| Languages | |
|---|---|
| French,Hebrew | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
Thehistory of theJews inBenin, formerly known asDahomey in Africa, is recent and the contemporary Jewish community in Benin is very small.
In the 19th century, the French Catholic missionary Pierre Bertrand Bouche observed customs inDahomey such as circumcision and seclusion of menstruating women that he termed "Judaic practices", believing them to be of Jewish origin.[1]
A 1926 report published by the Jewish scholarJonas Kreppel claimed that a large community of Black Jews existed in the interior of Dahomey. According to Kreppel, these Black Jews had their own central temple where they sacrificed animals and laws were engraved on tablets that were hung on the temple walls.[2] A book titledDahomey and the Lost Jews was written by George Amoako in 2017.[3]
In 1929, the impostorBata LoBagola published a book claiming to be a Beninese Jew descended from aLost Tribe of Israel in Dahomey. LoBagola's true identity was Joseph Howard Lee, an African-American entertainer fromBaltimore.[4]
A 2016 article inThe Times of Israel reported that internet searches were connecting isolated Jewish communities across Africa, including in Benin.[5]
In 1961 Benin (then known as Dahomey) established full diplomatic relations with IsraelForeign relations of Benin#Diplomatic relations and signed a friendship treaty and a technical assistance treaty with Israel. The treaties were signed by Dahomey Foreign MinisterAssogba Oke and Israel Trade MinisterPinhas Rosen. Prime MinisterDavid Ben-Gurion and Dahomey PresidentHubert Maga signed the joint statement. Dahomey’s President and entourage will finish tomorrow an eight-day visit which will include a dinner tendered them by Israeli PresidentYitzchak Ben-Zvi.[6]
