Jewish people in Africa is not a topic most students have dealt with.
But Jay Sand used music and slides Wednesday night to explain why it is an important topic for him.
Sand, an independent journalist and musician, gave a presentation called “The Jews of Africa,” sponsored by MSU’s Hillel Jewish Student Organization.
Sand’s goal was to make people realize there are thousands of diverse cultures in Africa, including Judaism.
“I like forcing people to reconsider what they thought was established fact,” Sand said to an audience of about 20 people. “A lot of people only know about Judaism through television and the media and they don’t get a clear picture of what the religion is about.”
Sand grew up in Harrisburg, Pa., and first visited Africa in December 1999. He lived in Uganda with 600 African Jews who had practiced the religion for 80 years. He has visited Africa twice since then.
During the presentation, Sand played African Hebrew songs on his guitar and showed slides of African synagogues, dancing, cooking and social activities.
Deaf education senior Penny Dalin, secretary of Hillel, said she didn’t know anything about the topic before the presentation.
“I’ve heard there are Jews in Russia and Africa, but I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Dalin said. “I was jamming to the songs and I even bought the tape.”
Sand said his favorite thing about visiting Africa was the relationships he made with African Jews.
“The best part was the ability to connect with Africans and to have real exchanges with them in a friendly, equal way,” he said. “I learned things from them and they learned things from me. I had active engagements and I made real friends.”
Sand said the areas that are most populated with Jewish communities are located in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, South Africa, North Africa and Tunisia.
“One reason there are so many African Jews is a result of migrating cultures due to climate changes, natural disasters and wars,” Sand said. “Another reason is due to conquering armies taking Israeli Jews over to Africa. The third reason has to do with trading merchants - Israel is between Asia and Africa, so it’s a perfect place for merchants to go who are trading.”
Political science and human resources senior Elizabeth Beresh said she liked how the presentation combined different aspects of a celebrated culture.
“I appreciate being able to learn more about varying traditions among different Jews,” she said. “It’s nice to see Judaism is celebrated worldwide.”
