Days 4/5 - A Jew and a Muzunge

512/20/08

Mulembe! Como ahoora? Grazil. It is now Saturday night, 9pm. I have just arrived back at Anne’s house from the Abayudaya community. On Friday, I went into town with Rasmus (we took bicycle bodas, 200 USh = ~ $0.10) and got on the internet, as you might have guessed from the blog being posted. The internet is slow but inexpensive, about $0.75/hour. We then went to a crafts shop because Rasmus is leaving on Monday and wanted to buy gifts. The things at this little hut are amazing, all one-of-a-kind pieces. Gorgeous crafts of every sort made of ebony grown under the Nile. I left the craftshop to find a boda to take to BCC (the Bushikori Christian Center, the compound on which the clinic is located) and a car honked behind me on the street. I looked inside a there was a black family, all of the boys wearing kippot. The driver introduced himself as Rabbi Gerhsom Sizomu, the rabbi of the Abayudaya, and told me he always became very excited when he sees a man wearing a kippah in Mbale. He offered me a ride to the village but I was not ready so I said goodbye and then took a motorcycle boda from town to BCC. That cost 3000USh = ~$1.50, for a 10 minute ride, and apparently I was ripped off. BCC was closing all of the services except for the clinic for the holiday season, and they had a goodbye lunch. I arrived about an hour before the lunch and saw two patients, simple cases of a cough and malaria. Lunch was interesting. It began with washing hands and getting food; they served rice, crushed-nut sauce, matoke, and a green of some sort. Everyone sat in a classroom of the primary school and then the MC began to speak. He spoke about closing and Christman and family and poverty. Then they broke out into gorgeous African gospel music. They sang for about 10 minutes, and then I had to leave to return to Anne’s in order to make it to the Abayudaya in time for Shabbat. Jon, the BCC driver took me home, I packed, and then took a boda­ motorcycle to “Semei Kakungulu,” the name of the hill on which the Jews live, named after the founder of the community. The trip began on paves roads, but about 2 minutes into the ride, the road tuned to dirt and rocks. The Abayudaya live in the mountains, and the ride was basically off-roading through hilly mountain roads on the back of a motorcycle for roughly 15 minutes. My driver went too fast so I told him I wouldn’t pay unless he slowed down. That worked. We arrived an hour before Shabbat, my hands numb from holding on to the motorcycle. I was shown to the guesthouse and given my room. The guest house was beautiful (great job Adam) and I finally took a (cold) shower before Shabbat. Staying at the guesthouse as well were two Israeli backpackers, Ohad and Yisrael, and Isaac the manager showed us to the synagogue at around 6:30pm. The synagogue is made of brick and cement. It has a tin roof and on the front is painted something along the lines of “Abayudaya Community, Moses Synagogue, Nabagoya, Uganda.” It is adorned with menorah decorations on the windows, and a beautiful bimah covering. As pre-modern as the synagogue seemed to me, it stood in stark contrast to the majority of homes in the community, most of which are made of sun-dried mud. Women sat on the left of the synagogue, perhaps 12 rows of 3 seats. Men sat in the same style on the right. Shelves on both sides held prayer books and the chumash, the 5 books of the Torah. The men wore a range of clothing, from jeans and torn shirts to suits, and of course knitted kippot of red, black, white and blue. The menorah seemed to be the decoration of choice.
Kabbalat Shabbat, the prayer welcoming in the Sabbath, was sung by Rabbi Gershom and his brother J.J., a musician. Several members of the community played guitars, a cymbal, and a bongo. Once again, the music was unreal. The Hebrew words were sung to African melodies, with natural harmonies from what seemed like specifically selected members of the community, although it was obvious that it was truly just natural. Some psalms were sung in Lugandan, the only word of which I understood was the name of G-d. Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Rabbi Carlebach – these people were extraordinarily talented musicians. But I’m almost positive that they all had to try. The Africans just sing and enhance each other’s voices with such ease and simplicity and beauty. And to then add to that effect the Lugandan-accented Hebrew, the language of Jews – it was an experience that I know I will not forget. The evening service began with a short discussion led by the rabbi about dreams, and several people offered their dreams for an interpretation by anyone in the community. I found it funny that one boy told of a nightmare he had in which he had a bad voice. I think most people I know at home would dream the opposite. Another man told of a dream in which he went down to the watering hole and the water was very deep. A whirlpool began, driving the water lower and lower into its center, and then suddenly water shot up from the center higher than it began. I decided to throw my neck out there and offered an explanation. I told him that water represents life, and sometimes, in order to bring life to its highest levels, one needs to fall a bit, to recognize the heights that are truly attainable. The rabbi liked that, applying the idea to the poverty of the Abayudaya and life in Africa, but to the height of being members of the Jewish community. I felt good after that. The evening service was then recited and when it ended, the Israelis and I went to the rabbi’s house for Kiddush and Hamotzi, the blessings before the Friday night meal that are customarily made on wine and bread. We sat in his common room and spoke a bit about ourselves. He asked if any of us could read the Torah, and I told him it was the portion that I read for my bar mitzvah, so I could do some. I agreed to read the first three aliyot.
No grapes grow here, and imported wine is unavailable, so the Kiddush is made on the challah, the bread. The young children walked around holding a large bowl and a cup filled with water. Each person washed their hands, as is the custom before eating bread. The rabbi then made Kiddush on the bread and everyone ate some. The Israelis and I said goodnight and returned to the guesthouse where we had rice, greens, cowpeas, potatoes, and some vegetables for dinner (or what is called ”suppa” here). After dinner, we sang a Jewish song, said the blessing after the meal and retreated to our rooms.
I was up a lot of the night because of the heat but managed to stay awake most of the day. We had some fruit and tea for breakfast at 8:30am, then walked up the hill to the synagogue at 9am. More people were at the services than the night before because it is safer to walk during the day. The service was a chanted in a mixture of Hebrew and Lugandan, and African and Western tunes. The rabbi spoke again about dreams before the Torah reading, this time with a Lugandan interpreter repeating everything he said. I read the first three aliyot and when I finished, everyone stood up and sang Mazel Tov U’Siman Tov in celebration of my bar mitzvah anniversary. I was then given the fifth aliyah as well. Ohad, one of the Israelis read the fourth aliyah and Rabbi Gershom read the last few.
I have learned a lot in the past about why certain prayers are said aloud or repeated, the reason usually lying in the fact that not everyone knew the prayers by heart and prior to the widespread availability of prayer books, one individual who knew the prayer or used the only prayer book available would recite the prayer aloud on behalf of the community. Here I was able to see this idea in action, as Rabbi Gershom and a few others led the rest of the community, most of whom were not completely literate in Hebrew. After the Torah was read, the Musaf prayer was recited by everyone silently and then Rabbi Gershom aloud. After the service, everyone took the chairs outside and sat in a large circle on the grass. Lunch was served, potatoes and beans, and the whole community ate together as Rabbi Gershom lead a discussion about the Torah, current politics, and other topics. Some was in Lugandan, some in English. The Israelis and I returned to the guesthouse and slept until the afternoon. There was no minyan for the afternoon service so I prayed in the guesthouse. We sang some Jewish songs with some of the children until the Shabbat ended. We walked to the rabbi’s home where he made havdalah, the blessing separating the Sabbath form the regular week, on beer, again since no wine was available. Ginger was used as the customary smelling spice during the blessing. We spoke to the rabbi for a few minutes about the upcoming holiday of Chanukah, the music festival they will be having with all 8 of the Ugandan Jewish communities next Sunday and then returned to the guesthouse. I took a shower because the water would be only cool instead of freezing, after having been in the sun all day, and then Isaac the manager called a boda motorcycle (that he trusted to drive safely along the mountain roads at night). The ride back was pretty uneventful besides for riding about 40mph on the back of a motorcycle on a dirt mountain road with no light anywhere except our headlight. But I’m getting used to that (no hands this time!). I arrived at Anne’s ate a quick suppa, and schmoozed with the family for a bit. Then I sat to write this. I hope to get to town tomorrow to post this and send some emails for Anne. Sorry for the long post again! Have a good week everyone and I will write again soon!

12/21/08

I slept until 9am this morning! I think I am finally getting used to the sounds of the animals in the mornings. Although I wasn't able to fall asleep until 4am so... Everyone was in church when i woke up so Anna and I came to the Mbale resort for a swim, hot shower, beer and internet. I am here now, sat in the sun a bit, swam a little, and very much looking forward to the hot shower. Very much. I will return to the clinic tomorrow and get back to work. Anna and I are planning a trip to Sipi Falls on Wednesday, so that should be fun! Have a great week everyone and Happy Chanukah!