Arts Emanu-El multimedia event

Have you heard about the Rabbi of Timbuktu, or the celebration of Hanukkah in Hausaland, or the Israelites in Kenya, or the Jews in Mauritius and more?

On Tuesday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Vestry of Temple Emanu-El, Professor William “Bill” Miles of Northeastern University will share stories, color slides, music and video about his thirty-five years of Afro-Jewish encounters in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, the West Indies and Israel. This lecture is open to the public.

Miles’ fascinating stories include his encounter with a Muslim curator, a native of Timbuktu, who preserves the memory of its rabbi, plus encounters with an evangelical Kenyan, who is amazed to meet a living “Israelite,” and with Indian Ocean islanders who maintain the Jewish cemetery of escapees from Nazi Germany.

During his lecture, Miles will draw upon more stories from his newly published book, “Afro-Jewish Encounters: From Timbuktu to the Indian Ocean and Beyond,” to illustrate how Africa, Israel and their diasporas constitute an extraordinary crucible for African Jews, wandering Jews, and for the unforgettable Afro-Jewish encounters that ensue.

According to Miles, after more than thirty years of research in Africa, it came as a surprise to him to learn of a growing Jewish community in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. “The Jews of Nigeria have chosen not only to believe something that other Nigerians don’t believe but to live their lives in a Jewish way. They want to be – and they are – as authentic as they can be.  

In Nigeria they try to live the entire day and the entire week by calling each other on the cell phone with “shalom”, with prayers throughout the day, with constant reminders of this special – for the Nigerian context – religion that they have chosen.”

Miles is professor of political science at Northeastern University and the former Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies there. His previous book, “Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey,” was named a 2013 National Jewish Book Awards finalist. Five-time Fulbright scholar, he was also a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award for “Zion in the Desert,” a book about the Jewish-American baby boomers who founded religiously progressive kibbutzim in Israel. Miles is a frequent contributor to Rhode Island Public Radio’s “This I Believe – Rhode Island.” Miles and his wife Loïza, who also teaches at Northeastern, live in Seekonk, Mass. and are members of Temple Emanu-El.

Tickets for the Tuesday, March 25 lecture at 7:30 p.m. in the Vestry of Temple Emanu-El are available through teprov.org or at the door on the evening of the lecture, $5 per person. This includes Prof. Miles’ talk, a book signing and an opportunity to purchase “Afro-Jewish Encounters: From Timbuktu to the Indian Ocean and Beyond” at a discount.

SAM SHAMOON is a co-chair of Arts Emanu–El and can be reached at sam.shamoon@gmail.com.