Kulanu in the News

Our work often finds its way into newspapers and magazines. We love sharing these articles on social media – you can find us on facebookinstagram, and twitter  – and you can find this coverage below too.

Sub-Saharan Jews Light the Way

By Rabbi Gerald Sussman
timesofisrael.com

Members of SAJA celebrate Chanuka with Rabbi Gerald and Rabbanit Bonita Sussman

 

 

 

 

 

Harriet Bograd, Champion of Jews in Africa, Dies at 79

By Joseph Berger
nytimes.com

Harriet Bograd in 2011 at a Jewish-themed primary school in Uganda that is open to Christians and Muslims. She was for many years the president of Kulanu, an organization that supports Jewish communities in places where even most American Jews don’t realize there are Jews. – Credit…Barbara Vinick, via Kulanu

 

 

 

 
Nigerian SAJA representative tasks community on political participation

By Francis Kadiri
truthng.com

Ohr Torah Synagogue, Nigeria (Courtesy Kulanu, Inc)

 

 

 

 
 

Rabbis, teachers, survivors: 18 Jews whose deaths diminished our communities in 2022

BY PHILISSA CRAMER
jta.org

Harriet Bograd, center, her husband Ken Klein, left, and daughter Margie on a visit to the Sefwi Wiawso Jewish community in Ghana in an undated photo. (Courtesy Kulanu, Inc)

 

 

 
 

Sub-Saharan African Jewish Alliance formed in the aftermath of Kulanu conference

BY Avi Kumar
JNS.org
Participants at the Kulanu gathering in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, earlier this month. Credit: Serge Etele.

 

 

 

 
 

Sub-Saharan Jewish communities meet in Abidjan

africanews.com
Representatives of Sub-Saharan Jewish communities meet in Abidjan  –  Copyright © africanews 2022

 

 

 

 

 
 

Falling in love with Judaism

timesofisrael.com
Serge Etele and community greeting us in airport. (courtesy), December 22, 2022.

 

 

 

 

 
 

African Jewish communities get some mainstream recognition after years on the margins

JTA.ORG

Rabbi Capers Funnye, left, and Martha Leah Williams, at the Jewish Africa Conference in New York, Jan. 29, 2019. (Josefin Dolsten)

 

 

 

 

This woman is studying to be the first female rabbi from Uganda
Josefin Dolsten (2018)
JTA.ORG
Shoshanna Nambi, Kulanu’s dear friend from Uganda, is off to rabbinical school!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The isolated Jews of rural Kenya: Starting from aleph with a lulav and etrog

Melanie Lidman (2015)

The isolated Jews of rural Kenya: Starting from aleph with a lulav and etrog
A tiny, fledgling community in the heart of Africa forges its own Jewish identity with a little help from friends

 

 

 

 

Zimbabwe’s Lemba build first synagogue, but struggle to keep the faithful
Katya Cengel (2015)
AMERICA.ALJAZEERA.COM

Zimbabwe’s Lemba build first synagogue, but struggle to keep the faithful
Some Lemba, Africans who adhere to Jewish beliefs, have newly embraced the religion after testing proved Semitic origin

 

 

 

Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,’ 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar
Sam Kestenbaum (2016)
FORWARD.COM

‘Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,’ 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar
More than 100 men and women converted to Judaism in Madagascar this month, a historic first for the large island nation off the southeast coast of Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

African ‘Lost Tribe’ Debates DNA Testing For Jewish Roots
A new genetic test to determine whether the Igbo have “Jewish genes” has opened up fierce debates.

 

 

 

 

 

114 people just converted to Judaism in Nicaragua
Josefin Dolsten (2017)
JTA.ORG

114 people just converted to Judaism in Nicaragua
(JTA) — Over the course of just a few days, the tiny Jewish community in Nicaragua more than doubled when 114 people converted to Judaism. Last month, community members answered questions before a beit din, or religious court, of three…

 

 

 

 

A Chorus of Mazel Tovs in Uganda
Merissa Nathan Gerson (2017)

A Chorus of Mazel Tovs in Uganda
NYTIMES.COM

About 1,500 people, including politicians, family and friends, traveled from throughout Uganda to attend the celebration of five Jewish couples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The islands will rejoice

By Nili Salem B’Simcha (2018)
JPOST.COM

Psalm 96 comes alive for the writer, who recounts her joyous journey on ‘Shlihut’ in Papua.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re All Igbo
Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Ari Greenspan (2017)
HALACHICADVENTURE.COM

ROYAL WELCOME: The local Igbo king, flanked by Gadi Bently, Dani Limor and us, traces his lineage to Yaakov Avinu and wears a Magen David around his neck as he sits on his lion-skin throne (top); one of about 60 “synagogues” in the region — some of them are mere huts in a field