Deep within Africa, in the heart of Nigeria live the Igbo people.  For centuries, they have practiced their native traditions and maintained their unique identity, all while co-existing among both Muslim and Christian neighbors and through a century of British Colonialism.

 

For generations, elders have told the story of the Igbos originating  from the foreign land of Israel and descending from a forefather named Eri.  With the recent introduction of the Internet, young curious Igbos have begun researching this possibility further, attempting to determine what this truly means. On slow, outdated computers in dark cybercafes, people like Shmuel Tikvah have started signing on and comparing Igbo traditions with Jewish traditions, and began finding a multitude of similarities between culture, ritual, language, worship and history.

 

Today, as Igbos all over Nigeria shake off a century of British Colonialism and Christian influence, they are returning to their native ways & across the country, Jewish communities are re-emerging.  Synagogues are sprouting up across the nation with thriving communities gathering for weekly worship and adding rich African-inspired music to centuries-old Hebrew prayer.

 

But for Shmuel and so many others, getting there has been a bittersweet journey filled with family division, entanglement in Messianic Judaism, and in this volatile nation - hatred and discrimination.  With deep racial tension between tribes, extending to and beyond the days of the Biafran War, which saw the killing of over 1 million Igbos, it's a notion the Igbo take very seriously.

 

So far, reaching out to the wider Jewish community abroad has only produced skepticism, but as we follow the journey of Shmuel Tikvah from remote villages tucked into the palm tree forest to bustling megacities, we meet a whole community of determined and devoted Igbo people with powerful stories to share of acceptance, devotion, community and finding oneself.