Support Teshuvah Across the Waters' First cohort
Teshuvah Across the Waters (TAW) works to bridge African Diaspora Jews/Hebrews with African Jewish/Hebrew communities to support global Jewry’s collective efforts of Teshuvah, returning to aligned relationships with ourselves, HaShem, and the world. TAW seeks to forge and strengthen bonds across the Jewish Diaspora by lifting up the traditions and histories of African Jewry within the global Jewish community, creating the interconnectedness needed to support thriving Jewish peoplehood as well as spiritual redemption.
Intention/Kavanah
With collective Teshuvah at the core, this initiative is supported by the below goals and pillars of community, education, equity, healing, and resiliency:
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Uncovering, preserving and placing African Jewish histories, customs and traditions in their right place in the canon of global Jewish history to be taught and celebrated within dominant and mainstream Jewish institutions. Teaching these histories from early childhood through seminary/yeshiva level and adult education will help build unity among Jewish diaspora communities and contribute to thriving Jewish peoplehood.
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Building authentic connections throughout African and African-descent Jewish, Hebrew, and Israelite communities and their leadership as well as bridging and healing the fragmentation of African/Black Judaic communities. This unification will be grounded in progressive values and politics of racial justice, collective liberation, and spiritual redemption that honors all as B’tzelem Elohim (created in the image of the Creator).
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Investing resources in the development and education of African Jewish/Hebrew youth and communities, the next frontier/renaissance of Jewish engagement and innovation. This is particularly important given the youth boom in Africa (by 2050, 1 in 4 people on the planet will be African) and growing African Jewish/Hebrew communities coupled with waning Zionism and decreasing Jewish observance in the U.S. and Europe.
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Reconnecting African Diaspora Jews to their potential and/or confirmed African Jewish lineages, histories and narratives. Secular and Jewish research that shows that learning familial histories and stories is crucial for healing and resiliency, which many in the African Diaspora are denied because of the erasures of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The empowerment that’s possible from this deepened Jewish connection will also support the overall Jewish engagement of African Diaspora Jews in Jewish communal life around the world.
Who we are
A key component of actualizing the aforementioned vision and goals of the project is bringing cohorts of African Diaspora Jews/Hebrews to visit African Jewish communities to build the necessary communal bridges and shared investment in the core mission of collective Teshuvah and strengthened Jewish connections.
As many descendants of enslaved Africans have potential Igbo ancestry, visiting the Hebrew Igbo community is a meaningful first community for a pilot cohort of 12-18 African Diaspora Jews/Hebrews to build bridges authentically through shared learning, facilitated discussions, and Jewish ritual and prayer. Cohorts will work with the visited community(ies) to actualize the vision and goals of this project.
This first cohort is organized by members of the Black Jewish Liberation Collective, in collaboration with Jewish Multiracial Network. We will travel as an intergenerational cohort of 12-18 African descent Jews/Hebrews from the U.S./Caribbean to Nigeria/Igboland in 2025.
Resources for learning more about hebrew/jewish igbos
Igbo Hebrews are descendants of Israelite tribes that have been practicing Torah based spirituality for millennia. Review the below resources to learn more about Hebrew Igbo Jewish history and traditions: