The Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe, who entered Africa via Yemen hundreds or possibly even thousands of years ago, currently number about 150,000 in a country of 14 million people. They live among – and look like – the predominant local Shona tribe in southern Zimbabwe, and speak the Shona language; however, they are actually Jews who have kept their Jewish practices secret from their neighbors. Although they had lost their ‘Book’ (the Torah, which Lemba oral history says was lost during their journey from Israel to Zimbabwe), to this day the Lemba have been able to maintain their devout religious observances passed down through generations of oral tradition, practices which do mirror Jewish customs and laws (read more in the articles below, or in the 2012 issues of Kulanu Magazine).
Many writers have recorded the claims of Jewish descent by Lemba leaders from Zimbabwe and South Africa; they have pointed to Lemba’s religious observances as proof of their origins. However, these claims now appear to have been validated by DNA testing by Dr. Karl Skorecki, which identified a priestly “Cohen” gene haplotype in more than 50% of all males in the Bubha clan of the Lemba people (according to oral history, this clan is said to have led the Lemba out of Israel into Yemen and then Africa). This figure is the same or a little higher than the percentage for Cohanim (priests) in Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish groups around the world.
The Lemba Jewish community today is experiencing a “Jewish renaissance,” and their goals include learning Hebrew and Torah (their “lost book”); constructing their own synagogues; and engaging in mainstream Judaism. Kulanu has supported ongoing operating costs for the Harare Lemba Synagogue and construction costs for the Great Zimbabwe Synagogue. Kulanu has arranged for more than nine months of visiting live-in teachers, donations of books and Judaica, and two speaking tours in the US for Modreck Maeresera. We have arranged for Modreck to attend Ohr Torah Stone Yeshiva in Efrat, Israel for three months, and helped four young people attend learning experiences in the US and Israel. Kulanu volunteers also serve as close mentors and advisors to Modreck and other leaders in the community
In face of a terrible drought in the summer, of 2016, Kulanu volunteers and Harare Lemba Synagogue leaders worked together to provide an emergency food program to about 20 families at the Harare Lemba Synagogue who were facing severe hunger. Kulanu donors sent about $1,000 per month for about a year to meet urgent needs. At the same time, HLS president Modreck Maeresera worked with Kulanu advisors Jack Zeller (Kulanu’s president emeritus) and Sandy Leeder to plan programs to prevent the need for emergency food. First, they raised funds and implemented a drip irrigation project in a rural village, with the agreement that the produce would be shared between the village and the urban synagogue community. That yielded more crops, yet animals were dying of lack of water and the soil was depleted. In 2017, two $9,000 grants from San Francisco-based Jewish teen foundations supported building a “weir” – a water reservoir, and a soil conservation project. The Weir Project Report tells the heartwarming story of people from five villages, Lemba Jews, Christians, Muslims, and African Traditionalists volunteering their labor and working together to build a reservoir to prevent future droughts. At a time of severe political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, this project offers an oasis of hope.
Useful Resources
Lemba Photos, Videos, and Books
- Lemba Playlist from Kulanu’s youtube channel
- How Kulanu Partner Communities are Sustaining Jewish Life during the Time of COVID-19
- “Lemba Tribe of Zimbabwe-Ancient Roots/New Traditions” (2019) Music composed by Hamlet Zhou and performed by the Harare Lemba Synagogue choir and produced by Hazzan Mike Stein
- Lemba Weir (Water Reservoir) Project Photos, November 2017
- “Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe” videos – playlist on Kulanu’s YouTube channel
- Kulanu-Lemba Slideshow from the 2015 Kulanu-Lemba Speaking Tour
- Nili and Keith Visit Zimbabwe for Passover Nili Salem B’Simcha and Rabbi Keith Flaks, April 2015
- Kulanu-Lemba Speaking Tour photo album – photos from Modreck Maeresera’s February 2013 tour of the United States
- Harare Lemba Synagogue photo album Irwin and Elaine Berg, 2013
- Passover with the Lemba of Mapakomhere Sandy Leeder, April 2012
- Of Sacred Times, Rituals, and Customs: Oral Traditions of the Lemba Jews of Zimbabwe Rabson Wuriga (2012) – Follow the link to purchase the e-book for your Kindle, or find it on iBook.com or BN.com!
Lemba Articles & Links
- Bedza Irrigation Project In Zimbabwe Fall 2019, Kulanu Magazine, Modreck Maeresera
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Newsletter, May 2018 Modreck Maeresera et al
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Weir Project Report (2017)
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Newsletter, November, 2017 Modreck Maeresera et al
- Community Seders in Zimbabwe, 2017
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Newsletter, May 2017 Modreck Maeresera et al
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Newsletter, November, 2016 Modreck Maeresera et al
- Harare Lemba Synagogue Newsletter, August, 2016 Modreck Maeresera et al
- The Tzidkaniot: Righteous Women of Kulanu Communities Bonita Sussman (2016)
- The BCI – Kulanu Partnership: A Source of Learning, Joy, and Power Rabbi Barbara Aiello (2016)
- Aljazeera discusses Lemba synagogue quoting, Sandy, Modreck, and Rabson. Kulanu is mentioned too (external link)
- Lemba guitarist Hamlet Zhou takes an interest in his African-Jewish heritage for a new album (external link)
- What?! A Passover Seder in a rural African village in ZIMBABWE? Nili Salem B’Simcha, April 2015 (external link – published in The Jewish Journal website)
- “A Wandering Jew in a World of Wandering People” blog by Sara Eisen, Kulanu volunteer teacher in Harare (2014-2015)
- Zimbabwe with Love Mickey Feinberg (2014)
- Our Month with the Lemba of Zimbabwe Elaine and Irwin Berg (2014)
- From the Inside: American Pioneers in Harare Modreck Maeresera (2014)
- What’s Happening in Africa: Cameroon, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Zimbabwe Judy Manelis (2013)
- Harare Synagogue a Reality Modreck Maeresera (2013)
- Passover in Mapakomhere, Zimbabwe – Some Highlights Sandy Leeder (2012)
- An Insider’s View of the Zimbabwe Seder Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera (2012)
- Letter from the President Harriet Bograd (from the Winter-Spring 2012 issue of KulanuNews)
- The Lemba/Jewish Community of Zimbabwe: Its History, Jewish Practice and Challenges Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera (2012)
- Kashrut (Dietary Laws) Among The Lemba – Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera (2012)
- The Lemba to Build a Synagogue Near Great Zimbabwe Sandy Leeder (2012)
- Can Cyberlearning Save the Future of Lemba Judaism? Modreck Zvakavapano Maeresera (2012)
- Rabbi Gershom Sizomu Visits the Lemba in South Africa (2010)
- Coming Out: A Visit to the Zimbabwe Lemba Tudor Parfitt (2010)
- Thousands of Books for Zimbabwe Lemba Relly Coleman (2009)
- Wuriga Cites Progress Among the Lemba Karen Primack (2006)
Kulanu-Lemba Project Proposals
- Kulanu Proposal for the Harare Lemba Synagogue and Guest House September 2013
- Kulanu Proposal for the Great Zimbabwe Synagogue February 2013
Community: Zimbabwe
Tribe: Lemba
Location: Africa
Country: Zimbabwe
Cities: Harare and Mapakomhere
Size: Thousands
Regional Coordinator: Sandy Leeder
Local language: Shona
Official language: English