Support Abayudaya Communities in Uganda and Kenya

The Abayudaya (Abayudaya is a Luganda word for "People of Judah") community is comprised of over 3,000 members spread among ten villages and centers across eastern Uganda and northern Kenya.

There are nine villages of Abayudaya in Uganda - Nabugoye, Nasenyi, Namanyonyi, Namutumba I (Kfar Rishon), Namutumba II (Jewish Community), Nalubembe, Apaac, Buseta, and Tikvat Israel Congregation Kampala - plus one in Kenya: Ol Kalou-Kasuku Jewish community, also known as Kehillat Israel Kenya.

The Abayudaya live their daily lives committed to traditional Judaism, observing kashrut and celebrating Shabbat and holidays, reading Torah on Mondays and Thursdays, and engaging in text study on a regular basis. During worship, the community uses a blend of languages, Luganda, the local tongue, English, and Hebrew.

❱❱ Learn more about the Abayudaya communities in Uganda and Kenya ❰❰

Masorti Olami has been supporting the Abayudaya communities for over 20 years, and together with our partners across the Masorti/Conservative movement, we have been focusing on providing the communities with spiritual and financial support to strengthen their communities. This support includes providing ritual objects before holidays; providing the communities with talitot, siddurim, and hummashim; developing leadership programs; providing hebrew lessons and workbooks; supporting agricultural projects and new business initiatives; youth and young adult programming; grants for university students; and much more.

Despite their flourishing religious life, the Abayudaya communities still face innumerable struggles. Most members of the community are subsistence farmers and have been hit badly by famine and the pandemic in recent years. Electricity, water, and internet are not accessible to most villagers, and poverty is rampant.

The Abayudaya communities depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods. Many families have less than 2 acres of land where they grow a combination of maize, cassava, beans, ground nuts (all food crops), coffee, and watermelon (cash crops), however, none of these families produce enough food to eat and sell at the market. However, they often sell the little they do produce to meet their basic needs such as food and medicine, and to pay school fees. Our Abayudaya communities are often struck with serious famine and drought due to weather changes that affect the seasons and lead to little to no food production which results in serious famine, health problems and serious diseases, affecting almost all of the families in the community.

Please consider donating below to help us continue our support of the Abayudaya Masorti/Conservative communities!