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Kulanu Summer 2008 15 Helping Lost Jewish Communities 165 West End Ave., 3R, NY, NY 10023 TEL: 212-877-8082 FAX: 212-724-7929 KULANU http://www.kulanu.org [email protected] “all of us” Volume 15 Number 2 Summer 2008 A Spring Break Mitzvah with the Huánuco Jewish Community By Rabbi Peter Tarlow live in these parts of Peru in the 19th century and registered all births as (In September 2007, Rabbi Peter Tarlow, director of Texas A&M Uni- Catholics.) Due to their small numbers and pressure from the govern- versity Hillel, received an early morning call asking him if he would be ment, the general population soon absorbed these people and the 19th willing to help people convert and establish a Jewish community in century community ceased to function. Peru. Because Tarlow is fluent in Spanish and Descendents from the Inquisition com- has worked with Jewish communities around pose the second group. These people, like South America, he agreed to a site visit in De- all Crypto-Jews, maintained some form of cember which if successful would become a emotional ties to Judaism, but often knew Hillel adventure in March. The site visit proved little of their ancestral faith. People who to be a success; it was clear that all medical had become disillusioned with their former and security precautions were in place, and faith and had discovered the joys of being that the visit would be of great benefit to both Jewish comprise the third group. All three the local Jewish community and to the Hillel groups came together and sought a way to students. In March of 2008, Rabbi Tarlow took reestablish a Liberal Jewish community and five of his Hillel students, three men and two to reenter Jewish life as “reformative” Jews. women, to Huánuco to help establish this com- The Aggies Arrive munity.) After my December visit, I asked students Three separate groups of people compose if they would accompany me to Peru. To the nascent Jewish community of Huánuco, avoid any bureaucratic problems the stu- Peru. Some of its members are descended from US students with conversion candidates dents and I decided to self-finance the jour- Jews who came to the Peruvian highlands in the ney through personal contributions and mid-19th century illegally. (The government did not permit Jews to (Continued on page 12) Rabbi Gershom Sizomu An Historic Evening An Event To Remember By Rabbi Scott Glass By Harriet Bograd (Rabbi Scott Glass, who had participated in the Beit Din in Uganda in (On May 19, 2008, the first black African rabbi graduated from 2002, had this to say to his congregation when he returned home to an American seminary. Gershom Sizomu, spiritual leader of the Aba- Ithaca, NY, from the ordination.) yudaya Jews of Uganda for decades, was ordained a Conservative Ordination, in general, is a moving occasion. Especially for a rabbi by the American Jewish University’s Ziegler School of Rabbinic rabbi, to witness such a ceremony and, in ways to re-live one's own, is Studies. The author attended the ceremony.) very emotional, very meaningful. But to witness what amounted to the Gershom confided to me that the moment Rabbi Richard P. formal recognition of a community, to see almost a century of striving Camas recommended him for ordination, and the moment that the and struggle, oppression and persecution, ridicule and denial end rabbinic Beit Din took out the Torahs and blessed the new rabbis were in that one moment was glorious. To see history being made was won- really spiritual moments to him. derful. And to see the various threads that make up this beautiful tapes- Gershom’s proud wife, Tzipporah, was so elated when she saw try that is the story of the last 15 years' journey come together was the hundreds of people standing up and cheering for him, she said she amazing. lost herself and was blowing kisses to people all over the sanctuary (at There were very few people at the pre-ordination dinner whom I Temple Sinai). But Gershom said he didn't see any of this because his knew. Among them were Aaron Kintu Moses and JJ Keki, who had eyes were closed and he felt like he was seeing heaven. come in from Uganda for the occasion. Of course, there was also Ger- Matt Meyer, who first “discovered” the Abayudaya in the early shom's immediate family--his wife Tzipporah, his son Igaal, his daugh- 1990s and brought them to world attention, felt that Gershom was ters Dafna and Naavah. They told me how much it meant to them that already a rabbi before he ever came to the U.S. But Gershom was very I was there. Could they possibly know how much it meant to me? moved that this ordination was a ceremony that had been used since But as I said, there were all of these other strands coming to- the times of the Talmud, and this connected him to all these genera- gether--so many people who had a hand in the discovery, recognition tions. And the certificate he received said he was a "rabbi and teacher and development of the Abayudaya, many of whom had never met one in Israel." I commented that before, he was a rabbi in Uganda, but another. My colleague, Howard Gorin, who organized the first Beit now he is a rabbi for the whole world. (Continued on page 9) (Continued on page 8) FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT Jack Zeller is President Emeritus of Kulanu; Harriet Bograd Is New President Kulanu and Hospitality Dr. Jack Zeller, who founded Kulanu 14 years ago and has been By Harriet Bograd its President ever since, stepped down from the position in June. The This is an amazing time for me. I am so honored to have been organization has grown during his remarkable tenure to include activ- chosen to serve Kulanu as your new president. And, while I am very ity in over 20 lost, dispersed, or marginalized Jewish communities grateful for all of the hard work for so many years done by my prede- around the globe. He will continue on the Board as President Emeritus cessor, Kulanu’s President Emeritus Jack Zeller, I am truly humbled and will write a regular column in this newsletter, starting in the next by the size of the shoes he has left me to fill. issue. I was sitting at services recently for Parashat Balak and was Zeller, a graduate of Columbia University School of Medicine, struck by the last prophecy of Balaam, from which we get the song worked as a pathologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Mah Tovu. Balaam’s words, “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, Washington, DC, until his retirement several years ago. He has con- your dwelling places, O Israel,” reminded me of the ancient Jewish tributed his time and resources enormously over the decades, particu- value of hospitality. How appropriate that value is for Kulanu. larly in the cause of Ethiopian Jewry. He was co-founder of the former One strong characteristic of the members of the Kulanu commu- Washington Association of Ethiopian Jews and a past president of the nity is our commitment to welcoming visitors. With Kulanu’s help, American Association for Ethiopian Jewry. we in North America, and you on other continents, welcome visitors It was this interest that propelled him to form Kulanu (originally from all over the world—travelers hoping to experience Judaism far Amishav USA, a counterpart of the Israeli organization Amishav-- from home; Jews from large American cities and from small African “my people return” -- founded by Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail). In its communities; individuals eager to learn more about the Judaism that an early years, the organization concentrated on the Bnei Menashe of ancestor may have been forced to leave; and volunteers eager to teach Northeastern India and Anousim. As the organization widened its and learn in communities distant from their homes. mission to include many more dispersed Jewish communities, it dis- In the months to come, one of my goals as president is to increase tanced itself from the original Israeli model and became Kulanu. the ways in which we can welcome each of you into active participa- British anthropologist Tudor Parfitt has written: “One of the most tion in the work of Kulanu. Expect to hear more about this in the next vigorous of contemporary organizations working with marginal Jewish issue of this newsletter but, in the meantime, I would love to hear from groups throughout the world is the American-based Kulanu.” Under you with ideas of how you would like to get involved. Please email Zeller’s tenure, the organization has truly thrived! Perhaps his phi- me at [email protected]. losophy is best summed up in this paragraph he wrote for the first Ku- lanu book: Much of Jewish living has occurred in the Diaspora…Never before in Jewish history has it been easier to meet remote and virtu- ally ignored or newly developing Jewish communities. We can do it by phone, fax, e-mail, and best of all, an in-person handshake. Many of us have done some or all of these. You shouldn’t miss out! The new President is Harriet Bograd, who has served as Treasurer for the past six years, has enhanced the organization's online profile, and has contributed her legal expertise in nonprofit ethics. She has served as Kulanu’s coordinator for Ghana (helping develop their popu- Dr. Jack Zeller Harriet Bograd lar challah cover and kente cloth tallit business) and works closely (photo by A.
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