Cambria Gordon’s family sabbatical in Madrid in 2016 became more than a time away from her native Los Angeles. Gordon felt her identity — as a writer and as a Jew — blossom. She launched into a journey of research and inquiry that led to the writing and publication of her new young adult novel,…
The international Jewish outreach group Kulanu is trumpeting their 2017 accomplishments, including organizing more than 150 Jewish conversions in Africa and Latin America. “This year, Kulanu teams traveled to Nicaragua in July and Côte d’Ivoire in December to help people who had been preparing for years to convert to Judaism,” the New York-based group wrote…
A government proposal to create a new status in Israel for people who have Jewish roots or belong to “emerging” Jewish communities was welcomed by leaders of communities that could be affected. “This would be a big step forward,” Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, spiritual leader of the Abayudaya community in Uganda, told Haaretz. Members of that…
Among the Igbo, one of Nigeria’s largest ethnic groups, there is widespread identification with Jews, and many see themselves as descendants of the biblical Israelites. But a recent test to determine if a group of Igbo men share genetic material with Jews is back — and no connection was found. Even before the results were…
If you believe you’re a distant descendant of a “lost tribe of Israel” and want to reconnect to this ancient past, all you have to do is go online — where you’ll now find a detailed course on the popular myth. You’ll even earn college credit. “Discover the past, present and future of the world’s…
A jailed political leader in Nigeria was released on bail last week — with the help of a man described in local papers as a “Jewish Chief High Priest.” Nnamdi Kanu, the high profile head of the Indigenous People of Biafra, a group calling for independence of the Igbo people of Nigeria, was formally released…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Ten Indian-Jewish couples from the Bnei Menashe “lost tribe” were married in a Jewish ceremony at an absorption center in northern Israel. The group wedding remarriage ceremony on Sunday in the Kfar Hasidim community was part of the couples’ formal conversion to Judaism. The couples, who immigrated from India, ranged in age…
A “lost tribe” in Nigeria is turning to genetics to determine whether members have an ancestral connection to the Land of Israel. “In this modern day of scientific advancement, one of the ways we can ascertain whether we are or not related to Jews is by doing DNA matching,” said Dozie Ikedife, an 86-year-old Igbo…
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