June & July 2013 - Congregation Beth El

Distributing Tallitot
to Jews in Uganda
by Elisabeth Wechsler
Tagging along with a documentary film group, Marv Pearlstein,
a Beth El member since 2001, brought new tallitot in March to a
94-year-old congregation of Jews in Mbale, Uganda.
There are two stories here.
One is the establishment of a coffee-growing cooperative of
Muslims, Christians and Jews that sustains the community
economically and keeps the peace in a remarkable example
of religious respect and cooperation. The coffee cooperative is
called mirembe kawomera, meaning “delicious peace” in the
local language, Luganda. It was founded by J. J. Keki, who is
also active in the community’s religious life.
The Mbale cooperative has a contract with Thanksgiving Coffee
of Fort Bragg, California, to market their fair-trade coffee. Since
the cooperative was started living conditions in Mbale have
improved markedly. There is now electricity in the Abayudaya
(meaning “people of Judah”) Congregation Moses Synagogue
and interior facilities next door in the rabbi’s house.
The other story is that of a tribal elder in 1919 who chose
Judaism as his religion; then most members of the tribe
converted and the men were circumcised. The leader, Semei
Kakungulu, rejected both British rule and the New Testament
in one decision. Semei chose a literal interpretation of the Old
Testament as his sacred text, and his descendants are involved in
both the coffee cooperative and in Mbale’s religious life. Many
members of the community were officially converted to Judaism
in 2002 by Conservative rabbis.
Since the coffee cooperative was started, it has served as an
example of a stunning reversal of violence and strife in Uganda
by the cooperation of its residents across religious lines. The
documentary film about the cooperative will be aired on PBS in
the coming year.
www.bethelberkeley.org 9