Thursday, 31 January 2013

The Jewish Community of Sefwi Wiawso, Western Region, Ghana….



For centuries, a community located in a rural and remote area of Ghana known as the Sefwis, have been practicing a religion unique to any of those around them. Only in the last twenty years, did they discover that the religion they’ve been following all this time was Judaism. They also discovered something even more profound: They weren’t alone. Millions of people around the globe were following the very same religion.

From the Four Corners of the Earth takes us through the Sefwis’ journey of self-discovery – not just the journey of their past, but the journey they are about to embark on: their very first trip to Israel.

Kofi leading services in synagogue


Our first phase of production will focus on the Sefwis' telling their story - their journey of discovering their Jewish roots. It will also paint a vivid picture of their life today. We will explore how Judaism has shaped who they are, their understanding of the world and their place within it.
We will have a small 2-person crew on this phase of production which will take place over 3 weeks.
Our first phase of production also includes key interviews with experts in African Jewish history and past visitors to the Sefwi Wiawso community.

Please read the rest of this text and watch the film clip via:

Modern mainstream Judaism has been practiced in Ghana since a group of people from the Sefwi tribe has established ties to worldwide Jewry in the late 20th century and have thus received educational materials about modern Judaism and vital texts such as Tanakhs, Siddurim, etc. The community traces its return to normative Judaism to an individual known as Aaron Ahomtre Toakyirafa.[2] In 1977, Toakyirafa had a vision that the Sefwi people, a tribe of which he was a member, were one of the Lost tribes of Israel. He believed that the Sefwi practiced rituals and had a theology that was unlike that of the surrounding population. He concluded that these customs were of Hebraic origin. For example, they avoided the consumption of pork, or pig-like animals, and observed a day of rest on Saturdays, which also happens to coincide with the Jewish Shabbat. Additionally, males were circumcised 8 days after birth, a custom that is identically practiced by Jews all over world.[1] The custom of separation of man and woman during female menstruation was also observed among members of the Sefwi tribe. More recently, the community, largely based in Sefwi Wiawso and Sefwi Sui has been receiving a steady flow of Jewish visitors from the worldwide Jewish community. These visitors have been bringing Jewish objects and educational materials and many have been writing about the community, bringing them to the attention of Jews the world over.

It’s interesting.... a lot of what’s written above [pertaining to Jewish custom], is very mainstream –Ghanaian.

" For over a hundred and fifty years, a pocket of Ghana’s population located in the Western Region were following customs that differed from the majority: circumcising boys eight days after birth, holding the sabbath on Saturdays rather than Sundays, separating women and men during times of menstruation. Whether by sheer fluke or through some unrecorded cultural exchange, it happens to be that these customs are also held by Jewish people. Further reading suggests that these customs arrived in Ghana with the migration of “crypto-Jews” from Ivory Coast (Ghana’s neighbour to the west) over 200 years ago. The crypto-Jews of Ivory Coast were said to be migrants from Mali fleeing persecution around 400 years ago."


To read more about this fascinating community visit here:


1 comment:

  1. Well the costumarry practice of cercumsition and women staying away from a husbands bed during menstruation is part of a Ghanaian culture .my mother grew up in a house that practiced these things. She could not cook or do anything for her father during those days. My mom is only six seven nd not jewish