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{{Expand French|Migrations juives à Madagascar}}{{Short description|Jewish practice and origin myth among Malagasy peoples}}
{{Expand French|Migrations juives à Madagascar}}{{Short description|Jewish practice and origin myth among Malagasy peoples}}
[[File:Les zébus du lagon - 6 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Legends of ancient Jewish ancestry in Madagascar often feature red [[Zebu]]—an adaptation of the [[red heifer]] mentioned in the [[Torah]]|250x250px]]
[[File:Les zébus du lagon - 6 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Legends of ancient Jewish ancestry in Madagascar often feature red [[zebu]]—an adaptation of the [[red heifer]] mentioned in the [[Torah]]|250x250px]]
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
{{History of Madagascar}}
{{History of Madagascar}}
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=== The 'Malagasy secret' ===
=== The 'Malagasy secret' ===
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There is a widespread, centuries-old<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1198t80 |title=Connected Jews: Expressions of Community in Analogue and Digital Culture |date=2018 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-906764-86-9}}</ref> belief in Madagascar that Malagasy people are descended from Jews, with "probably millions" of people in Madagascar claiming genealogical origins in ancient Israel. This belief is termed the 'Malagasy secret', and is so common that some Malagasy refer to their people(s) as the {{Lang|mg|Diaspora Jiosy Gasy}} (Malagasy Jewish Diaspora).<ref>Devir, Natan. "Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement." ''Becoming Jewish'' (2016): 49–63.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Miles |first=William F.S. |date=December 2017 |title=Malagasy Judaism: The ‘who is a Jew?’ conundrum comes to Madagascar |url=https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8322.12391 |journal=Anthropology Today |language=en |volume=33 |issue=6 |pages=7–10 |doi=10.1111/1467-8322.12391 |issn=0268-540X}}</ref> The origin myths, which vary across clans, often include ancestors bearing "red [[zebu]]", a localized adaptation of the biblical [[red heifer]] tradition.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bruder |first=Edith |title=Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa |date=2013-05-01 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780857458933-013/html |work=Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa |pages=196–214 |access-date=2024-01-10 |publisher=Berghahn Books |language=en |doi=10.1515/9780857458933-013 |isbn=978-0-85745-893-3}}</ref> Further belief holds that Madagascar has been settled by Jews since ancient times, and that the island was associated with ancient [[Ophir]].<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (2002) The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson p.203. </ref> These same legends assert that the [[rosewood]] used in the construction of the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple of Solomon]] came from the forests of Madagascar.<ref name=":0" /> Descent from members of this Solomonic fleet is prominently claimed by the [[Merina people|Merina]] and [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] peoples.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Jennings |first=Eric T. |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1057/978-1-137-55967-8 |title=Perspectives on French Colonial Madagascar |date=2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-137-59690-1 |location=New York |language=en |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-55967-8}}</ref> [[Antemoro people|Antemoro]] people claim [[Moses]] as their forebearer. [[Sakalava people|Sakalava]] and [[Antandroy]] people explain certain taboos within their respective cultures as originating with ancient Israelite ancestors. Some Malagasy theories of Jewish provenance suggest ancestral origin in one or more of the [[Ten Lost Tribes|Ten Lost Tribes of Israel]], most commonly [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]], [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]], and [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]]. Another narrative linking ancient Hebrews to Madagascar asserts that Madagascar was the site of the [[Garden of Eden]] (with various island rivers around [[Mananjary]] cited as the true Biblical [[Pishon]]).<ref name=":4">{{Citation |last=Devir |first=Nathan P. |title=First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa: Between Law and Grace in Gabon and Madagascar |date=2022-02-28 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/57308 |work=First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa |access-date=2024-01-10 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004507708 |isbn=978-90-04-50770-8}}</ref> Today, claims of Jewish Malagasy provenance by are substantiated with Similar 'crypto-Jewish' legends exist in neighboring [[Comoros]] and [[Mozambique]].<ref name=":4" />
⚫
[[File:Alakamisy Ambohimaha 1.jpg|thumb|250x250px|The [[Central Highlands (Madagascar)|highlands]] [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] commune of [[Alakamisy Ambohimaha]] is home to a Malagasy-Jewish holy site, where boulders bearing inscriptions are held by believers as artifacts of ancient Solomonic ancestors of the Betsileo people]]
⚫
There is a widespread, centuries-old<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1198t80 |title=Connected Jews: Expressions of Community in Analogue and Digital Culture |date=2018 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-906764-86-9}}</ref> belief in Madagascar that Malagasy people are descended from Jews, with "probably millions" of people in Madagascar claiming genealogical origins in ancient Israel. This belief is termed the 'Malagasy secret', and is so common that some Malagasy refer to their people(s) as the {{Lang|mg|Diaspora Jiosy Gasy}} (Malagasy Jewish Diaspora).<ref>Devir, Natan. "Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement." ''Becoming Jewish'' (2016): 49–63.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Miles |first=William F.S. |date=December 2017 |title=Malagasy Judaism: The ‘who is a Jew?’ conundrum comes to Madagascar |url=https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8322.12391 |journal=Anthropology Today |language=en |volume=33 |issue=6 |pages=7–10 |doi=10.1111/1467-8322.12391 |issn=0268-540X}}</ref> The origin myths, which vary across clans, often include ancestors bearing "red [[Zebu]]", a localized adaptation of the biblical [[red heifer]] tradition.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bruder |first=Edith |title=Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa |date=2013-05-01 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780857458933-013/html |work=Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa |pages=196–214 |access-date=2024-01-10 |publisher=Berghahn Books |language=en |doi=10.1515/9780857458933-013 |isbn=978-0-85745-893-3}}</ref> Further belief holds that Madagascar has been settled by Jews since ancient times, and that the island was associated with ancient [[Ophir]].<ref>Parfitt, Tudor (2002) The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson p.203. </ref> These same legends assert that the [[rosewood]] used in the construction of the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple of Solomon]] came from the forests of Madagascar.<ref name=":0" /> Solomonic descent is prominently claimed by the [[Merina people|Merina]] and [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] peoples, the latter of whom venerate boulders rumored to bear Solomonic inscriptions as a [[holy site]] in the commune of [[Alakamisy Ambohimaha]]. [[Antemoro people|Antemoro]] people claim [[Moses]] as their forebearer. [[Sakalava people|Sakalava]] and [[Antandroy]] people explain certain taboos within their respective cultures as originating with ancient Israelite ancestors. Some Malagasy theories of Jewish provenance suggest ancestral origin in one or more of the [[Ten Lost Tribes|Ten Lost Tribes of Israel]], most commonly [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]], [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]], and [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]]. Another narrative linking ancient Hebrews to Madagascar asserts that Madagascar was the site of the [[Garden of Eden]] (with various island rivers around [[Mananjary]] cited as the true Biblical [[Pishon]]).<ref name=":4" /> Claims of Jewish Malagasy provenance are substantiated with alleged "linguistic similarities; common [[Physiognomy|physiognomic]] traits; alimentary and hygiene [[Fady (taboo)|taboos]]; some sort of [[monotheism]] [with the Malagasy naming [[Zanahary]] as their one, un-picturable God]<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Ferrand |first=Gabriel |date=1905 |title=Les Migrations Musulmanes Et Juives a Madagascar |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23661459 |journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions |volume=52 |pages=381–417 |issn=0035-1423}}</ref>; observance of a [[lunar calendar]]; and life-cycle events resembling those in the Jewish tradition, [[circumcision]] in particular". Similar 'crypto-Jewish' legends exist in neighboring [[Comoros]] and [[Mozambique]].<ref name=":4" />


=== The 'Jewish thesis' and later studies ===
=== The 'Jewish thesis' ===
⚫
[[File:Alakamisy Ambohimaha 1.jpg|thumb|250x250px|The [[Central Highlands (Madagascar)|highlands]] [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] commune of [[Alakamisy Ambohimaha]] is home to ''Ivolamena'', a Malagasy-Jewish holy site where cliffs bearing inscriptions are held by believers as artifacts of ancient Solomonic ancestors of the Betsileo people]]
The British merchant Richard Boothby of the [[East India Company]] posited in 1646 that the people of Madagascar are descended from the Hebrew patriarch [[Abraham]] and his wife [[Keturah]], and were sent away by Abraham to "inhabit the East".<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Fictive Possessions: English Utopian Writing and the Colonial Promotion of Madagascar as the "Greatest Island in the World" (1640 - 1668) |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarath_Jakka_PhD_Thesis_Fictive_Possessions_Moodle_Copy_PDF_Copy.pdf |publisher=University of Kent, University of Porto |date=September 2018 |degree=phd |language=en |first=Sarath Chandra |last=Jakka}}</ref> The naturalist [[Alfred Grandidier|Alfred Grandider]] affirmed evidence of an ancient Israelite migration to Madagascar in 1901, concluding: "The fleets sent by [[Solomon|King Solomon]] towards the Southeast coast of Africa [to procure materials for his Temple] had probably some of their ships lost on the coasts of Madagascar and it is not unlikely that, in ancient times, some Jewish colonies had been founded, voluntarily or not, in this island." Grandider also compared the cultural practices of the Malagasy to those of the ancient Israelites, finding in common thirty-five features including [[animal sacrifice]], [[scapegoating]], similar funerary conventions, and practices comparable to [[Metzitzah b'peh|''metzitzah b'peh'']] and the [[ordeal of the bitter water]].<ref>Grandidier, ''Histoire'', vol. 4, part 1, 96–103, quotation on pp. 405–406.</ref> The British explorer Samuel Copeland argued in 1847 that Malagasy people have “neither customs, traditions, rites, nor ceremonies sufficiently analogous to justify us in assigning their origin to that [Jewish] people."<ref>Samuel Copeland, ''A History of the Island of Madagascar, Comprising a Political Account of the Island, the Religion, Manners, and Customs of Its Inhabitants, and Its Natural Productions'' (London: Burton and Smith, 1822), 56</ref> Contemporary analyses of colonial European theories of Jewish Malagasy origin have noted that "The identification of Levitical customs was an obsession of the missionaries and early European anthropologists."<ref name=":4">{{Citation |last=Devir |first=Nathan P. |title=First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa: Between Law and Grace in Gabon and Madagascar |date=2022-02-28 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/57308 |work=First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa |access-date=2024-01-10 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004507708 |isbn=978-90-04-50770-8}}</ref>
The theory that Malagasy people can trace their ancestry to ancient Jews—termed the 'Jewish thesis'—is asserted in the earliest writings on the question of Malagasy origins, and by the late 19th and early 20th centuries had become a "conviction" of the many European chroniclers of the island.<ref name=":7" /> Common substantiations for the thesis included observations of "linguistic similarities [between [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]]]; common [[Physiognomy|physiognomic]] traits; alimentary and hygiene [[Fady (taboo)|taboos]]; some sort of [[monotheism]] [with the Malagasy naming [[Zanahary]] as their one, un-picturable God]<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Ferrand |first=Gabriel |date=1905 |title=Les Migrations Musulmanes Et Juives a Madagascar |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23661459 |journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions |volume=52 |pages=381–417 |issn=0035-1423}}</ref>; observance of a [[lunar calendar]]; and life-cycle events resembling those in the Jewish tradition, [[circumcision]] in particular".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goedefroit |first=Sophie |last2=Roca |first2=Albert |date=2021 |title=La "plus belle énigme du monde" ne veut pas être résolue. Le besoin de mémoire multiple à Madagascar |url=https://publicacions.antropologia.cat/quaderns/article/view/371 |journal=Quaderns de l'Institut Català d'Antropologia |language=fr |issue=37 (2) |pages=383–406 |doi=10.56247/qua.371 |issn=2385-4472}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> The British merchant Richard Boothby of the [[East India Company]] posited in 1646 that the people of Madagascar are descended from the Hebrew patriarch [[Abraham]] and his wife [[Keturah]], and were sent away by Abraham to "inhabit the East".<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Fictive Possessions: English Utopian Writing and the Colonial Promotion of Madagascar as the "Greatest Island in the World" (1640 - 1668) |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarath_Jakka_PhD_Thesis_Fictive_Possessions_Moodle_Copy_PDF_Copy.pdf |publisher=University of Kent, University of Porto |date=September 2018 |degree=phd |language=en |first=Sarath Chandra |last=Jakka}}</ref> The introduction (credited to Captain William Mackett) of [[Robert Drury (sailor)|Robert Drury]]'s 1729 memoir states that the Malagasy people are of Jewish origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Drury |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Madagascar.html?id=ZcINAAAAQAAJ |title=Madagascar: Or, Robert Drury's Journal, During Fifteen Years Captivity on that Island |date= |publisher=W. Meadows |year=1729 |editor-last=Mackett |editor-first=William |edition=1st |location=London |language=en |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Samuel Copland wrote in 1822 that "The origin of the [Malagasy], is, by the generality of writers, ascribed to the Jews."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Copland |first=Samuel |url=https://www.amazon.com/History-Island-Madagascar-Comprising-Inhabitants/dp/1120252172 |title=A History Of The Island Of Madagascar: Comprising A Political Account Of The Island, The Religion, Manners, And Customs Of Its Inhabitants |date=2009-09-24 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-120-25217-3 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jews and Madagascar |url=https://premium.globalsecurity.org/military/world/africa/madagascar-jews.htm?ezoic_amp=1 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=premium.globalsecurity.org}}</ref> The naturalist [[Alfred Grandidier|Alfred Grandider]] affirmed supposed evidence of an ancient Israelite migration to Madagascar in 1901, concluding: "The fleets sent by [[Solomon|King Solomon]] towards the Southeast coast of Africa [to procure materials for his Temple] had probably some of their ships lost on the coasts of Madagascar and it is not unlikely that, in ancient times, some Jewish colonies had been founded, voluntarily or not, in this island." Grandider also compared the cultural practices of the Malagasy to those of the ancient Israelites, finding in common thirty-five features including [[animal sacrifice]], [[scapegoating]], similar funerary conventions, and practices comparable to [[Metzitzah b'peh|''metzitzah b'peh'']] and the [[ordeal of the bitter water]].<ref>Grandidier, ''Histoire'', vol. 4, part 1, 96–103, quotation on pp. 405–406.</ref>


The British explorer Samuel Copeland argued in 1847 that Malagasy people have “neither customs, traditions, rites, nor ceremonies sufficiently analogous to justify us in assigning their origin to that [Jewish] people."<ref>Samuel Copeland, ''A History of the Island of Madagascar, Comprising a Political Account of the Island, the Religion, Manners, and Customs of Its Inhabitants, and Its Natural Productions'' (London: Burton and Smith, 1822), 56</ref> Contemporary analyses of colonial European theories of Jewish Malagasy origin have noted that "the identification of Levitical customs was an obsession of the missionaries and early European anthropologists,"<ref name=":4" /> and that "squaring the Bible’s assertion of universality and shared descent from Noah’s three sons with the realities of global diversity was [...] a central preoccupation of generations of ecclesiasts and Christian voyagers."<ref name=":7" />
There is a linguistic link between surnames of the [[Central Highlands (Madagascar)|Central Highlands]] of Madagascar and certain Hebrew surnames.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goedefroit |first=Sophie |last2=Roca |first2=Albert |date=2021 |title=La "plus belle énigme du monde" ne veut pas être résolue. Le besoin de mémoire multiple à Madagascar |url=https://publicacions.antropologia.cat/quaderns/article/view/371 |journal=Quaderns de l'Institut Català d'Antropologia |language=fr |issue=37 (2) |pages=383–406 |doi=10.56247/qua.371 |issn=2385-4472}}</ref>{{Explain|date=January 2024}}


=== Alakamisy Ambohimaha ===
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No genetic testing has been done on specific Malagasy populations to corroborate claims of Jewish phylogenetic heritage. Genetic and linguistic studies that inquire broadly about [[History of Madagascar#First inhabitants and settlements (500 BCE–700 CE)|Malagasy origins]] generally point to [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] settlement.<ref name=":4" />
A site called ''Ivolamena'' in [[Alakamisy Ambohimaha]] contains cliffs that were studied in the 1950s by a team of French researchers following "rumors in the region of [[Fianarantsoa]] about the existence of letters carved in stone".<ref name=":7" /><ref>“Sensationnelle découverte d’inscriptions rupestres,” Tana Journal July 17, 1953.</ref> They described an inscription on the cliff-face "imputable to characters derived from the [[Phoenician alphabet]] with a high probability that the [glyphs] emanate from the family of southern-Arabic [glyphs] called [[Sabaic|Sabaean]]." The team also hypothesized, based on commonalities between [[Sabaeans|Sabaean]] and Malagasy [[irrigation]] techniques, that '[[Hamito-Semitic|Hamito-Semites]]' may have been the first to bring zebu cattle to Madagascar. Another nearby site, ''Vohisoratra'' (meaning 'the mountain with writings'), was reported to bear "an inscription calling to mind [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew characters]]." The researchers had received tips from a Malagasy informant, who suggested that the ''Vohisoratra'' inscriptions might be dated "to the time of king Solomon, who sent the Israelites across the world to seek precious stones for the building of Jerusalem".<ref name=":7" /> In 1962, Pierre Vérin summarized scientific opinions of the inscriptions as "divided", and asserted that geologists consider the supposed inscriptions to be the products of "natural erosion".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vérin |first=Pierre |date=1962 |title=Rétrospective et Problèmes de l'Archéologie à Madagascar |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42928938 |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=6 |issue=1/2 |pages=198–218 |issn=0066-8435}}</ref>


The ''Ivolamena'' and ''Vohisoratra'' sites are today revered as a supernatural holy site by Betsileo claimants of ancient Israelite ancestry, who believe that both cliffs' inscriptions were left by their forebearers during a voyage to gather materials for Solomon's Temple during which they married the locals of a legendary 'Zafindrandoto' tribe and settled to found the earliest Betsileo communities.<ref name=":4" /> A January 1989 speech by then-president of Madagascar [[Didier Ratsiraka]] made reference to the local beliefs surrounding the Ambohimaha cliff, which he claimed bore "[[Proto-Hebrew|proto-Hebraïc]]" writings. Ratsiraka also reportedly requested that teams of Malagasy archaeologists investigate the question of Madagascar's Jewish roots and conduct digs in the Betsileo region to search for the biblical [[Queen of Sheba]]'s treasure.<ref name=":7" /> In 2009, residents of Alakamisy Ambohimaha threatened adherents of "Hebraic Judaism" who had come to the cliffs and sacrificed two lambs, one black and one white, despite the local ''[[Fady (taboo)|fady]]'' (taboo) against slaughtering sheep. The Betsileo locals called for the government to recognize the commune as a sacred site of historical heritage, and protect it accordingly.<ref>{{Cite web |last=maitso |date=2010-05-12 |title=Le &quot;rocher qui parle&quot; à Alakamisy-Ambohimaha Fianarantsoa MADAGASCAR |url=http://maitso.over-blog.com/article-le-rocher-qui-parle-a-alakamisy-ambohimaha-fianarantsoa-madagascar-50291238.html |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Mystères et conspirations |language=fr}}</ref>
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Nathan Devir judged the possibility of Malagasy racial descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes to be "unlikely but possible," given the body of genetic research on Malagasy origins.<ref name=":6" />

=== Genetic investigations ===
⚫
No genetic testing has been done on specific Malagasy populations to corroborate claims of Jewish phylogenetic heritage. Genetic and linguistic studies that inquire broadly about [[History of Madagascar#First inhabitants and settlements (500 BCE–700 CE)|Malagasy origins]] generally point to [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] settlement as the earliest human presence on the island, followed by waves of migration from other regions including [[East Africa]].<ref name=":4" />

⚫
Nathan Devir judged the possibility of Malagasy racial descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes to be "unlikely but possible" given the body of genetic research on Malagasy origins.<ref name=":6" />


== Jewish communities in Madagascar ==
== Jewish communities in Madagascar ==


=== Zafy Ibrahim ===
=== Zafy Ibrahim ===
17th century French governor [[Étienne de Flacourt]] reported of a group called the '''Zafy Ibrahim''' in the vicinity of the island of [[Nosy Boraha]] (a name meaning ''the Island of Abraham'') who were of Jewish identity and descent. The 500-600 people constituting the group were described in de Flacourt's account as being unfamiliar with [[Muhammad]] (considering his followers to be "lawless men"), celebrating and resting on Saturdays (unlike members of the island's Muslim population, who rested on Fridays), and bearing [[Hebrew name|Hebrew names]] like Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel<ref name=":3" /> and Noah. The group collectively maintained a monopoly on religious animal sacrifice.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Graeber |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoNrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT47 |title=Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia |date=2023-01-24 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-61020-3 |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref> The Zafy Ibrahim have been theorized variously to be [[Yemenite Jews]], [[Kharijites|Khajirites]], [[Qarmatians|Qarmatian]] [[Isma'ilism|Ismaili]] [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], [[Copts|Coptic]] or [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christians]], and [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arabs]] coming from [[Ethiopia]]. In 1880, James Sibree published an account of the Zafy Ibrahim in [[Ambohipeno]], quoting one in affirmation: "we are altogether Jews".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graeber |first=David |title=Pirate enlightenment, or the real libertalia |date=2023 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-61019-7 |edition=First American |location=New York}}</ref> By the colonial period, Zafy Ibrahim began to identify themselves as Arabs and integrate into the [[Betsimisaraka people]], and today the people of Nosy Boraha call themselves Arabs.<ref name=":1" /> An 1888 report describes the Zafy Ibrahim's Hebraic rites and observances as "only a remote vibration of Judeo-Arabic influence." <ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28343985 |title=PASEUDO-JEWS. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=15,682 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 June 1888 |accessdate=10 January 2024 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
17th century French colonial governor [[Étienne de Flacourt]] reported of a group called the '''Zafy Ibrahim''', whom he'd encountered between 1648 and 1644 in the vicinity of the island of [[Nosy Boraha]], who were of Jewish identity and descent.<ref name=":7" /> The 500-600 people constituting the group were described in de Flacourt's account as being unfamiliar with [[Muhammad]] (considering his followers to be "lawless men"), celebrating and resting on Saturdays (unlike members of the island's Muslim population, who rested on Fridays), and bearing [[Hebrew name|Hebrew names]] like Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel<ref name=":3" /> and Noah. The group collectively maintained a monopoly on religious animal sacrifice.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Graeber |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoNrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT47 |title=Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia |date=2023-01-24 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-61020-3 |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref> The Zafy Ibrahim have been theorized variously to be [[Yemenite Jews]], [[Kharijites|Khajirites]], [[Qarmatians|Qarmatian]] [[Isma'ilism|Ismaili]] [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], [[Copts|Coptic]] or [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christians]], and [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arabs]] coming from [[Ethiopia]]. In 1880, James Sibree published an account of the Zafy Ibrahim in [[Ambohipeno]], quoting one in affirmation: "we are altogether Jews".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graeber |first=David |title=Pirate enlightenment, or the real libertalia |date=2023 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-61019-7 |edition=First American |location=New York}}</ref> An 1888 report described the Zafy Ibrahim's Hebraic rites and observances as "only a remote vibration of Judeo-Arabic influence." <ref>{{cite news |date=28 June 1888 |title=PASEUDO-JEWS. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28343985 |accessdate=10 January 2024 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |issue=15,682}}</ref> By the [[French Madagascar|French colonial period]], Zafy Ibrahim began to identify themselves as Arabs and integrate into the [[Betsimisaraka people]], and the people of Nosy Boraha today call themselves 'Arabs'.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Madagascar-Musicien malgache.jpg|thumb|Malagasy people with a [[valiha]], an indigenous musical instrument believed by many Malagasy to have been inherited from [[David|King David]]]]
[[File:Madagascar-Musicien malgache.jpg|thumb|Malagasy people with a [[valiha]], an indigenous musical instrument believed by many Malagasy to have been inherited from [[David|King David]]]]


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==== ''Communauté Juive de Madagascar'' ====
==== ''Communauté Juive de Madagascar'' ====
The country is home to a small normative Jewish Malagasy population (in addition to a greater number of Jewish-identifying practitioners of syncretic combinations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and traditional ancestor-worship and animism, including the 2,000 members of the roughly twelve [[Messianic Judaism|Messianic Jewish]] congregations in Madagascar, which syncretically incorporate Judaic elements into Christian belief),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kestenbaum |first=Sam |title='Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar |url=https://forward.com/news/341106/joining-fabric-of-world-jewish-community-100-convert-on-african-island-of-m/ |access-date=2018-09-26 |work=The Forward}}</ref> and there is a small trickle of [[aliyah]] to Israel from Madagascar.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} The community of "a couple hundred" Malagasy Jews in Antananarivo arrived at [[rabbinic Judaism]] in 2010 as the result of three regional Messianic Jewish groups splintering off and studying the Torah.<ref name="JTAMAD2">{{cite web |last1=Josefson |first1=Deborah |date=5 June 2016 |title=In remote Madagascar, a new community chooses to be Jewish |url=http://www.jta.org/2016/06/05/news-opinion/world/in-remote-madagascar-a-new-community-chooses-to-be-jewish |access-date=24 March 2017 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-26 |title=The secrets of the Malagasy Jews of Madagascar |url=https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/the-malagasy-secret-415164 |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The state recognized the unified rabbinic Jewish organization in 2012 as the formal {{Lang|fr|Communauté Juive de Madagascar}} (Jewish Community of Madagascar). In 2013, group members came in contact with a [[Jewish outreach]] group, who helped the community to organize a group [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] conversion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kestenbaum |first=Sam |title='Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar |url=https://forward.com/news/341106/joining-fabric-of-world-jewish-community-100-convert-on-african-island-of-m/ |access-date=2018-09-26 |work=The Forward}}</ref> Some members of this community were reportedly hesitant to convert to [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodoxy]] because they believed themselves to already be Jewish.<ref name=":0" /><ref>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/Madagascar/ US State Dept 2022 report]</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Dolsten |first=Josefin |date=7 December 2016 |title=In Madagascar, ‘world’s newest Jewish community’ seeks roots |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-madagascar-worlds-newest-jewish-community-seeks-roots/ |website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> Nathan Devir interpreted the Malagasy view of Judaism—which considers it an inherited parentage to be enacted through religious practice—as being "out of step" with the traditional notion of conversion. He reports that in 2013, some Malagasy Jews opposed to the prospect of conversion "[saw] their 'Jewish blood' as precluding the need for any formal conversion process."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Devir |first=Nathan |title=Becoming Jewish: new Jews and emerging Jewish communities in a globalised world |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9965-9 |editor-last=Parfitt |editor-first=Tudor |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |pages=49-63 |chapter=Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement |editor-last2=Fisher |editor-first2=Netanʾel}}</ref> In May 2016, after five years of self-study of Judaism, 121 members of the Malagasy Jewish community were converted in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals; appearing before a [[beit din]] and submerged in a river [[mikvah]]. The conversion, presided over by three Orthodox rabbis, was followed by fourteen weddings.<ref name="JTAMAD2" /> The group prays in [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardic-accented Hebrew]] and practices a Sephardic-style liturgy.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="JTAMAD2" />
The country is home to a small normative Jewish Malagasy population (in addition to a greater number of Jewish-identifying practitioners of syncretic combinations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and traditional ancestor-worship and animism, including the 2,000 members of the roughly twelve [[Messianic Judaism|Messianic Jewish]] congregations in Madagascar, which syncretically incorporate Judaic elements into Christian belief),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kestenbaum |first=Sam |title='Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar |url=https://forward.com/news/341106/joining-fabric-of-world-jewish-community-100-convert-on-african-island-of-m/ |access-date=2018-09-26 |work=The Forward}}</ref> and there is a small trickle of [[aliyah]] to Israel from Madagascar.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} The community of "a couple hundred" Malagasy Jews in Antananarivo arrived at [[rabbinic Judaism]] in 2010 as the result of three regional Messianic Jewish groups splintering off and studying the Torah.<ref name="JTAMAD2">{{cite web |last1=Josefson |first1=Deborah |date=5 June 2016 |title=In remote Madagascar, a new community chooses to be Jewish |url=http://www.jta.org/2016/06/05/news-opinion/world/in-remote-madagascar-a-new-community-chooses-to-be-jewish |access-date=24 March 2017 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-26 |title=The secrets of the Malagasy Jews of Madagascar |url=https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/the-malagasy-secret-415164 |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The state recognized the unified rabbinic Jewish organization in 2012 as the formal {{Lang|fr|Communauté Juive de Madagascar}} (Jewish Community of Madagascar).
===== Conversion =====
In 2013, group members came in contact with a [[Jewish outreach]] group, who helped the community to organize a group [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] conversion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kestenbaum |first=Sam |title='Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar |url=https://forward.com/news/341106/joining-fabric-of-world-jewish-community-100-convert-on-african-island-of-m/ |access-date=2018-09-26 |work=The Forward}}</ref> Some members of this community were reportedly hesitant to convert to [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodoxy]] because they understood themselves to already be ethnically Jewish.<ref name=":0" /><ref>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/Madagascar/ US State Dept 2022 report]</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Dolsten |first=Josefin |date=7 December 2016 |title=In Madagascar, ‘world’s newest Jewish community’ seeks roots |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-madagascar-worlds-newest-jewish-community-seeks-roots/ |website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> Nathan Devir interpreted the Malagasy view of Judaism—which considers it an inherited parentage to be enacted through religious practice—as being "out of step" with the traditional notion of conversion. He reports that in 2013, some Malagasy Jews opposed to the prospect of conversion "[saw] their 'Jewish blood' as precluding the need for any formal conversion process."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Devir |first=Nathan |title=Becoming Jewish: new Jews and emerging Jewish communities in a globalised world |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9965-9 |editor-last=Parfitt |editor-first=Tudor |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |pages=49-63 |chapter=Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement |editor-last2=Fisher |editor-first2=Netanʾel}}</ref> In May 2016, after five years of self-study of Judaism, 121 members of the Malagasy Jewish community were converted in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals; appearing before a [[beit din]] and submerged in a river [[mikvah]]. Because the local Parks Department denied the ''Communauté''<nowiki/>'s request to build a temporary structure in which to change (with mikvah baths traditionally requiring complete nudity), the ritual occurred at a river far from town, and the converts built a tent from tarp and wood to protect their privacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayyim |first=Mayyim |date=2016-07-20 |title=Mikveh Moments in Madagascar: Immersion and Conversion on the Other Side of the World |url=https://www.mayyimhayyim.org/mikveh-moments-in-madagascar-immersion-and-conversion-on-the-other-side-of-the-world/ |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Mayyim Hayyim |language=en-US}}</ref> The conversion, presided over by three Orthodox rabbis, was followed by fourteen weddings.<ref name="JTAMAD2" /> The group prays in [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sephardic-accented Hebrew]] and practices a Sephardic-style liturgy.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="JTAMAD2" />


Nathan Devir analyzes Malagasy Judaic adherence in context of the ancestor-honoring traditions of Madagascar's culture, writing that for Madagascar's new Jews, "the imperative to live Jewishly is a way to honour the ancestors more truly and efficiently." He also notes that Malagasy Jews reject the ancestor-venerating funerary practice of [[Famadihana|''famadihana'']] because it is effectively prohibited by [[Bereavement in Judaism#Burial|Jewish burial custom]].<ref name=":4" />
Nathan Devir analyzes Malagasy Judaic adherence in context of the ancestor-honoring traditions of Madagascar's culture, writing that for Madagascar's new Jews, "the imperative to live Jewishly is a way to honour the ancestors more truly and efficiently." He also notes that Malagasy Jews reject the ancestor-venerating funerary practice of [[Famadihana|''famadihana'']] because it is effectively prohibited by [[Bereavement in Judaism#Burial|Jewish burial custom]].<ref name=":4" />

Revision as of 06:38, 13 January 2024

Legends of ancient Jewish ancestry in Madagascar often feature red zebu—an adaptation of the red heifer mentioned in the Torah
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History of Madagascar
INSULA LAVRENTII, Vulgo MADAGASCAR

Madagascar has a small Jewish population, but the island has not historically been a significant center for Jewish settlement. Despite this, an enduring origin myth across Malagasy ethnic groups suggests that the island's inhabitants descended from ancient Jews, and thus that the modern Malagasy and Jewish peoples share a racial affinity. This belief, termed the 'Malagasy secret', is so widespread that some Malagasy refer to the island's people as the Diaspora Jiosy Gasy (Malagasy Jewish Diaspora). As a result, Jewish symbols, paraphernalia, and teachings have been integrated into the syncretistic Christian practices of some Malagasy populations. Accounts of Jews in Madagascar go back to the earliest ethnographic descriptions of the island, from the mid-17th century.

Theories of Jewish origin of Malagasy people

The 'Malagasy secret'

There is a widespread, centuries-old[1] belief in Madagascar that Malagasy people are descended from Jews, with "probably millions" of people in Madagascar claiming genealogical origins in ancient Israel. This belief is termed the 'Malagasy secret', and is so common that some Malagasy refer to their people(s) as the Diaspora Jiosy Gasy (Malagasy Jewish Diaspora).[2][3] The origin myths, which vary across clans, often include ancestors bearing "red zebu", a localized adaptation of the biblical red heifer tradition.[4] Further belief holds that Madagascar has been settled by Jews since ancient times, and that the island was associated with ancient Ophir.[5] These same legends assert that the rosewood used in the construction of the Temple of Solomon came from the forests of Madagascar.[3] Descent from members of this Solomonic fleet is prominently claimed by the Merina and Betsileo peoples.[6] Antemoro people claim Moses as their forebearer. Sakalava and Antandroy people explain certain taboos within their respective cultures as originating with ancient Israelite ancestors. Some Malagasy theories of Jewish provenance suggest ancestral origin in one or more of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, most commonly Gad, Issachar, Dan, and Asher. Another narrative linking ancient Hebrews to Madagascar asserts that Madagascar was the site of the Garden of Eden (with various island rivers around Mananjary cited as the true Biblical Pishon).[7] Today, claims of Jewish Malagasy provenance by are substantiated with Similar 'crypto-Jewish' legends exist in neighboring Comoros and Mozambique.[7]

The 'Jewish thesis'

The highlands Betsileo commune of Alakamisy Ambohimaha is home to Ivolamena, a Malagasy-Jewish holy site where cliffs bearing inscriptions are held by believers as artifacts of ancient Solomonic ancestors of the Betsileo people

The theory that Malagasy people can trace their ancestry to ancient Jews—termed the 'Jewish thesis'—is asserted in the earliest writings on the question of Malagasy origins, and by the late 19th and early 20th centuries had become a "conviction" of the many European chroniclers of the island.[6] Common substantiations for the thesis included observations of "linguistic similarities [between Hebrew and Malagasy]; common physiognomic traits; alimentary and hygiene taboos; some sort of monotheism [with the Malagasy naming Zanahary as their one, un-picturable God][8]; observance of a lunar calendar; and life-cycle events resembling those in the Jewish tradition, circumcision in particular".[9][6] The British merchant Richard Boothby of the East India Company posited in 1646 that the people of Madagascar are descended from the Hebrew patriarch Abraham and his wife Keturah, and were sent away by Abraham to "inhabit the East".[10] The introduction (credited to Captain William Mackett) of Robert Drury's 1729 memoir states that the Malagasy people are of Jewish origin.[11] Samuel Copland wrote in 1822 that "The origin of the [Malagasy], is, by the generality of writers, ascribed to the Jews."[12][13] The naturalist Alfred Grandider affirmed supposed evidence of an ancient Israelite migration to Madagascar in 1901, concluding: "The fleets sent by King Solomon towards the Southeast coast of Africa [to procure materials for his Temple] had probably some of their ships lost on the coasts of Madagascar and it is not unlikely that, in ancient times, some Jewish colonies had been founded, voluntarily or not, in this island." Grandider also compared the cultural practices of the Malagasy to those of the ancient Israelites, finding in common thirty-five features including animal sacrifice, scapegoating, similar funerary conventions, and practices comparable to metzitzah b'peh and the ordeal of the bitter water.[14]

The British explorer Samuel Copeland argued in 1847 that Malagasy people have “neither customs, traditions, rites, nor ceremonies sufficiently analogous to justify us in assigning their origin to that [Jewish] people."[15] Contemporary analyses of colonial European theories of Jewish Malagasy origin have noted that "the identification of Levitical customs was an obsession of the missionaries and early European anthropologists,"[7] and that "squaring the Bible’s assertion of universality and shared descent from Noah’s three sons with the realities of global diversity was [...] a central preoccupation of generations of ecclesiasts and Christian voyagers."[6]

Alakamisy Ambohimaha

A site called Ivolamena in Alakamisy Ambohimaha contains cliffs that were studied in the 1950s by a team of French researchers following "rumors in the region of Fianarantsoa about the existence of letters carved in stone".[6][16] They described an inscription on the cliff-face "imputable to characters derived from the Phoenician alphabet with a high probability that the [glyphs] emanate from the family of southern-Arabic [glyphs] called Sabaean." The team also hypothesized, based on commonalities between Sabaean and Malagasy irrigation techniques, that 'Hamito-Semites' may have been the first to bring zebu cattle to Madagascar. Another nearby site, Vohisoratra (meaning 'the mountain with writings'), was reported to bear "an inscription calling to mind Hebrew characters." The researchers had received tips from a Malagasy informant, who suggested that the Vohisoratra inscriptions might be dated "to the time of king Solomon, who sent the Israelites across the world to seek precious stones for the building of Jerusalem".[6] In 1962, Pierre Vérin summarized scientific opinions of the inscriptions as "divided", and asserted that geologists consider the supposed inscriptions to be the products of "natural erosion".[17]

The Ivolamena and Vohisoratra sites are today revered as a supernatural holy site by Betsileo claimants of ancient Israelite ancestry, who believe that both cliffs' inscriptions were left by their forebearers during a voyage to gather materials for Solomon's Temple during which they married the locals of a legendary 'Zafindrandoto' tribe and settled to found the earliest Betsileo communities.[7] A January 1989 speech by then-president of Madagascar Didier Ratsiraka made reference to the local beliefs surrounding the Ambohimaha cliff, which he claimed bore "proto-Hebraïc" writings. Ratsiraka also reportedly requested that teams of Malagasy archaeologists investigate the question of Madagascar's Jewish roots and conduct digs in the Betsileo region to search for the biblical Queen of Sheba's treasure.[6] In 2009, residents of Alakamisy Ambohimaha threatened adherents of "Hebraic Judaism" who had come to the cliffs and sacrificed two lambs, one black and one white, despite the local fady (taboo) against slaughtering sheep. The Betsileo locals called for the government to recognize the commune as a sacred site of historical heritage, and protect it accordingly.[18]

Genetic investigations

No genetic testing has been done on specific Malagasy populations to corroborate claims of Jewish phylogenetic heritage. Genetic and linguistic studies that inquire broadly about Malagasy origins generally point to Austronesian settlement as the earliest human presence on the island, followed by waves of migration from other regions including East Africa.[7]

Nathan Devir judged the possibility of Malagasy racial descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes to be "unlikely but possible" given the body of genetic research on Malagasy origins.[19]

Jewish communities in Madagascar

Zafy Ibrahim

17th century French colonial governor Étienne de Flacourt reported of a group called the Zafy Ibrahim, whom he'd encountered between 1648 and 1644 in the vicinity of the island of Nosy Boraha, who were of Jewish identity and descent.[6] The 500-600 people constituting the group were described in de Flacourt's account as being unfamiliar with Muhammad (considering his followers to be "lawless men"), celebrating and resting on Saturdays (unlike members of the island's Muslim population, who rested on Fridays), and bearing Hebrew names like Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel[8] and Noah. The group collectively maintained a monopoly on religious animal sacrifice.[20] The Zafy Ibrahim have been theorized variously to be Yemenite Jews, Khajirites, Qarmatian Ismaili Gnostics, Coptic or Nestorian Christians, and pre-Islamic Arabs coming from Ethiopia. In 1880, James Sibree published an account of the Zafy Ibrahim in Ambohipeno, quoting one in affirmation: "we are altogether Jews".[21] An 1888 report described the Zafy Ibrahim's Hebraic rites and observances as "only a remote vibration of Judeo-Arabic influence." [22] By the French colonial period, Zafy Ibrahim began to identify themselves as Arabs and integrate into the Betsimisaraka people, and the people of Nosy Boraha today call themselves 'Arabs'.[20]

Malagasy people with a valiha, an indigenous musical instrument believed by many Malagasy to have been inherited from King David

Extant Jewish communities

After France colonized the island and Europeans began settling there in the 19th century, a small number of Jewish families settled in Madagascar, but did not establish a Jewish community.[citation needed]

Communauté Juive de Madagascar

The country is home to a small normative Jewish Malagasy population (in addition to a greater number of Jewish-identifying practitioners of syncretic combinations of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and traditional ancestor-worship and animism, including the 2,000 members of the roughly twelve Messianic Jewish congregations in Madagascar, which syncretically incorporate Judaic elements into Christian belief),[3][23] and there is a small trickle of aliyah to Israel from Madagascar.[citation needed] The community of "a couple hundred" Malagasy Jews in Antananarivo arrived at rabbinic Judaism in 2010 as the result of three regional Messianic Jewish groups splintering off and studying the Torah.[24][25] The state recognized the unified rabbinic Jewish organization in 2012 as the formal Communauté Juive de Madagascar (Jewish Community of Madagascar).

Conversion

In 2013, group members came in contact with a Jewish outreach group, who helped the community to organize a group Orthodox conversion.[26] Some members of this community were reportedly hesitant to convert to Orthodoxy because they understood themselves to already be ethnically Jewish.[3][27][19] Nathan Devir interpreted the Malagasy view of Judaism—which considers it an inherited parentage to be enacted through religious practice—as being "out of step" with the traditional notion of conversion. He reports that in 2013, some Malagasy Jews opposed to the prospect of conversion "[saw] their 'Jewish blood' as precluding the need for any formal conversion process."[28] In May 2016, after five years of self-study of Judaism, 121 members of the Malagasy Jewish community were converted in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals; appearing before a beit din and submerged in a river mikvah. Because the local Parks Department denied the Communauté's request to build a temporary structure in which to change (with mikvah baths traditionally requiring complete nudity), the ritual occurred at a river far from town, and the converts built a tent from tarp and wood to protect their privacy.[29] The conversion, presided over by three Orthodox rabbis, was followed by fourteen weddings.[24] The group prays in Sephardic-accented Hebrew and practices a Sephardic-style liturgy.[7][24]

Nathan Devir analyzes Malagasy Judaic adherence in context of the ancestor-honoring traditions of Madagascar's culture, writing that for Madagascar's new Jews, "the imperative to live Jewishly is a way to honour the ancestors more truly and efficiently." He also notes that Malagasy Jews reject the ancestor-venerating funerary practice of famadihana because it is effectively prohibited by Jewish burial custom.[7]

Members of the Communauté Juive de Madagascar reported antisemitic discrimination following their conversion: some private schools refused to register Jewish children after learning of their religious affiliation, and one landlord cancelled a lease contract after learning that the rental house was going to be used as a Jewish religious school. Members of the community also reported "unwelcome attention" and comments for their religious attire.[30]

Aaronites

William F.S. Miles documents various Malagasy religious communities claiming Jewish lineage, including a robe-wearing, animal-sacrificing "Aaronite" sect in the village of Mananzara, who assert that their Jewish ancestors, among whom they count Aaron, brother of Moses, were swept to Madagascar in the deluge of Genesis. The Jewish identity of Mananzara villagers is also expressed in the logo of their elected leader, which features a six-pointed Star of David alongside a Malagasy valiha (which many Malagasy claim are inherited from King David).[7] Miles also documents a group of contemporary "kings and scribes" in Vatumasina, who claim descendance from an Arabized Jewish figure named Ali Ben Forah, or Alitawarat (Ali of the Torah), who came to Madagascar from Mecca in the 15th century.[31][3] Nathan Devir describes Merina traditionalist groups, among them the Loharanom-Pitahiana (the Source of the Blessing) of Ambohimiadana, who are identified with rabbinic and Messianic Jewish communities on the island but do not feel a need to align their religion, which they prefer to call 'Hebraic religion' or 'Aaronism', with the norms of rabbinic Judaism, which they regard as a later and somewhat strayed derivation from the ancient Israelite creed inherited by the Merina. They reject the Talmud, Kabbalah, and other post-biblical texts, and have "politely declined" invitations to integrate into the Communauté Juive de Madagascar.[7]

Foreign affairs

In the summer of 1940, the Madagascar Plan was proposed by the Nazis, under which 4 million European Jews would be forcibly relocated to the island. The plan ultimately became unfeasible, and was scrapped.[citation needed]

When Madagascar gained independence as the Malagasy Republic in 1960, Israel was one of the first countries to recognize its independence and send an ambassador. Relations between both countries are close and friendly.[citation needed] Malagasy politician Raherimasoandro "Hery" Andriamamonjy reported that relations between Madagascar and Israel soured following the United Nations' adoption of General Assembly Resolution 3379, which contended that Zionism is a form of racism. Following the resolution's adoption, Andriamamonjy said, Madagascar had "jumped on the anti-Israel bandwagon". In 1992, Andriamamonjy founded Club Shalom Madagascar, an organization liaising diplomatic, cultural, and commercial relations between the two countries.[31] Bilateral relations were restored in 1994.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Connected Jews: Expressions of Community in Analogue and Digital Culture. Liverpool University Press. 2018. ISBN 978-1-906764-86-9.
  2. ^ Devir, Natan. "Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement." Becoming Jewish (2016): 49–63.
  3. ^ a b c d e Miles, William F.S. (December 2017). "Malagasy Judaism: The 'who is a Jew?' conundrum comes to Madagascar". Anthropology Today. 33 (6): 7–10. doi:10.1111/1467-8322.12391. ISSN 0268-540X.
  4. ^ Bruder, Edith (2013-05-01), "Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa", Chapter 10. The Descendants of David of Madagascar: Crypto-Judaism in Twentieth-Century Africa, Berghahn Books, pp. 196–214, doi:10.1515/9780857458933-013, ISBN 978-0-85745-893-3, retrieved 2024-01-10
  5. ^ Parfitt, Tudor (2002) The Lost Tribes of Israel: the History of a Myth. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson p.203.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Jennings, Eric T. (2017). Perspectives on French Colonial Madagascar. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-55967-8. ISBN 978-1-137-59690-1.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devir, Nathan P. (2022-02-28), "First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa: Between Law and Grace in Gabon and Madagascar", First-Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa, Brill, doi:10.1163/9789004507708, ISBN 978-90-04-50770-8, retrieved 2024-01-10
  8. ^ a b Ferrand, Gabriel (1905). "Les Migrations Musulmanes Et Juives a Madagascar". Revue de l'histoire des religions. 52: 381–417. ISSN 0035-1423.
  9. ^ Goedefroit, Sophie; Roca, Albert (2021). "La "plus belle énigme du monde" ne veut pas être résolue. Le besoin de mémoire multiple à Madagascar". Quaderns de l'Institut Català d'Antropologia (in French) (37 (2)): 383–406. doi:10.56247/qua.371. ISSN 2385-4472.
  10. ^ Jakka, Sarath Chandra (September 2018). Fictive Possessions: English Utopian Writing and the Colonial Promotion of Madagascar as the "Greatest Island in the World" (1640 - 1668) (PDF) (phd thesis). University of Kent, University of Porto.
  11. ^ Drury, Robert (1729). "Introduction". In Mackett, William (ed.). Madagascar: Or, Robert Drury's Journal, During Fifteen Years Captivity on that Island (1st ed.). London: W. Meadows.
  12. ^ Copland, Samuel (2009-09-24). A History Of The Island Of Madagascar: Comprising A Political Account Of The Island, The Religion, Manners, And Customs Of Its Inhabitants. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1-120-25217-3.
  13. ^ "Jews and Madagascar". premium.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  14. ^ Grandidier, Histoire, vol. 4, part 1, 96–103, quotation on pp. 405–406.
  15. ^ Samuel Copeland, A History of the Island of Madagascar, Comprising a Political Account of the Island, the Religion, Manners, and Customs of Its Inhabitants, and Its Natural Productions (London: Burton and Smith, 1822), 56
  16. ^ “Sensationnelle découverte d’inscriptions rupestres,” Tana Journal July 17, 1953.
  17. ^ Vérin, Pierre (1962). "Rétrospective et Problèmes de l'Archéologie à Madagascar". Asian Perspectives. 6 (1/2): 198–218. ISSN 0066-8435.
  18. ^ maitso (2010-05-12). "Le "rocher qui parle" à Alakamisy-Ambohimaha Fianarantsoa MADAGASCAR". Mystères et conspirations (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  19. ^ a b Dolsten, Josefin (7 December 2016). "In Madagascar, 'world's newest Jewish community' seeks roots". The Times of Israel.
  20. ^ a b Graeber, David (2023-01-24). Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-374-61020-3.
  21. ^ Graeber, David (2023). Pirate enlightenment, or the real libertalia (First American ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-61019-7.
  22. ^ "PASEUDO-JEWS". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 15, 682. New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1888. p. 11. Retrieved 10 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ^ Kestenbaum, Sam. "'Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar". The Forward. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  24. ^ a b c Josefson, Deborah (5 June 2016). "In remote Madagascar, a new community chooses to be Jewish". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  25. ^ "The secrets of the Malagasy Jews of Madagascar". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  26. ^ Kestenbaum, Sam. "'Joining Fabric of World Jewish Community,' 100 Convert on African Island of Madagascar". The Forward. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  27. ^ US State Dept 2022 report
  28. ^ Devir, Nathan (2016). "Origins and Motivations of Madagascar's Normative Jewish Movement". In Parfitt, Tudor; Fisher, Netanʾel (eds.). Becoming Jewish: new Jews and emerging Jewish communities in a globalised world. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 49–63. ISBN 978-1-4438-9965-9.
  29. ^ Hayyim, Mayyim (2016-07-20). "Mikveh Moments in Madagascar: Immersion and Conversion on the Other Side of the World". Mayyim Hayyim. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  30. ^ "Madagascar". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
  31. ^ a b Weisfield, Cynthia. "Madagascar Groups Seek Closer Jewish Ties". Kulanu. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
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