Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History of Kenya |
 |
|
|
 Kenya portal |
TheHistory of the Jews in Kenya refers to the history ofJewish settlement inKenya, which began in 1899. A Jewish community continues to live in Kenya today.
J. Marcus, a Jewish businessman, moved to Nairobi from India in 1899 and established an export business for local produce.[1]
In 1903, British Colonial secretaryJoseph Chamberlain proposed offering part of the territory in Kenya and Uganda, known as theUganda Program, to theZionists as an autonomous homeland at theSixth Zionist Congress.[2][3] The suggestion created much controversy among the international Jewish community, and was rejected at the Seventh Zionist Congress in 1905.
Although the plan was shelved, 20 Jewish families had settled in Kenya by 1913, most of them inNairobi. A Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1907, and the first synagogue in 1913.[4]
During the period ofWorld War II and following theHolocaust, Jewish immigration increased and as many as 1,200 Jews were living in the country.[4]
Prior to the establishment of theState of Israel, members of the Kenyan Jewish community helpedIrgun andLehi fighters imprisoned by the British inGilgil. Once the State of Israel was established in 1948, many Jews in Kenya left for Israel.
In 1963, when Kenya became independent, the Jewish population declined further and shifted from largely permanent residents to people on international contracts or long-term business assignments.[4]
Notable Kenyan Jews include former Nairobi mayorIsrael Somen and hotelier Abraham Block. In 2011, it was estimated that 80% of the Jewishex-pats in Kenya are Israeli.[4] In 2013, the Jewish community had about 600 members.[5]
AKikuyu-speaking Kasuku community of 60 members, calling itself the Kasuku Gathundia Jewish community, has developed among subsistence farmers in the Kenyan highlands, nearNyahururu. According to their patriarch, Yosef Ben Avraham Njogu, it grew from a split with Kenya's sizeable Messianic Jewish congregation, when a purported visit from Nairobi Jews led to their understanding that what they practiced was Messianic and not Judaism. On learning of the distinction, he and Avraham Ndungu Mbugua broke away, and began to study Judaism in depth. Circumcision, traditionally a puberty rite disallowed by law at birth, means that the community's children must travel to Uganda to have the rite performed by theAbayudaya. Nairobi's Hebrew Congregation synagogue has spiritual connection with this community.[6]
Britain stepped into the picture, offering Herzl land in the largely undeveloped area of Uganda (today, it would be considered an area of Kenya). ...
