As a part of my ongoing and vigorous discussions with Sondjata on Abrahamic religion and Afrocentritiy it had occured to me that it would be good to mention the Lemba people.
The Lemba (or Lembaa) are a group of people who live in southern Africa (mostly Malawi, Zimbabwe and the South African). And although they speak Bantu languages similar to their neighbours, they have specific religious practices similar to those in Judaism (e.g. prohibition of pork, male circumcision). On top of that, according to their oral tradition they are of Jewish descent dating back to the time of Solomon. Furthermore, some DNA evidence (specifically looking at markers on the Y-chromosome) strongly suggests their claims are true.
So here is just another example of how deeply the Abrahamic and African worlds overlap.
Haruth: The Lemba
Wikipedia: Lemba
NYTimes: Group in Africa Has Jewish Roots, DNA Indicates
The Jews of Africa: The Lemba of Southern Africa
The Freeman Institute: The Black Jews of Southern Africa
PBS/Nova: The Lemba, The Black Jews of Southern Africa
Wikipedia: African Jew
The Lemba (or Lembaa) are a group of people who live in southern Africa (mostly Malawi, Zimbabwe and the South African). And although they speak Bantu languages similar to their neighbours, they have specific religious practices similar to those in Judaism (e.g. prohibition of pork, male circumcision). On top of that, according to their oral tradition they are of Jewish descent dating back to the time of Solomon. Furthermore, some DNA evidence (specifically looking at markers on the Y-chromosome) strongly suggests their claims are true.
So here is just another example of how deeply the Abrahamic and African worlds overlap.
Haruth: The Lemba
Wikipedia: Lemba
NYTimes: Group in Africa Has Jewish Roots, DNA Indicates
The Jews of Africa: The Lemba of Southern Africa
The Freeman Institute: The Black Jews of Southern Africa
PBS/Nova: The Lemba, The Black Jews of Southern Africa
Wikipedia: African Jew
4 comments:
I've met three separate Black Jews since I moved to Flagstaff, none of which are from the Ethiopian Jewish population. I know it doesn't relate directly to your post, it just interests me that usually we associate Black Monotheism with either Southern American Protestantism or Islam, and not the Bani Israel.
Anyway, very interesting news from you as always. I'm actually starting my blog back up on a limited basis, stop by from time to time.
I've met a few Hebrew Israelites, and know other Black Jews in the conventional sense. I've also went to college with a women of Ethiopian Jewish descent back in the day.
A long time ago I even saw Julius Lester (A famous African-American civil rights activist who later converted to Judaism) speak... he was giving a presentation about Judiasm and the sabbath. In the back of my mind I've been thinking about writing a post about him specifically. His autobiography (called Lovesong) about how he became Jewish was really interesting to me.
The Lemba are not really Beta Israel. They do not claim Falasha decent, but direct ancestry from Yemen through separate migrations.
I also found it interesting that there are Yemeni Jews that have lived on the East African coast for centuries, specifically the Ha-Redeye, whom the Lemba supposedly originate from.
Post a Comment