House of Israel (Ghana)

ethnic group
group=House of Israel


poptime=c. 800 (est.)
popplace=800 Ghana [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ghana.html]
langs=Sefwi
rels=Judaism
related=SefwiThe House of Israel is a Jewish community in Ghana. This ethnic group claim to be one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

The group is not recognised as Jewish by mainstream Judaism.

History of Jews in Ghana

It is believedby who? that Judaism and Jewish communities had established a presence in Ghana since ancient times. Migrations into western Africa by Jewish traders, merchants, and other groups have been documentedFact|date=February 2008 by Arab, Jewish, and European travelers and historians. Members of the House of Israel document their arrival in Ghana via a Jewish migration across the Sahara desert, into Mali, where there has been a documented Jewish community in Timbuktu, and further along through the Ivory Coast and into Ghana. [http://www.kulanu.org/ghana/gonetoghana.html] It has also been found that in some regions, Judaism and Jewish merchants had such a profound impact on this particular region of west Africa, that quite a substantial number of ruling families in Ghana converted to Judaism and for a period of over 200 years, the Ghanaian empire was allegedly ruled by Jews. Fact|date=February 2008

Modern mainstream Judaism has been practiced in Ghana since a group of people from the Sefwi tribe has established ties to worldwide Jewry in the late 20th century and have thus received educational materials about modern Judaism and vital texts such as Tanakhs, Siddurim, etc. The community traces its return to normative Judaism to an individual known as Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa. [http://www.mindspring.com/~jaypsand/ghana2.htm] . In 1977, Toakyirafa had a vision that the Sefwi people, a tribe of which he was a member, were one of the Lost tribes of Israel. He believed that the Sefwi practiced rituals and had a theology that was unlike that of the surrounding population. He concluded that these customs were of Hebraic origin. For example, they avoided the consumption of pork, or pig-like animals, and observed a day of rest on Saturdays, which also happens to coincide with the Jewish Shabbat. Additionally, males were circumsized 8 days after birth, a custom that is identically practiced by Jews the world over. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ghana.html] The custom of separation of man and woman during female menstruation was also observed among members of the Sefwi tribe. More recently, the community, largely based in Sefwi Wiaswo and Sefwi Sui has been receiving a steady flow of Jewish visitors from the worldwide Jewish community. These visitors have been bringing Jewish objects and educational materials and many have been writing about the community, bringing them to the attention of Jews the world over.

Today

Several tribal elders of the Sefwi have begun exploring the possibility of a Jewish ancestry to their people, and someby who? claim to have recognized their Judaic past. As a result, the leader of the House of Israel has recently been granted a plot of land on which to build a Jewish school so that children are not forced to attend a Christian one [http://www.forward.com/articles/2143/] . However as of right now, sufficient funds have not been raised in order to start construction of the school.

ee also

*Kingdom of Israel
*Beta Israel
*History of Ancient Israel and Judah
*History of the Jews of Bilad el-Sudan

External links

* [http://www.haruth.com/JewsGhana.html Jews of Ghana]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ghana.html History of Jews in Ghana]
* [http://www.forward.com/articles/2143/ Letter from Ghana]