House of Israel
Total population
c. 400 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
200 in Ghana[1]
Languages
Sefwi, French, English
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Sefwi

The House of Israel is a Jewish community located in southwestern Ghana, in the towns of Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Sui. This group of people, of the Sefwi tribe, built a synagogue in 1998. Many of the men and children read English, but no one knows Hebrew.[2][3]

History of Jews in Ghana

The people of Sefwi Wiawso trace a call for a "return" to normative Judaism by Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa, a community leader who, in 1976, is said to have had a vision. In 2012, Gabrielle Zilkha, a Toronto-based filmmaker, visited Sefwe Wiawso to do research for a documentary about the House of Israel she is making. According to Zilkha, about 200 people—mostly children—live in the community. She states that the lack of a historical record makes it difficult to verify the group's claims, but that there is an oral tradition dating back 200 years.[1]

In the 1990s, the House of Israel began to reach out to the wider Jewish world. The community worked with Jewish organizations such as Kulanu and Be'chol Lashon.[4]

A smaller community of Jews from the House of Israel lives in Sefwi Sui, a small farming community located twenty miles from Sefwi Wiawso.[5]

Jewish facilities

The leader of the House of Israel since 1993, David Ahenkorah received his own vision in taking up the mantle.[6] He has been granted a 40-acre plot of land to build a Jewish school for the community, but they have not yet been able to raise funds for construction. Children currently attend a local school, run by Christians. They built a synagogue in 1998 in New Adiembra, a Jewish neighborhood in Sefwi Wiawso. Recently, they painted it blue and white, the colors of Israel.[6] There are several family compounds nearby and about 200 people belong to the synagogue.[6] It is a single-room synagogue with a miniature Sefer Torah. There is no mechitza.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Shlomo Kasputin, "Ghana's House of Israel, descendents of lost tribes?" Archived 2012-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, Jewish Tribune, December 2012, accessed 22 May 2013
  2. ↑ "Ghana Virtual Jewish History Tour". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  3. ↑ "The lost Jews of Ghana". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  4. ↑ "Ghana's deep spirituality points some, joyfully, back to Judaism". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  5. ↑ "The House of Israel". Scattered Among the Nations. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  6. 1 2 3 "In West Africa, a Synagogue Where the Pavement Ends". Forward. The Forward. 2005-10-28. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
  7. ↑ "Bet You Didn't Know About the Jews of Sefwi Wiawso, Ghana". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  8. ↑ "A VISIT TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF SEFWI WIAWSO, GHANA". Kulanu. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
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