Seven boys from the Abayudaya Jewish community celebrate their bar mitzvah, October 18, 2014. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)
A Jewish community in Africa has moved one step closer to gaining formal recognition from the Israeli government.
The Jewish Agency said in a letter to Israel’s Conservative movement that the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, a community whose members formally converted to Judaism under Conservative auspices, are a “recognized” community, Haaretz reported Tuesday.
Such recognition means the Ugandan Jews are allowed to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.
Since the early 20th century, members of the Abayudaya community, which now numbers approximately 1,500, have been observing Judaism, and in 2002, the majority formally converted.
Members of Uganda’s Abayudaya Jewish community outside a synagogue in Nabagoye. (Courtesy of Bechol Lashon)
In a letter to Rabbi Andrew Sacks, director of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement in Israel, the Jewish Agency said it has recognized the community as Jewish since 2009 and also recognizes the authority of its rabbi, Gershom Sizomu.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Sacks told Haaretz that the Ugandan Jews have faced difficulties obtaining visas from Israel’s Ministry of Interior for study programs in the Jewish state.
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
