa after the destruction of the biblical Temples.

The Igbo Jews traditionally claim descent from three particular Israelite tribes: Gad, Zebulun, and Manasseh. Some hold that families amongst the community are descendants of Kohanim and Levites, the Jewish priests and their assistants who functioned in the Jerusalem Temple. The Nigerian Jewish community is said to be composed almost entirely of descendants of Kohanim.

Outreach to Nigerian Jews by the wider Jewish world community gained official status in 1995–1997, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sent a team to Nigeria in search of the “Lost Tribes of Israel.” Western rabbis and educators such as Rabbi Gorin have visited the community at times and Jewish communities in the West support those in Nigeria by sending books, computers, and religious articles. However, the State of Israel has, to date, not recognized the Igbo as one of the Lost Tribes.

Religious practices of the Igbo Jews include circumcision eight days after the birth of a male child, observance of kosher dietary laws, separation of men and women during menstruation, wearing of the tallit and kippah, and the celebration of holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. In recent times, the communities have also adopted holidays such as Hanukkah and Purim, which were instituted only after many of the tribes of Israel had already dispersed.