I read two interesting articles this week about two Jewish communities that are about as different as one could imagine. The first article was written in the
Wall Street Journal and dealt with the past and current Jamaican Jewish Community. After having a good laugh the existence of a Jamaican Jewish community, one learns how prosperous and thriving the community there once was. The community came to Jamaica from Holland during the 17th century and reached a peak of 2000 people towards the end of the 19th century. Not only was the community the largest in the Caribbean many of its members were in fact pirates! Many of the these pirates were secret Jews who converted to Catholicism to avoid the inquisition and fled to the Caribbean, where they picked up a trade that seems about the last one on Earth you think Jews would be involved in. The article is a really interesting read.
Is Johnny Depp Jewish?
The second article I came across this week is a BBC pieces that relates the story of a community in Zimbabwe that culturally as Jewish. The Lemba people in Zimbabwe do not eat pork, circumcise their male children (not a common practice in the region), ritually slaughter animals, and wear kippot with the Star of David. Where the story really gets interesting is that scientist have just conducted genetic testing showing the Lemba people to be of semitic origin and belonging to the Jewish priestly clan of the Cohenim!
Check out the article to learn more about this fascinating community.
The Lemba tribe of Zimbabwe (photo: BBC)
Jewish Pirates and a lost tribe of Cohenim
