The Abayudaya of Uganda

In the early twentieth century, a community spontaneously practicing a self-acquired Judaism in a remote part of Africa would seem highly unusual. This chapter examines how a small ethno-religious group in the east of Uganda chose to practice Judaism, without having any previous knowledge of Judaism or contact with a Jewish community. Samei Lwakilenzi Kakungulu, the instigator of the phenomenon, compiled a book of laws and prayers in the Luganda language using passages from the Bible that seemed fundamental to him, for the use of his community. From then on, the Abayudaya undertook to observe the Sabbath, they covered their heads according to Jewish rites, and they only consumed meat slaughtered in accordance with the laws. This chapter details the religious and sociopolitical context in which the faith of the Abayudaya was born and developed, until their official conversion to Judaism in 2002 by Conservative American and Israeli rabbis, and their integration into the contemporary Jewish diaspora

Chose · Faith · Judaism · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Study and Philosophy of Religion