The history of the Jews in Zimbabwe spans over a century, marked by periods of growth, assimilation, and decline. Present-day Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia and later as Rhodesia. The first Jews arrived in the colony at the end of the 19th century, and the population swelled to nearly 1,500 by the middle of the twentieth century.
Early Settlement and Community Development
During the 19th century, Ashkenazi Jews from the Russian Empire, Ukrainian Polish Russia, and Belarusian Lithuania settled in Rhodesia after the area had been colonized by the British, and became active in the trading industry. Eastern Europeans, most from Russia and Lithuania, first settled in Rhodesia and became active in the trading industry.
In 1894, the first synagogue was established in a tent in Bulawayo. The Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation began in 1894, in a canvass tent with barely 20 members. The congregation is based on the traditions of the Ashkenazi Orthodox. On May 17, 1910, the first stone was laid for the construction of a new community synagogue, which was consecrated in April 1911. Over the years, the community has fluctuated in numbers, reaching a maximum in the 1950s of a few thousand.
The second community developed in Salisbury (later renamed Harare) in 1895. The Harare (formerly Salisbury) Hebrew Congregation is an Ashkenazi community. The congregation was founded on June 2, 1895, by twenty men and two women. A third congregation was established in Gwelo in 1901. By 1900, 400 Jews lived in Rhodesia.
In 1898, Bulawayo’s Jews set up a chapter of the Zionist organization Chovevei Zion to help express their yearning for and aid to a future Jewish state.
Read also: Jewish Life in South Africa Today
By 1921, census data reported 1,289 Jews living in Rhodesia.
In the 1920s and 1930s, several Sephardic Jews arrived from Rhodes. In a coincidental overlap of place-names, hundreds of these Jews fled to the southern African territory of Rhodesia, today known as Zimbabwe.
Growth and Institutionalization
In the late 1930s, German Jews fleeing Nazi persecution settled in the colony. In 1943, the Rhodesian Zionist Council and the Rhodesian Jewish Board of Deputies were established, later being renamed the Central African Zionist Council and Central African Board of Jewish Deputies in 1946. In 1943, both the Rhodesian Zionist Council and the Rhodesian Jewish Board of Deputies were established to organize national Jewish and Zionist activities in the country.
After World War II, Jewish immigrants arrived from South Africa and the United Kingdom. After the Second World War, Rhodesia experienced a period of economic prosperity that led to the country becoming a magnet for Jewish immigration. Both Orthodox and Progressive congregations emerged. Rhodesian Jewry was always very active in regional and international Zionist activities.
In addition to the Rhodesian Zionist Council and the Rhodesian Jewish Board of Deputies the Jewish Community developed institutions to serve and strengthen the community including two Jewish Day Schools (one in Harare called Sharon School and one in Bulawayo called Carmel School), community centers, Jewish Cemeteries, Zionist youth movements, Jewish owned sports clubs, Savyon Old Age Home in Bulawayo and several women's organisations.
Assimilation and Economic Contributions
In the first half of the 20th century there was a high level of assimilation by Rhodesian Jews into Rhodesian society, and intermarriage rates were high. Jews became largely responsible for the national pioneering endeavors in transportation systems, mining, hotel corporations, and cattle selling, among other industries.
Read also: From Hawaiian Village to Landmark
Sephardi Jewish immigrants also founded two of the most well-known shopping malls in Harare: Sam Levy’s Village and Avondale Shopping Center.
Political Turmoil and Emigration
On January 1, 1964, the Federation of Rhodesia was dissolved upon the independence of Malawi and Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia). Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony and became known as Rhodesia. On March 2, 1970, the white minority Rhodesian Front government, led by Ian Smith, severed ties with the British crown; Smith declared Rhodesia an independent republic.
In 1965, the white minority government of Southern Rhodesia, under Prime Minister Ian Smith, unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia, in response to British demands that the colony be handed over to black majority rule. Rhodesia was then subject to international sanctions, and black nationalist organizations began an insurgency, known as the Rhodesian Bush War, which lasted until 1979, when the Rhodesian government agreed to settle with the black nationalists.
An armed campaign was initiated by ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People’s Union) against the Smith government. Due to the ongoing civil war, most of the Jewish population emigrated.
Some Jews chose to stay behind when the country was transferred to black majority rule and renamed Zimbabwe in 1980. After years of conflict, on April 18, 1980, the country became the independent Republic of Zimbabwe. However, emigration continued, and by 1987, only 1,200 Jews out of an original population of some 7,000 remained. By 1987, the Jewish community of Zimbabwe had shrunk from more than 7,000 people to barely 1,200.
Read also: Bindura University
Most Rhodesian Jews emigrated to Israel or South Africa, seeking better economic conditions and Jewish marriage prospects. Many also leave for better economic conditions and Jewish marriage prospects.
Decline and Contemporary Community
Until the late 1990s, rabbis resided in Harare and Bulawayo, but left as the economy and community began to decline. Until the late 1980s, rabbis resided in Harare and Bulawayo, but left as the economy began to plummet.
In 2002, after the Jewish community's survival was threatened by a food shortage and poverty in the country, the mayor of Ashkelon, a city in southern Israel, invited Zimbabwean Jews to immigrate to Israel and offered assistance in settling in Ashkelon. Since the late 1990s, Zimbabwe has been struck with an ongoing food shortage and poverty, placing the small Jewish community in jeopardy of survival. The country continues to fall into massive unemployment and inflation.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1961 | 7,000 - 8,000 |
| 1987 | 1,200 |
| Today | 200 |
In 2003 the Bulawayo Shul burned down and the small community did not restore the building. On October 5, 2003, the day before Yom Kippur, the historic synagogue burned to the ground. Just as the community’s new rabbi, Nathan Asmouch, arrived, the community lost its spiritual heart. Prayers are generally held at the Sinai Hall or Savyon Lodge in Bulawayo.
Did you know there are Jews in Zimbabwe? Learn about the Lemba community
In Harare the Sephardic Community has its own synagogue, and the Ashkenazi Community has a separate synagogue. Both an Ashkenazic (1895) and Sephardic (1931) synagogue exist in Harare; furthermore, there is an Ashkenazic Orthodox synagogue in Bulawayo. Daily services and Jewish holidays are celebrated in Harare, but since the early 2000s, both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic synagogues have joined forces for services to ensure a minyan.
Today, about 200 Jews live in Zimbabwe, chiefly in Harare and Bulawayo. Today, approximately 400 Jews live in Zimbabwe, predominately in Harare and Buawayo. There are no Jews remaining in Kwekwe, Gweru, and Kadoma. Only a few Jews remain in Kwe Kew, Gweru, and Kadoma. Two-thirds of Zimbabwean Jews are over 65 years of age. Two-thirds of the population is over retirement age of 65. Very few children remain in Zimbabwe, most have immigrated to Israel or South Africa, in search of economic opportunity and Jewish marriage prospects. While most of the population is Ashkenazic, a strong representation of Sephardic Jews remains in the country.
Rabbi Nathan Asmoucha of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation, is the country's only rabbi. The Zimbabwe Jewish Board of Deputies, located in Harare, is the leading communal organization. Since the mid-1990s, groups of Bnei Akiva have been active in Bulawayo and Harare. Furthermore, despite the small number of Jewish youth present in Zimbabwe, Zionist youth organizations are active. Two Jewish schools exist in Zimbabwe: Carmel in Bulawayo and Sharon in Harare. Both schools have a large percentage of African and Indian students, along with local Jewish children. There also exists in Bulawayo, the only Jewish home for the elderly in Zimbabwe, called Savyon Lodge.
Israel and Zimbabwe established formal diplomatic relations in 1993. Since 1948, 714 Jews have made aliya from Zimbabwe and the former Rhodesia.
The Lemba Community
Rusape is located in the northeast Zimbabwe, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Harare. The community claims both an ancient and modern Jewish heritage. The Jews of Rusape believe to be the descendants of one of the lost tribes of Jacob. Almost 2,500 years ago, after the destruction of the Temple, a group of Jews left Judea and settled in Yemen. When the economic situation in Yemen began to fail, the Jews left and moved to Africa; with one group settling in Ethiopia and the other in Tanzania. After several years, many Jews left Ethiopia and moved further south into what today is Zimbabwe. They became known as the Ba-Lemba.
Within the past few years, extensive research has been done on the Lemba communities. The Jewish community of Rusape can date itself back to 1903, when an African American Baptist deacon named William Saunders Crowdy met Albert Christian. Although, Crowdy was deemed a deacon of the Church, in the 1880s he had a dream where God instructed him to lead the blacks to Judaism.
Today, Congregation Betel in Rusape consists of thousands of members, approximately 4,000 people. Rabbi Ambrose “Cohen” Mukawaza leads the community in services and studies. In 1938, the Congregation Betel synagogue was built about seven kilometers (4.34 miles) outside the Rusape city limits. Every Saturday, the building is packed with more than a hundred Jews practicing “prophetic” Judaism. Originating in Virginia a little over a century ago, the practice is associated with African American Beth El Congregations. The main belief is that while Jesus was not the messiah, he was a prophet, as was William Crowdy who delivered the word of God. This congregation believes that while the teachings of Jesus should be respected, Jesus was an active member of the Jewish community of Israel.
One of the Rusape congregation’s high holidays is the Convocation of the Feast of Tevet. This holiday remembers the destruction of the Temple and the migration of the Jews from Yemen into Africa.
When praying, a choir melds Shona (the local Zimbabwe dialect), Hebrew, and English words into African melodies to create a distinctive service. They do not eat pork or any other animal prohibited by the Old Testament; nor do they mix milk and meat.
The Zimbabwe Orthodox Jewish community does not recognize the Rusape Jews as Jews.
The Lemba are a southern African group that lives in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and has long noted some similarities between their traditions and Jewish practices. Lemba people do not eat pork, they observe a weekly holiday, and they even have a custom of carving stars that look like the Jewish symbol the Star of David on their tombstones. Lemba people have long believed they are descended in part from Jewish visitors to Africa, and recent genetic testing seems to support the claim that many Lemba tribesmen have some Jewish origins. Most Lemba are Christian, though some are Muslim.
Popular articles:
tags:
