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The Jewish Virtual History TourGhanaby Mara Weiss
The first traces of Judaism in Ghana appeared in 1976, thanks to a Ghanaian man named Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa. Living in the community of Sefwi Sui in Western Ghana, Toakyirafa had a vision and "spoke with spirits" driving him to believe that he and his fellow Ghanaian's were indeed descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. He saw a clear connection and many similarities between his peoples practices and those of Judaism. For example, it was a tradition in Sewfi for Saturday to be a day of rest. Such a strong tradition that Sewfi that didn't adhere to it were frequently punished. Sewfi also followed the Jewish dietary law restricting the consumption of pork. Members of the male community were circumcised in youth. Toakyriafa was first viewed as crazy but over time his vision became more and more readily accepted.
After his trip to the Ivory Coast, Toakyriafa began educating the Sefwi Sui and Adiembra communities about their Jewish hertitage. He taught them Jewish practices and traditions, integrating Judaism into their lives and preaching the study of Judaism to others. They called themselves the House of Israel. The House of Israel was not accepted in Adiembra, a community neighboring Sefwi Sui. Christians violently abused and imprisoned House of Israel leaders. Most of Adiembra member of the House of Israel moved away.
Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa died in 1991. Many thought that the Sewfi community and all of the Judaism that had been taught would just fade away. This almost happened, but in 1993, Toakyirafa was replaced by David Ahenkorah as the leader of the community. Ahenkorah experienced a life-altering vision very similar to that of Toakyirafa. The community then relocated to the small town of Sefwi Wiawso, known as the Jewish neighborhood of New Adiembra. There is currently a synagogue and family living facilities in New Adiembra. Most members of the community are the first generation of Ghanaians to be Jewish. There is a core group of approximately 800 people practicing Judaism. The community originated from Jews in North Africa crossing the Sahara Desert centuries ago, ending up in the Ivory Coast. Over time, people lost connections to their Jewish roots, but apparently maintained some Jewish customs, such as burying the dead immediately after dead, and avoiding some meat considered to be unclean. David Ahenkorah remains the spiritual leader of the House of Israel Community. According to Ahenkorah, "They call me a rabbi, but I just call myself a teacher. I haven't been trained." During nightly group meetings, David and "Rabbi" Alex read from donated books about Judaism, teaching community members of all ages about Jewish traditions. On Shabbat Alex reads from a English language Tanach, a gift from a synagogue in Iowa (according to the sticker inside the book), as David interprets the week's parsha line by line. Each sentence of the Torah is read aloud three times, once in the local language Twi, then in English, and finally translated into a colloquial mixture of of Twi-English. The synagogue in Sefwi is described in Forward as a "rectangular concrete building, recently painted a brilliant blue and white to match the Israeli flags that hang above the doorways. A center aisle divides the two sections of handcarved wooden pews: the five pews to the left for men, the five to the right for women." For many decades, the Jews of Sewfi believed they were the last remaining Jews in the world. It was not until the late 1980s, that one of the Ghanaian men travelled to the capital of Accra, and ask the government officials whether there were other Jews. The Ghanaian Jews were surprised to discover there were millions of other Jews in the world. The community had to travel to the Ivory Coast, to contact the Israeli government. The Israeli embassy provided the community with one Torah Scroll and a single siddur, prayer book. During the late 1990s a man by the name of Michael Gershowitz from the Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Des Moines, Iowa arrived at the Ghanaian community to learn about their history. Through support of Tifereth Israel, Gershowitz was able to provide the Jews of Sewfi with an additional 200 prayer books. In honor of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue of Iowa, the Sewfi community has named their synagogue "Tifereth Israel" in honor of the generous Des Moines congregation. On March 26, 2004, Bar Dahan was the first Ghanaian to become a Bar Mitzvah. The community's goal is to build a Jewish school for the children of Sefwi. Recently, 40 acres have been acquired from a local tribesman, but not enough funds have been produced to start construction. Some of the children have learned Hebrew songs and phrases, but are forced to go to local Christian schools due to the lack of a Jewish one. ContactThe House of Israel Community Sources: The
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