Lemba
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lemba or Lembaa are a group of people numbering 70,000 in southern Africa. Although they speak Bantu languages similar to their neighbours, they have specific religious practices and beliefs similar to those in Judaism, which have been remembered and transmitted orally through the generations.
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[edit] Lemba beliefs & practices linked to Judaism
- They are monotheists and call their creator God, “Nwali”. They consider one day per week holy and praise “Nwali” on that day. This resembles the Jewish Sabbath.
- They teach their children to honour their parents.
- They refrain from eating Pork or other foods forbidden by the Old Testament. Their form of slaughter resembles Jewish Shechita.
- They practise male circumcision.
[edit] General Lemba traditions
They also have a tradition of being a migrant people with clues pointing to an origin in the Middle East or North Africa. According to the oral history of the Lemba their ancestors were Jews who came from a place called Sena several hundred years ago and settled in East Africa. According to the research of British researcher Tudor Parfitt, the location of Sena was more than likely in Yemen. The Lemba may have a connection with Great Zimbabwe. Anthropologists have identified a Swahili tribe called Ha-Redeye that could be the link between these populations.
Another possibility is that Sena refers to the Portuguese trading post founded on the Zambezi River in the late sixteenth century. As many "New Christians" (converted Jews) from Portugal went to settle overseas following the persecutions of the Inquisition, it is likely that a good many people of Jewish genetic heritage may have settled there, as they did in Guinea, Congo, Angola and Brazil, where the Inquisition's reach was less. Since Sena was noted for its commercial contacts, and since even in the colony they might have been persecuted, it is possible that a group of them could have immigrated to their present location through such trading contacts.
[edit] Lemba marriage customs
Marriage to other Lembas is preferred. The Lemba have restrictions on intermarriage with non-Lemba, with it being particularly difficult for a male non-Lemba to become a member. A woman who marries a Lemba must learn Lemba religion, dietary rules, etc. She may not bring any cooking equipment from her previous home. She may have to shave her head. Her children must be brought up as Lembas.
[edit] Lemba genetics
The presence among the Lemba of a disproportionate number of men carrying a particular polymorphism on the Y chromosome known as the Cohen modal haplotype suggests an ancestral link to the Jewish population. One sub-clan within the Lemba, the Buba clan, is considered by the Lemba to be their priestly clan. Among the Buba, fifty-two percent of males carry the Cohen modal haplotype, which is found among Jewish Kohanim, or priests. The Lemba also have a large percentage of genes often found in non-Arab Semites.
[edit] See also
- African Jew
- Beta Israel
- Y-chromosomal Aaron
- Jews of the Bilad el-Sudan (West Africa)
- Bnai Ephraim
- Ha-Redeye
- Newsweek, February 6, 2006.
[edit] External links
- "Webpage discussing the Lemba"(Shows the route the Lemba believe they took from Israel.)
- "Lost tribes of Israel (2000)" (PBS documentary on the Lemba and their origins)
[edit] References
- The Story of the Lemba People, as told by Dr. Rudo Mathivha
- "Y chromosomes traveling south" (abstract of a genetic paper on relationship between Jews and Lemba)de:Lemba
