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The tasks of Jewish history in Africa

Ogidi Jewish Community in Southeast Nigeria. Anambra State. (Image: Guershon Nduwa)

Valuing the Jewish past of this continent is a sign of the times. The subjective reason is obvious.
This subjective impulse itself has its objective basis in the attainment of the truth. The Black Jew, raw material, kneaded over the ages by external influences, coming from the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Persians…
Its interdependence is general. It requires an interdisciplinary and sometimes transdisciplinary approach. All the more so since the societies we are addressing here are powerfully integrated in all their aspects.
We must beware of hearing illusions. It is necessary to be wary of hurriedly close consonances and to ensure an in-depth descriptive knowledge. However, although the Jewish tool requires surgeon skill, it is still a good scalpel to dissect the past.
The “antecedence” of certain Jews in relation to them can also lead to the conclusion that there is a chronological priority.
The momentum based on knowledge of the African Jewish past cannot be suspended either because such a rabbi who still hesitates on one of the non-objective parameters which would allow him to pronounce, or by scruples who seek an additional numismatic version before pronouncing on the exact meaning of the word “African Jew”.
Jewish rabbinic history is a source of inspiration for these young, rising African generations. She refuses to be validated by frenzies of claim. It is even less so by dilettant Jews without sympathy, simply wishing in the best hypothesis to furnish their commercial leisures. It will be said by “Mekoubalim” who will have deposited the sentimental livery to take that of the most modest knowledge of the Torah.
Such Masters like Ovadia Yossef (zatsal) are our friends at the same time as the friends of the truth. To others, we simply say to them, “We do not give you advice on how to interpret Jewish history”
This story is African.

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