Bat mitzvah in Nigeria
How do you dress for a bat mitzvah in Nigeria? Not much different than in Israel – with a fluffy pink dress and a crown!
Gadi Bentley, who was Shavei Israel’s first emissary to Africa’s Igbo Jewish community (we wrote about him here and his successors, Noga Kohl and Michal Elroy here), sent us this photo of the bat mitzvah girl, Tuvia Bat Pennyel, surrounded by her parents and older brothers. Tuvia lives in the small town of Ogidi.
An estimated 3,000 Igbo identify as Jewish and practice a modern form of Judaism, complete with synagogues (there are 26 in the country), Torah scrolls, kashrut, the wearing of Tefillin (phylacteries) and tallit (prayer shawls), and circumcision.
The Igbo Jews first came to the Western world’s attention more than 500 years ago when Portuguese missionaries sailed to West Africa. They sent written reports back home about a tribe of Africans who were keeping the Jewish Sabbath and kosher laws. Although the missionaries proceeded to convert most of Igbo to Christianity, the Igbo Jews didn’t forget their roots and in the last several decades have begun reconnecting with their heritage.
That reconnecting is not just for smachot (celebrations like a bat mitzvah). Every other month, the youth of the the various Igbo Jewish communities get together for a weekend of activities and fun. Here’s a photo. (The tall non-Nigerian in the back is our emissary Gadi.)
And here are a few more photos.
The idea for the get-togethers, which take place in a different location each time, is “to study Torah together and learn from each other,” says Gadi Bentley.
There’s always a quiz covering Jewish Law, Zionism and Hebrew. Two participants represent each state and a trophy is given to the winner. Port Harcot was the winner at the most recent competition which took place two weeks ago in the Nigerian state of Imo. The first two pictures above were taken during a Shabbaton in Eboni.