The Jewish Synagogue and Abayudaya Community in Uganda

The Jewish community of Uganda are a small religious group that have been practicing Judaism in the country for the past century. They are locally known as the “Abayudaya” which means the people of Judah in Luganda. This name was given by a man called Semei Kakungulu who was an influential military general and local collaborator of the British colonial administrators.

The history of the Abayudaya community dates back to the 1880s when Semei Kakungulu converted to Christianity under the influence of the early missionaries. The missionaries promised him the position of King in the eastern regions of Bukedi and Bugisu after conquest. However, things did not go as planned for Kakungulu. The Colonial Administrators refused to make him king of the territories he had helped conquer. He got angry and decided to cut ties with the British including the new religion he had earlier embraced. Kakungulu studied the bible in detail and took keen interest in the first five books of Moses in the Old Testament. The custom of circumcision that is highlighted in the Old Testament caught his attention. He shared his ideas about circumcision with other Christians but they opposed its adoption. Their reason for opposing the adoption of circumcision was that it would make Christians act like Jews. To their amazement, Kakungulu replied to them with the words, “Then I am a Jew”. He right away had himself circumcised together with all his sons after which he declared his community Jewish.

Later, Semei Kakungulu fled and settled at a place called Gangama which is found along the slopes of mountain Elgon near the present day Mbale town. He introduced a sect which was referred to it as “Kibina kya Bayudaya abesiga katonda” which means “the community of Jews who trust in the Lord God”. Years later in 1920, Yosef became the first Jew to visit Uganda and greatly impacted the Abayudaya community during his stay with them for about 6 months. He spent his time teaching the people about the Judaism faith. The Jewish community in Uganda learnt how to celebrate festivals like Yom Kippur, Hashanah and Shavuot among others. Yosef also brought with him the very first Jewish calendar to be used by the Abayudaya in addition to introducing the laws concerning Kashrut. These laws are still being practiced by the community to this day. Upon receiving the teachings from Yosef, Semei Kakungulu was prompted to set up a school from where people were taught more about the faith basing on the first teachings of Yosef.

In 1928, Semei Kakungulu died of tetanus and left a huge gap among the Abayudaya community. One of his disciples Known as Samson Mugombe Israeli took over as the Abayudaya community spiritual leader. His time of leadership was not a smooth one as Abayudaya community faced a lot of trials and persecutions from president Iddi Amin. He did not recognize the Judaism faith and even went ahead to destroy Synagogues. This forced the Jewish community in Uganda to isolate themselves and practice their faith in secret for fear of their lives. Some of the people were forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. A core group of about 300 Abayudaya people stood their ground despite the persecutions. They renamed themselves “she’erit yisrael” which means remnants of Israel but in this context to mean the surviving Jews of Uganda.

Later, a certain Arye Oded who was an Israeli student studying at Makerere University made a visit to the remnants of the Abayudaya community and met up with Samson Mugombe and other leaders. They had some discussions and then he taught them how Jews in Israel practiced Judaism. The student then wrote a book on Religion and politics in Uganda in addition to many other written literature on the community and their customs. All these literature works introduced the Abayudaya community to the world of the Jewish faith.

The Abayudaya community underwent revival in the 1980s and on February 2002 about 400 members were formally converted into the faith by 5 rabbis of the conservative branch of Judaism. A stunning Jewish synagogue was built as the headquarters of the Abayudaya in the whole of East Africa and is located in a small village of Nabugoye near Mbale city in eastern Uganda. The synagogue is open for prayers on Saturday which is the Sabbath day (Sabato).

The current total population of the Abayudaya people in Uganda is between 2000 to 3000 people which is a small number considering Judaism is the mother of both Christianity and Islam. A reason for the small population of the Jewish Community in Uganda is that they shy away from preaching or advertising it to the public. They prefer that one joins on their own free will after which they are taught more about the religion. It should be noted that Christianity and Islam spread so fast and got more converts because the earlier missionaries went out to the people to accept their faiths – sometimes by force.

Did you know that the Jews don’t celebrate New Year on 1st January?  I bet you didn’t.  According to the Jewish calendar, new year’s day is celebrated in September although the dates may differ for each year. Additionally, they also do not celebrate Christmas but rather celebrate Yom Kippur which means the day of atonement. It is the most holy day in the Jewish Calendar.

Current Leader and How the Abayudaya Jewish Community are making an Impact

The current leader of the Abayudaya community in Uganda is Rabbi Gershom Wambedde who was the former Member of parliament for Bungokho North constituency in Mbale. Wambedde is also the very first Rabbi of the Abayudaya community in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. He received his ordination in 2009 after completing a 4 year course in Rabbinic studies at the Ziegler school of rabbinic studies in Los Angeles California. The Abayudaya community of Uganda were greatly blessed by his ordination as the community was eventually recognized by the Jewish Agency for Israel. This is an organization which officially recognizes communities outside Israel as Jewish.

The Abayudaya community of Uganda are making an impact in Uganda. They help communities living close to them by providing free education to children from unprivileged homes. They also provide free medical services to people at their Tobin health center in Mbale. The Abayudaya community of Uganda have few worship centers and the Nabugoye headquarters has the biggest population of about 300 worshipers. There is a community in Bunga just near the Kampala city center with about 60 members. Other communities are found in Kibuuka, Namutumba, Mukono, Pallisa and Apac.