Gabrielle Zilkha, Jewish by birth, raised in Montreal, Canada, celebrates the high Jewish holidays, but otherwise is pretty removed from her ancestors' religion. Gabrielle went to volunteer in Ghana with a woman's organization for six months. During the Jewish holidays, she missed participating in her families holiday ritual. She was told that there was a community of people practicing Judiasm in a nearby rural villiage, Sefwi Wiawso. Gabrielle went to visit this community. There she found a small group of people, led by Alex Armah, a young black man whose dream is to become a full rabbi and teach Judiasm, including Hebrew, to his community.
Gabrielle was told to go inquire of the chiefs and elders in the Tanaso region to get the history. The Sefwi believe their ancestors came from Arab countries, (some say from Israel), and were Jewish, but missionaries assimilated their people into the dominant religions of Christianity and Islam. This remained so until a Sefwi named Aaron had a vision in 1975.
The story goes that God told Aaron that his people are descendants of a lost tribe of Israel and the old testament should be their guide to their religion. Formed in 1977, they call themselves The House of Israel. Aaron's community built Judiasm from scratch and practiced on the down low. Elders were jailed for believing in one god and defending themselves against their neighbors.
Alex connected to the United Israel World Union outside of Ghana. Connecting with other Jews gave the Sefwis confidence in their Judiasm. Alex went through a conversion to Judiasm in Uganda. He wants his community to connect and be recognized globally.
Gabrielle realizes that the Sefwi Jews are way more Jewish than she is. While Gabrielle made this film, the Sefwis consulted with an Orthodox rabbi in Toronto, a Reform movement in Montreal, and a black Jewish scholar who explains that for many there is cognative dissonance for people who think of Jews as just being Caucasisn.
The rabbis who seem to hold the power to accept someone as Jewish or not say that there is a strong burden of truth that must be met for emerging Jewish communities. This is hard to do for those who claim to be a lost tribe and have not practiced the religion in centuries. To enter a Jewish community there are shared commitments that need to be met. In some cases of people wanting to convert, ancestry can be verified by DNA and that is satisfsctory to those who make these decisions.
What is it to be Jewish? Gabrielle who has the DNA recognizes that the Sefwi live and practice the religion as she, through her birthright, does not. Gabrielle says she IS Jewish but doesn't DO Jewish.
I am mostly Jewish via DNA, but secular. I found this film interesting as a character study of the Sefwi Jews and especially of Alex. It's curious how beliefs, customs, and religions are passed down, lost, rediscovered, and then challenged and questioned by others who feel entitled to decide. The devotion of, (and desire to be accepted into global Judiasm), from the Sefwi and other communities of practicing Jews in Africia is touching.
I ruminated on Doing Jewish for days after I saw it on Kanopy. I believe it is available to stream on other platforms as well.
