EISURE Two Israelis travel to L to witness its many connections to and – and find them in the oddest of places

• ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY and ARI GREENSPAN

hen a person thinks of deepest, darkest Africa, with gorillas in the mist and baboons howling from the treetops, may come to mind. When one ponders the loca- Wtions of vibrant Jewish communities, Uganda does not even make the list. Yet this equatorial African country has a century of connections with the Jew- ish people. We decided to travel there with the main purpose of visiting the “Orthodox” branch of the Abayu- daya, a tribe of Africans who accepted Judaism upon themselves in 1919. However, along the way we sought out other Jewish connections and history in this primitive and destitute African nation. Our point of entry was the country’s main airport: Entebbe. We were met there by a kippa-wearing young Ugandan named Enosh Keki Mainah, the spiritual leader of the aspiring Jewish residents of the “Orthodox” village of Putti. Before heading out for the supposed four-hour drive to , the city near Putti where we would be staying, we took him on an unexpected adventure with us.

Escape from Entebbe: Part 2 For most , Entebbe is associated with the famous IDF rescue of Jewish hostages on July 4, 1976, when our special forces, including the assault unit commanded by Lt.-Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, made (Uriel Messa) military history with the miraculous operation. Anybody old enough to remember it can surely 24 recall where they were on that day. On June 27, an Air France plane originating in Israel was hijacked shortly after taking off from Athens en route to A perfect vacation home Paris. It was diverted to Entebbe via Libya. There, in Herzliya Pituah HOMES the Jewish and Israeli passengers were separated from the others, who were then released. The Air France captain refused to leave; shockingly he was later disciplined for his courage. Once it was on the ground in Entebbe, 20 km. from the capital city of Kampala, dictator Dada offered his support and help to the captors. 29 Idi Amin was a megalomaniac who dressed himself 16 TRAVEL SHORT STORY up like a caricature of a dictator, awarding himself titles and ranks; his uniform was covered in medals Witnessing Jewish life Two dance partners discover it of his own invention. The IDF rolled a Mercedes sim- in Africa really takes two to tango ilar to Idi Amin’s, as well as soldiers, doctors, and equipment, onto four C-130 Hercules airplanes. They flew low over the Red Sea to avoid enemy detection and came in at night over Lake Victoria. There were several objectives in the raid: first and foremost, to get the hostages out safely from the 28 FIRST PERSON 30 FOOD main terminal building; second, to knock out the Ugandan military personnel and the hostage-takers, Rejecting apartheid in The new strategy to eating most of whom were in and around the main control Jerusalem healthy tower; and finally the destruction of the Ugandan air force and its Russian planes and radar installations. Miraculously, the operation succeeded. We were headed to Entebbe and wanted to see what was left of the battle site, as well as to recite a memorial prayer for those who fell during the raid, including Netanyahu. We stopped at the main

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WITH THE brides and grooms at their Jewish-style wedding in Mbale. (Courtesy) A Jewish adventure in Africa police station in charge of security for important historical site. Like all other the far end of the base, which is still both the country’s international airport Ugandans we encountered, they knew of pockmarked with bullet holes. At the and the air force base where the raid took the raid and remembered it positively, as base of the tower is a memorial plaque place, and were dismissed. The cop sit- it was the first crack in Idi Amin’s rule. dedicated in 2005 by Ugandan President ting out front told us we were “too small They asked if we had weapons; we Yoweri Museveni and Prime Minister [unimportant] to give you permission to showed them that we did not. They Binyamin Netanyahu. In a 2008 meeting enter the base,” and as if to underscore answered us in Swahili, but the rough with the Netanyahu family in Jerusalem, how significant the security was, he con- translation in Yiddish might have been Museveni announced that he would be tinued with an exaggeration: “The presi- “drei mi nisht kain kup” – don’t bug us any converting the tower into a museum. As dent of the country needs to know the more. They handed us security passes in of our visit, nothing had been done name of every person entering the base.” exchange for our passports, which they toward that goal, and even access to the Not to be dissuaded, we drove over to dumped in a cardboard box under a tree, site was difficult. the base and went to the first gate we saw. and before we knew it we were strolling Just before Dr. Ethan Schuman, who Two guards were there, holding their AK- down the runway of a Ugandan air force was traveling with us from St. Louis, 47 rifles loosely on their shoulders. We base, passing UN planes, fighters and hel- began the “El Malei Rahamim” prayer, a explained that we wanted to say a prayer icopters. motorcycle with two large men in Netanyahu’s memory and see this We ambled to the old control tower on approached us, and they asked what the

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That was when the trouble began. The was stagnant due to a lack of European security men were back, this time with settlers. In April 1903, Joseph Chamber- weapons, and we were herded off to the lain, then colonial secretary, proposed to police station. Our passports were confis- Theodor Herzl that part of that region, cated, mug shots were taken, statements the Uasin Gishu plateau, be given to the were transcribed, and we sat for three Zionists as a Jewish homeland, and this nervous hours while our future was became known as the “Uganda Plan.” On decided. Uganda’s finest seemed some- August 23, 1903, Herzl stunned the 592 what perplexed about these three middle- delegates of the Sixth Zionist Congress by aged, educated Westerners who had wan- presenting them with this plan as an dered onto their air force base. After the “emergency measure” to save Jewish lives interrogations though, it was clear that threatened by violent Russian anti-Semi- they had fumbled the ball. All we had tism. It was clear to all that the Zionists done was ask permission to enter a preferred the Land of Israel, and a great restricted area – and received it. debate took place on whether to accept During the questioning, we explained the Uganda Plan as a temporary solution. that we were religious Jews and even Surprisingly one of the blocs of support pulled out our tzitzit to show them we Herzl had at the congress was the reli- were wearing religious garments. When gious Zionist Mizrachi movement under the head policeman delivered the verdict, the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Jacob he was like the good cop-bad cop routine Reines. It has been suggested that the all rolled into one. First, he glared at us religious Zionists understood that for and made us squirm in silence for 30 sec- them, there was no fear of forgetting onds. Next he told us that we had done Jerusalem even if they found a temporary something very wrong – we had “taken refuge in east Africa. Not all religious advantage of two soldiers who had prob- Zionists supported the plan; Rabbi ably not eaten all day!” – and said that Yitzchak Nissenbaum, known as the next time they would “shoot us like they “traveling Zionist preacher,” and Rabbi did to Yonatan Netanyahu.” But finally Meir Berlin both opposed it. Ultimately he cracked a thin smile and said that our shelved, the Uganda Plan was one of stories showed we meant no harm and many resettlement plans outside the that we were “not criminals.” Holy Land that never happened. Although we knew we had done noth- Although we were in Uganda, we were ing wrong, when we left the country two not traversing territory that nearly days later, we wondered if we would be became the Zionist state. Much confu- arrested again. We realized that the cen- sion continues to surround the proposal, tral police station for the country’s only including over the identity of the region international airport did not have even the Zionists were offered. Uganda and the one computer in it and that they’d had to British East Africa Protectorate, known as copy our passport details by hand, so the since the 1920s, were both under chances of trouble were slim – but we control of the British Foreign Office, but were still glad to get out safely, and when the land offered to Herzl was entirely we landed in Kenya, we were happy to be within the latter region. One possible ori- back in “civilization” once again. gin of the confusion is the connection between the plan and the Uganda rail- Trip to Mbale road, which at the time was also totally The trip to Mbale, the city closest to our in Kenya but may have lent its name to destination, was well over four hours, the proposal. closer to seven, and gave us great expo- When we passed the tracks of the Ugan- sure to the country. We traveled east da railway, it triggered discussion of the toward Kenya, along the main Kampala- plan and the awful situation the eastern Mombasa road, the route on which the European Jews faced at that time, as well majority of land-locked Uganda’s imports as of the modern State of Israel’s success. travel. It was a narrow, poorly maintained We arrived in Mbale, not far from the THE OLD control tower is still pockmarked with bullet holes. At the base, two-lane road with traffic to rival any city Kenyan border, late at night – primarily is a memorial plaque dedicated in 2005 by Ugandan President Yoweri in the world. During the ride, we passed due to the unexpected delay in the police Museveni and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. (Courtesy) through a forest inhabited by monkeys station – and checked into a hotel, look- and over one of the two principal sources ing forward to resting before a busy day heck we were doing. We explained, and of the Nile. We also made a quick stop with the . Before falling the two security men stood at attention when we passed a van carrying a kippa- asleep, however, there was one precau- The Abayudaya are and even answered “Amen.” We then wearing, Hebrew-speaking Abayudaya tion we had to take: setting up the mos- entered the tower with their escort, and youth, whom we were to get to know bet- quito nets. Despite having received a Yel- now on the Jewish they photographed us with the Ugandan ter the next day in the village. low Fever vaccination and being on anti- map as never air force base sprawled below us. For us, perhaps one of the most signifi- malarial drugs, we had to be extra careful As we exited, a second, more serious cant sites we passed was the railway of these mosquito borne diseases. before... They are security detail appeared and thoroughly tracks. In the last decade of the 19th cen- Although we’d brought nets from Israel, questioned us. We explained the story, tury, Great Britain controlled what were it seems all hotels provide them. At the well aware that presented our passes and told them we then called Uganda and the East Africa time, the CDC was reporting on a partic- they are from non- were done; we started leaving as they Protectorate. In order to develop them, it ularly virulent Yellow Fever outbreak in continued to schmooze among them- constructed the Uganda railway linking Uganda that had claimed more than 50 Jewish roots, but selves. As we retreated down the runway, the coast at Mombasa with Lake Victoria. lives, and as Enosh later told us, nearly however, a large C-130 transport plane Also known as the Lunatic Express, it was everyone in the village gets malaria. seem sincere in caught our eyes. The IDF had swooped famous for Masai attacks, man-eating down 35 years ago using these planes. We lions, and political controversy. It was The Abayudaya their desire to live couldn’t resist the urge, so we talked our probably this route that gave the erro- The exact story of how and why the Jewish lives way onto the plane and even got permis- neous name to one of the early Zionists’ Abayudaya decided to become Jewish is sion from the crew chief to go up to the most famous controversies. lost in the limitations of an oral tradition, cockpit. Development of the east Africa region but the story seems to be a 20th-century

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SINGING AND dancing, in version of the Khazars. The hero of the tianity, such as baptism. By the time he contacts with the Abayudaya were Victor classical African tune and story and the founder of the Abayudaya died in 1928, his followers had been cir- Franco, an electrical engineer living in rhythm, to Psalm 53 in was (1869-1928), a war- cumcised and were attempting to keep Kamapala, and Maurice Levitan, a Jewish Hebrew and their native rior and statesman of the powerful Bagan- and and pray in Hebrew. trader. By the 1960s, a small Israeli con- language. (Courtesy) da tribe. For many years, he had British Kakungulu is buried a short distance from tingent was building houses, roads and support and assisted them by subduing the main Abayudaya . even parts of the Entebbe Airport. other tribes. In the 1880s, he was convert- Contact with Judaism was always limit- ed to by a Protestant mis- ed, because there were never many Jews SINCE THEIR dramatic start, the Abayu- sionary who taught him how to read the in Uganda. When Jews first visited Ugan- daya have had ups and downs. The death in Swahili. da is open to debate. We know that the of the charismatic and driven Kakungulu In 1913 he became a Malakite Christ- by the 1860s, British explorers went was one factor that led to a sharp ian, a group that included some Jewish inland looking for the source of the Nile, decrease in their numbers. Another was aspects. The British started limiting his finding one of the two branches in Ugan- the active work of missionaries who sphere of influence such that in 1917, he da. By the early 20th century, we know of refused to admit anyone who did not moved to the area of Mbale in the west- at least two Jews working for the British convert to Christianity into their schools. ern foothills of Mount Elgon. It was there and a religious Jewish trader by the name Those who continued to observe Judaism in 1919 that he started his own religious of Yosef, who was there and did make became even more strengthened in their group. The dramatic version of the story contact with the Abayudaya. commitment to the . During the says he eventually realized the fallacies in In the 1930s and ’40s, a small commu- ’50s and ’60s they had limited but regular Christianity, tore out the second half of nity of European Jews developed. At 3 contact with Jews – mostly Israelis, of their Bible, and adopted Judaism for him- Kyadondo Road in Kampala, the Masur whom there was a large number in Ugan- self and his followers, who initially num- family held davening in their house. da. They provided some Hebrew texts bered over 3,000. There was never a shul or rabbi, but it and contact with the outside world. In 1922 he published a 90-page book of seems that there may have been a small During the brutal regime of Idi Amin rules and prayers for his community that Jewish cemetery. The British governor of (1971-1979), Israelis were expelled and still showed some Christian influence, Uganda was the Jewish Sir Andrew Judaism was outlawed. The Abayudaya and he does not appear to have actually Cohen, and by the 1950s there was a saw a large drop in their numbers, been in contact with any Jews until 1925, community of about 20 families. We although some truly risked their lives to at which time several European Jews found records in the Nairobi Hebrew maintain their Judaism. Enosh shared employed by the British chanced upon Congregation that the small Ugandan stories of his father and uncle risking his group. He further refined his practices community ordered their matzot from snake and wild animal attacks, as well as to conform to normative Jewish practices Nairobi yearly. exposure by informers, while praying and abolished the last vestiges of Chris- During these years, the main Jewish hidden by the African brush. Enosh’s

20 MAGAZINE June 24, 2011 great uncle was arrested for building a out for a halachic one that will be recog- WE THEN headed off to Putti. Schuman PUTTI VILLAGE. Drive half succa and was released only after the fam- nized by the State of Israel. Enosh is the explained afterward how to get there: an hour from Mbale, make a ily paid the arresting officer a bribe of driving force in one of those villages, “Drive half an hour from Mbale, make a left, and then go 3,000 years five goats. Putti, and that was our destination. left, and then go 3,000 years back in time.” back in time. (Courtesy) Following Amin’s exile, the 500 remain- On the way, however, we made a brief It’s difficult to describe the village; in ing members renewed their commitment detour to visit Kakungulu’s 94-year-old most regards, it’s straight out of Bible and reestablished contact with outside nephew and hear his memories of his times. However, Western man has been Jews. During this extended period, the famous uncle and the early years of there and left a scattered impact. None of Abayudaya technically remained non- practicing Judaism. Born in 1916, he the villages has electricity or running Jews. Unlike other groups that claim beat the odds of Uganda’s 57-year life water, but neither do they get water from descent from one of the 10 lost tribes, the expectancy. Living in a small mud hut streams or hand-dug wells. As we passed Abayudaya never made such claims. They with his two wives, he vigorously by, we saw women gathered around knew they originated as non-Jews and defended the tribe’s acceptance of hand-pumped wells. In Putti, though, that there had never been a formal con- Judaism and differences from their there is a solar-powered pump that brings version. neighbors. He got angry when we asked the water up and sends it to one of two In the 1990s, several US groups took an if they ate meat and milk together. “Of spigots, where women line up to fill up interest in the Abayudaya, and in 2002 course not!” was his reply. their jerry cans with the precious and four Conservative rabbis participated in a When we thought to ask him if he had increasingly scarce water. Enosh has a week-long mission, converting several anything from the “old days,” he laptop with e-mail, via which he commu- hundred people. In addition, Enosh’s thought for a minute and came out of the nicated with us prior to our arrival. Putti uncle , after earning a house with an old black-and-white pic- also has several projects funded by over- BA from the Islamic University in Ugan- ture of his uncle the king, and an old seas Jewish communities, such as a poul- da, went to the US and received ordina- book. We looked at the cover, and in try project in which they raise chickens, tion from the Conservative Ziegler worn out Hebrew letters we saw the title: and a halla project. School in 2008, then returned to his vil- Reishit Da’at, a Hebrew alphabet teacher Our arrival in the community under- lage to function as a religious leader and printed by the Hebrew Publishing Com- standably generated considerable excite- teacher. pany of New York in the early 20th cen- ment, mostly because they viewed it as an Of course, there’s another sure sign of tury. It was astounding to be sitting near opportunity to further their knowledge the Abayudaya’s Jewishness: They now his mud hut, bereft of almost any posses- about Halacha and move closer to eventu- have a shul they go to and one they sions, and holding a Hebrew book print- al conversion. Amid some interesting con- don’t. Ever since the Conservative mis- ed in New York. The community’s history versation, we immediately got to work sion, two villages of Abayudaya refused and interest in Judaism could not be teaching. One young, shy fellow by the those conversions and have been holding denied. name of Moshe talked with us while

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small area in which wood could be burned – and explained the rudiments of matza-baking. They brought out some flour and mixed it with some water. Real- izing the table was wet, we looked in vain for a table covering and had to settle for some clean banana leaves. Together we baked a few small matzot and left them with instructions on how to improve the setup and make their own. The split between the Orthodox and Conservative in Uganda does not prevent cooperation and friendship between the two groups, and Enosh next escorted us to the community’s main village, Nabu- goya, where his uncle, Sizomu, lives and works as a rabbi.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR us, we did not get to meet Sizomu, who was out on the campaign trail. We were in the country two weeks before the elections, which take place once every five years and were scheduled for February 20. Everywhere we went, there were campaign stops with crowds gathered around candidates, lis- tening to speeches. Posters were plastered on every surface, many of them for the incumbent president, Museveni, who has been in office since 1986. Sizomu was running on the ticket of one of the opposition parties for one of the 332 seats in the National Assembly. We saw several of his posters, in which he clearly and proudly wore a kippa. (No surprise to anyone, the president won reelection and Sizomu lost to the candi- date from the ruling NRM party.) The religious atmosphere in the village was inspiring. The shul walls are lined with siddurim and humashim, and there are four Torah scrolls in the ark. There was a separate beit midrash that had an WITH KAKUNGULU’S 94-year-old nephew. (Courtesy) impressive library, including a complete Artscroll Talmud, and in the back was standing in a field of crops. When we The Abayudaya knew the rudiments of Sizomu’s office – along with an unusual asked him what he was studying in uni- a Jewish wedding, and we filled in the sight: a sink with running water and a ‘Of course, there’s versity, he said business: “My hope is to be rest. They knew, for example, the central- flush toilet. We were impressed to see a an Orthodox rabbi and a businessman.” ity of the kalla (bride): The grooms came gemara and mikraot gedolot (Torah book another sure sign The first “workshop” we ran was a les- dressed as they had been all day, while with major commentaries) on his desk. of the son in shechita (ritual slaughter). They the assembled waited for the women, There was also a Jewish high school, brought out four chickens, and we came who were at home getting dolled up in and of course the “shalom” grocery store. Abayudaya’s prepared with shechita knives and sharp- clothes fancier than we imagined existed We then bumped into one of Sizomu’s ening stones. There was first an explana- in that part of the world. students, who made a positive impres- Jewishness: They tion of what makes these knives special – It started with a blessing over the sion on us, as did the pile of books in his no sharp point at the end, and a blade kosher wine we had brought from Israel. small room, most of them Jewish in con- now have a shul that is perfectly smooth and very sharp. It This was followed by Enosh reciting the tent. they go to and was explained that the knife must be kiddushin blessing and the transfer of the The Abayudaya are now on the Jewish examined before and after the slaughter, rings to the brides. The grooms then map as never before. There are organiza- one they don’t’ and this was all demonstrated; the mitzva broke a glass to the singing of “Im Eshka- tions in the US and South Africa helping of kisui hadam, covering the blood post- haich Yerushalayim” (If I forget thee, O them both economically and spiritually. slaughter, was explained and performed, Jerusalem). They are well aware that they are from all with the appropriate blessing. The The glass-breaking was important to non-Jewish roots, but seem sincere in young men standing around were them. We forget that it derives from the their desire to live Jewish lives. extremely interested and asked perceptive value that glass used to have and the As we parted from the 94-year-old questions. For each blessing there was a financial pain it caused to break it. So it is nephew of Kakungulu, he looked at us in loud, resounding repetition and amen. with them. A Jew from the US had “given contemplation and had us sit for a The next station was the shul for a Jew- us money to buy a glass for the wedding,” moment. ish-style wedding. In Mbale, Enosh Enosh told us. We asked them if they had “I now know that the teachings of my picked up five rings for the five couples a customary wedding song, and in classi- uncle were correct,” he said. “He told us who would be participating in the cere- cal African tune and rhythm, they sang that although you may be just a black mony. Several of them, including Enosh, and danced to Psalm 53 in Hebrew and man in Africa, time will come and white who has four young children, have been their native language. men from the Land of Israel will come civilly married for many years. The wed- Not knowing when the next Jewish vis- and teach you the ways of Judaism.” ■ dings would be held in the small, loving- itors would appear, they felt a need to ly cared-for shul that sits alongside the prepare for Pessah and asked for instruc- Other adventures by Ari Zivotofsky and Ari much larger, partially built brick walls of tions in baking matza. We constructed a Greenspan can be found at http://halachicad- the future shul. small brick oven – several bricks over a ventures.com.

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