The mass aliya of Ethiopian Jews to Israel is the stuff of legend — but it was fraught with vexing issues. Perhaps most notable: the question of whether the new immigrants truly were Jews. Since then, that question has largely been answered in the affirmative. (The Ethiopian Jews had to undergo pro forma “conversions” to Judaism.) However, Black Africans claiming Jewish status do not reside only in the Horn of Africa. Other tribal groups on the continent who say they have Jewish lineage raise similar questions, especially related to Israel’s Law of Return.
Quote: “In addition to that, there was the extraordinary finding of the Cohen modal haplotype. This is the element in the Y chromosome that appears to be a signature element, if you like, for the Cohanim or Jewish priesthood. The fact that we found this marker in such high concentrations in one of the Lemba subclans, the Buba — much higher, incidentally, than the general Jewish population — seemed finally to provide a real, useable link between the Lemba and Jews.”
— researcher Tudor Parfitt on PBS.org
Sources: Wikipedia, PBS.org
Read “Tudor Parfitt’s Remarkable Quest” about Africa’s Lemba tribe. >>
Watch “Inside Nigeria’s Jewish Community” [5:12]. >>
Watch “A Snapshot of the Abayudaya — The Jews of Uganda” [16:56]. >>
Watch “The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia” [8:52]. >>
Photo: NPR.org
Amazing Jews
In Celebration of the Jewish People
