FEELING AT HOME UGANDAN RABBI GETS FIRST OFFICIAL TRAINING IN U.S.Byline: Holly Andres Staff Writer WEST HILLS - Gershom Sizomu may be more than 9,000 miles from his home in Uganda, but he feels comfortable when he leads the Friday night Shabbat service once a month at Shomrei Torah Synagogue. Sizomu is the spiritual leader of the approximately 600 Abayudaya Jews who live in villages northeast of Uganda's third-largest city, Mbale, and in the foothills of Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya. The mountain is named after the Elgonyi tribe, who once lived in huge caves on the south side of the mountain. in eastern Uganda. ``I don't think there is much difference between the services there and here. What surprised me was the elegancy el·e·gan·cy n. pl. el·e·gan·cies Elegance or an instance of it. of the sanctuary and the beautiful art,'' said Sizomu, an intern rabbi at the Conservative synagogue. ``But in terms of the service, no. Actually, I was at home from the first.'' Although Sizomu is called rabbi in his remote Jewish community, he has lacked a professional course of study that leads to ordination. He is nearing the end of the first of a five-year rabbinic rab·bin·i·cal also rab·bin·ic adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of rabbis. [From obsolete rabbin, rabbi, from French, from Old French rabain, probably from Aramaic training course at the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Bel-Air. ```Rabbi' means teacher, but it also carries the professional accreditation that is the result of a professional program,'' said Rabbi Jay Strear, a member of Shomrei Torah who helped to bring Sizomu and his family here. ``However, in his role as rabbi or spiritual leader in Uganda he has supervised life-cycle events, served as a mohel A mohel (מוהל in Hebrew, mo'el in Ashkenazic pronunciation, mohel in Sephardic pronunciation which is the pronunciation used in modern Israel) is a Jewish ritual circumciser who performs a brit milah ritual circumcision on the penis of a male for ritual circumcision circumcision (sûr'kəmsĭzh`ən), operation to remove the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It dates back to prehistoric times and was widespread throughout the Middle East as a religious rite before it was introduced among the and as a shochet shochet the operant slaughterer in the Jewish method. for the ritual slaughter Ritual slaughter may refer to the following:
Strear, the senior director of development at the University of Judaism, served as an intern rabbi at Shomrei Torah in West Hills. He urged Rabbi Richard Camras to invite Sizomu to be intern at the synagogue. ``I knew that the congregation would show him warmth and care in welcoming him here,'' Strear said, ``Through him, we're learning how a community can persevere in light of external pressures. We're learning about the beauty and richness of faith through Gershom's leadership role. He has brought warmth of spirit and loving nature to our community. He is rather inspiring.'' The name by which they are known, Abayudaya, was given to them by the missionaries. Sizomu explained that ``aba'' means ``those who belong'' and ``yuda'' means ``Judah'' in the Luganda language Luganda, sometimes known as Ganda, is a major language of Uganda, spoken by over three million people mainly in the Buganda region, which includes the Ugandan capital Kampala. It belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. . ``It was meant to be derogatory'' said Sizomu, ``but it gave them courage instead.'' The Abayudaya have endured despite economic hardship and anti-Semitism, especially during the rule of Idi Amin in Uganda from 1971 to 1979. It is estimated that the Jewish community was reduced from 3,000 to about 300 after Amin had outlawed Judaism in the country. The Abayudaya have retained the Orthodox Jewish custom of men and women sitting separately during a service, and only men wear the distinctive, large yarmulkes, knitted with four menorah menorah Multibranched candelabra used by Jews during the festival of Hanukkah. It holds nine candles (or has nine receptacles for oil). Eight of the candles stand for the eight days of Hanukkah—one is lit the first day, two the second, and so on. symbols. While a Jewish woman here may wear a yarmulke during a service, the Abayudaya women do not wear clothing that is considered a male garment. ``The Abayudaya lead a full and rich Jewish life. We've learned that we should never take for granted the endless opportunities we have in America to be Jewish,'' Camras said . ``They are a community that has struggled for so long to be Jewish and yet is so informed about Judaism. They are a powerful role model for the rest of us (abuse) for The Rest Of Us - (From the Macintosh slogan "The computer for the rest of us") 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced products. 2. .'' Rabbi Gershom Sizomu will lead the 6 p.m. Shabbat service, followed by a dinner, on Friday at Shomrei Torah Synagogue, 7353 Valley Circle Blvd., West Hills. Dinner reservations, $20, or $15 for ages 3-12, are required by Monday. Call (818) 346-0811. Holly Andres, (818) 713-3708 holly.andres(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 2 maps Photo: Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, right, and his wife Tziporah are living in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. for a year while he takes courses at the University of Judaism, seen in background, in Bel-Air. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer Map: (1) Abayudaya Jews (2) DETAIL AREA |
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