Friday, February 17th, 2006
I wake up to the sounds of praying in the distance, and look out the door to see an even greener, more lush place than I realized last night in the darkness. I stroll through pineapple patches, grassy fields where little black lambs are grazing, and flowering bushes surround everything. A man is climbing a palm in the distance, using only a rope around his waist.
I join the group in the synagogue, a large one-room building that looks out onto the forest. I am happy to see that Elder Elam has put my gifts to good use. My neighbor, Joel’s Shabbat Candlesticks are on the front table along with my cousin Jessie’s Hannukiah.
I also interview Emmanuel today, a great guy from Port Hartcourt who has wanted to spend a lot of time together chatting. He seems a little more worldly than other guys I have met here, and it turns out that he has spent some time abroad. Last night – off camera – he shared the
story of how he found his way to a certain Dutch country, where he overstayed his visa, got involved in the wrong crowd and wrong business, and was soon on his way back to Nigeria. It’s not something he is proud of, and wouldn’t discuss it on camera, nor how this chapter of his life led to his Judaism. I am fairly convinced that his action was not for riches or for the thrill of illegal activity. He supports his parents and other family members, and is frustrated with the system in Nigeria, which doesn’t give him a lot of options. While he still has an employer with an unsteady payroll, his Jewish community seems to be grounding him.
One of the most enjoyable interviews followed shortly after. I begin by asking Miriam to tell me a little bit about herself. She says she is the national head of the Women of Shema Yisrael, and while her name might be Miriam at home, around here, she goes by Mother General. She is tough on her sisters, but she wants to create strong, knowledgeable and aware Jewish women who have a say in the synagogues. She speaks frankly about the men, shared how after having six boys, she longed for a girl and ended up with quadruplets (2 boys, 2 girls), and that back at her home synagogue, she leads services. A woman to reckon with.
The last two interviews were with two of the guys who impressed me in the leading of last night’s songs. One composes melodies to Hebrew prayers, having never heard other versions before. His songs have a unique African beat but are distinctly Jewish. The other guy makes tallit and kippot and his designs are unique and beautiful. His only problem is that few of the Nigerian Jews have enough disposable income to purchase from him.
Throughout the day, I recorded Shabbat preparations, including the women cooking in their outdoor kitchen, Miriam baking Challah (unbraided), general clean up, and lastly, most of the community going for a dip in the nearby stream (their mikvah) with full dunks – stomach touching river bottom. If the Travel Doctor and Howard hadn’t been against it, I would have been in there too.
As darkness fell, Shabbat services began and were led by Elam’s son who seems to have had some outside Orthodox exposure. His chanting is rapid and almost Chassidic. Dinner followed and Howard and I are still relegated to eating together alone. It was nice to check in with each other and compare notes on the day. Howard shared some frustrations that much of his day was spent listening to requests for books and libraries from everyone who had come from far and wide. The distribution has already been determined and there will be no pleasing everyone… atleast not right away. When I mentioned that it seemed quite divided here, he reminded me that this is Africa – land of tribes – and said his favorite saying, Welcome to Africa!
When I ventured outside at 9:30, practically everyone was asleep. Darkness seems to do that. I found the synagogue full of people sleeping everywhere and anywhere, most in two chairs put together. I did find the young composer who I interviewed earlier in the day. We chatted for a while and he was surprised to learn that I grocery shop on Shabbat. I was surprised when he told me he married his wife after seeing her on the street one day. He told her he wanted to marry her, and arranged it with her parents the next day. Welcome to Africa!
Today is finally a chance to interview Habbakkuk, and we discuss the dreams that led him to build a synagogue, his efforts at creating a Jewish community, and the mentoring he has done with young men like Shmuel, CJ, and Natan. His only rule when all three came to live with him – they all fully observe and spend Shabbat with his family.
