The history of the Jews of Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, is marked by a small presence. Known for its steamy jungles, raw beaches and bustling markets, the West African nation of Ghana is home to 28 million people, perhaps 500 of them Jewish. The contemporary Jewish community is small and mostly composed of foreign residents.
Since 2015, the Ghana Jewish community has found a home at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center of Ghana in Accra, directed by Rabbi Noach and Altie Majesky. There is no historic Jewish presence in Ghana. When Rabbi Noach and Altie showed up, they literally created something from nothing.
Located on a pothole-ridden dirt road behind a security wall lined with large palm trees, the Chabad House is a spacious home on an expansive property. It doesn’t matter what your prior level of observance may be; every Jew in Ghana is welcome at Chabad. Some join for holidays, some for every Shabbat, and some for other programs or events.
The core of the community is formed by Israeli businesspeople and their families. Some Israeli families join regularly, and their kids run around with Yankee, Hillie and the rest of the Chabad children who are always brightening the house. But I think the Beit Chabad was especially important for those of us without family in Ghana. That was my anchor, my community-the one thing I could rely on amidst the uncertainty.
In the past two years, things have really grown. When I arrived, we generally had a minyan on Friday nights and sometimes on Shabbat morning. People come to Ghana to work very hard and are under a lot of pressure during the week. Ghana is a lovely country, but the work stresses, the outrageous traffic jams and hectic bazaar of life in Accra can wear your nerves down to frays. As soon as people arrive at Chabad for Shabbat, that pressure melts away.
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In typical Chabad fashion, Rabbi Noach is always encouraging everyone to do a bit more, be it come up for an aliyah or prepare a short talk on the weekly Torah portion. Granted, there were no motorcycle rides on Shabbat, but people come early to socialize, join the services and then linger over the meal way past midnight.
Everything needs to be shipped from abroad, which can be complex. But even with all the logistical challenges, before Passover there were boxes of matzah handed out for everyone, Chanukiyot and candles for every house on Chanukah, and gift baskets on Purim. The hurdles just don’t seem to matter. The rabbi is a trained shochet (ritual slaughterer), so he supplies whoever needs with fresh kosher poultry and invites anyone interested to join for his farm visits on Wednesday mornings.
Noach and Altie Majesky are a team. Everything they do for the community is a joint effort. They share the burden of preparing events, teaching, guiding and everything else. On holidays, everyone showed up for the Beit Chabad parties. Simchat Torah and Purim here are just unbelievable; the joy is palpable and contagious. When you live in a place where Judaism is more accessible, you may or you may not decide to take advantage. But here on the holidays, on Shabbat, you just need that sense of family.
Ghana is considered the first African country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, though the date is unverified. In September 2011, reopened its embassy in Ghana after 38 years of closure and it is anticipated that the embassy will help foster and deepen bilateral relations between Israel and Ghana for their mutual benefits.
In November 2012, after a four-story mall collapsed in Accra that killed three and injured over 50 people, the Israeli Air Force sent a plan carrying medical personnel, engineers, and communication experts to help Ghana pick up the pieces of the tragedy. A Magen David Adom team was also sent to the region.
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Also in November 2012, the Israeli government lent $217 million to the University of Ghana to build a 600-bed teaching hospital in Legon. The Sheba Medical Centre in Tel HaShomer, Israel will provide assistance to ensure that Ghana's new teaching hospital measures up to global standards in medicine and health. The facility will provide Ghanaians and people in the sub-region the opportunity to access excellent medical care in Ghana.
The House of Israel Community
The House of Israel, a community of aspiring converts, has begun to emerge in recent decades. The House of Israel black sub-African Jewish community is based in the small and remote towns of Sefwi Wiawso and neighboring Sefwi Sui in southwestern Ghana. The House of Israel community of Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Sui in Western Ghana is either a relatively new one, or an ancient one.
The House of Israel, of the Sefwi tribe, alleges to be descended from one of the ten lost ancient tribes of Israel. They believe their ancestors migrated across the desert from North Africa centuries ago and settled in Ghana. The history, background, and claims of the community continue to be studied and debated. The community estimates itself to number two hundred men, women, and children.
Map of Ghana showing regional divisions
The people of Sefwi Wiawso, who claim to have roots in the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel, trace a call for a "return" to normative Judaism by Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa, a community leader who, in 1976, is said to have had a vision. In 2012, Gabrielle Zilkha, a Toronto-based filmmaker, visited Sefwe Wiawso to do research for a documentary about the House of Israel she is making. According to Zilkha, about 200 people-mostly children-live in the community.
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Since the late 1970s, they have identified themselves as Jews and gradually connected with some Jewish communities mainly in the United States and Europe. They have not, however, formally converted to Judaism. In the 1990s, the House of Israel began to reach out to the wider Jewish world. The leader of the House of Israel since 1993, David Ahenkorah claims to have received his own vision in taking up the mantle.
The House of Israel has faced many challenges because of their beliefs, but since founding the community about 25 years ago the elders have grown their group to encompass several large families. They observe many Hebraic traditions such as circumcision of their male child on the 8th day and cannot name their male child until he has been circumcised.
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.
Toakyriafa's certainty about his ancestery only grew as he traveled to the Ivory Coast. He studied the history of the population of Sewfi. The Sewfi had traveled south to Ghana but had come through what is now the Ivory Coast. He was convinced that the Jewish community of the Ivory Coast had migrated there from other documented Jewish communities.
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. 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. 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.
In 1998, the House of Israel community built a modest synagogue at the base of Sefwi Waiwso’s mountain in an isolated and quiet area of town called New Adiembra. According to the community, they chose a spot at the lowest point in the Jewish quarter because of the Torah's admonition "you shall not worship from the high places," an apparent reference to the Canaanite practice of building altars on mountaintops (and contrasting the arrangement of the elevated ancient Temple in Jerusalem). Next door to the synagogue to one side live community members, and to the other side is a visitor’s center under construction at the time these watercolors were painted.
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."
He has been granted a 40-acre plot of land to build a Jewish school for the community, but they have not yet been able to raise funds for construction. Children currently attend a local school run by Christians. The community built a synagogue in 1998 in New Adiembra, a Jewish neighborhood in Sefwi Wiawso. Recently, they painted it blue and white, colors commonly associated with Judaism.
Some years back, while preparing for a visit to Sefwi Wiawso by an American tourist and member of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Des Moines, Iowa, two-hundred prayer books were arranged to be donated by this congregation and sent to the House of Israel Synagogue. Since the community did not have books or materials for their entire membership before then, this donation was particularly well-received and appreciated. Other Jewish publications, ritual and liturgical objects, holiday ware, and Jewish education material have also been generously donated to the community over the years.
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.
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.
The House of Israel congregation is building the guest house believing that tourists in growing numbers will soon visit the site and wish to stay in the area overnight. Kulanu’s relationship with Ghana’s Jewish community exemplifies the organization’s most successful long-term partnerships. Beginning in the early 2000s, Kulanu has provided multifaceted support that has transformed the community’s capacity for Jewish practice and economic sustainability.
House of Joseph Diaspora: Ashanti – Israelite Descendants of Ghana 2025 09 03
The Sefwi people’s connection to Judaism runs deeper than recent spiritual awakening. For centuries, they observed practices that remarkably parallel Jewish tradition: Saturday Sabbath observance, dietary restrictions, ritual purity laws, Jewish mourning customs, and circumcision of boys on the eighth day after birth.
The heart of Ghana’s Jewish community beats in Sefwi Wiawso, a town of 1,500 people serving as capital of the sparsely populated district. Here, the Tifereth Israel Synagogue anchors a community compound of approximately 14 Jewish households, with additional families scattered throughout the region.
Flag of Israel
Out in rural Ghana, far from any major population centre, a small group of Africans stop work on Shabbat, refrain from eating pork, circumcise their newborn sons and adhere to the laws of ritual purity. They’ve been doing so for generations, but until 1976, they had no idea the traditions related to a religion called Judaism. For the people of Sefwi Wiawso, the practices were merely “the laws of the land” that they and their ancestors have been following since they made Ghana, on Africa’s west coast, their home some 200 to 300 years ago.
Before that, their oral tradition tells them, they wandered Africa, crossed the Sahara desert and lived for a time in Niger, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. They call themselves Tifereth Israel and, although they believe they have been practising the religion of ancient Israel, he said that their “greatest hope in the future is to gain recognition and be accepted as Jews all over the world.”
Michael Owusu Ansah is a spokesman for the community, which numbers about 70 people. Speaking on the phone from Sefwi Wiawso, a village in western Ghana, he described the community as mostly poor farmers who enjoy the right to practice their religion as they see fit. Surrounded mostly by Christian tribes, the Tifereth Israel practice the laws of the Torah, he said.
In 1976, one of the members of their tribe, which is known as the Sefwi, “had the vision to be told the real meaning of our customs. However, the entire people on Sefwi land were observing the Torah-related laws and custom(s) prior to 1976. In other words, the name ‘Judaism’ was realized in 1976, as a results of the vision,” Ansah stated.
Toronto filmmaker Gabrielle Zilka documented the Jews of Ghana in a film called, Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana. The film was screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and will be shown again on Nov. 12 at Toronto’s Borochov Cultural Centre, in an event sponsored by Kulanu Canada and Na’amat Canada Toronto.
For his part, Ansah is grateful for the help provided by mainstream Jewish communities. The American Kulanu organization has shipped Jewish textbooks to Ghana, while some volunteers have visited their village, to bring them up to speed on modern Judaism. Some have helped educate them about Judaism, while others just came “to observe how we practice our religion,” he said.
Ultimately, the Tifereth Israel would like to send someone to Israel, to learn on their own, but the community is so poor that it can’t afford to send anyone, he said. In the past, one member of the community moved to Uganda to study there, but when he returned, he moved to Accra, the national capital on the south coast, where there are more than 300 Jews.
Those people had practiced Christianity until a couple of years ago, when they converted to Judaism, and are not connected to the Tifereth Israel, who hail from a tribe called Sefwi, he added. His people believe they are descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel. The lost tribes of Israel refers to refugees from the ancient northern Kingdom of Israel, who were dispersed following the destruction of the kingdom by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE.
Ansah acknowledges that there is no written record to substantiate the claim to being one of the lost tribes of Israel, other than the community’s oral history. Kulanu and Na’amat’s program, Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana, will be held at the Borochov Cultural Centre, 272 Codsell Ave. on Nov.
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