Violence in Eastern Congo is our problem

Published on December 5, 2012

We’re staring down the barrel of another full-scale war in Congo. The M23 rebellion, launched in March 2012, last week stormed and seized Goma, a crucial town in eastern Congo.

New violence in the Congo: Having a conscience means working overtime

Published on November 21, 2012

With rockets raining down on Israel, it’s hard to focus on anything else. Our families, our friends, our compatriots are under attack, and our hearts ache for them.

Let there be light

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on October 3, 2012

We take light for granted. But in the Torah’s opening chapter of Bereshit, it was God’s first gift. It seems fitting, then, that when a local synagogue committed itself to helping an impoverished village in rural Uganda, the first gift would be to turn on the lights — to give the gift of solar-powered electricity.

The Other Side of ‘Kony 2012’

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on March 14, 2012

Beyond 'Kony 2012'

By Susan Freudenheim
Published on March 14, 2012

A week ago last Monday, my daughter brought her laptop to the dinner table and insisted, “We have to watch this.” This never happens in our house. We don’t watch TV at dinner, nor does my very independent 16-year-old tend to share.

American Jewish Organization Confronts LGBT Issues in Uganda

Published on May 25, 2010

As the United States struggles with the issue of gay marriage, countries around the world face their own challenges in discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community.

Volunteers seek Jewish way to serve in Africa [SLIDESHOW]

Published on August 25, 2009

Here in this humid and leafy village in eastern Uganda 20 minutes from the Kenyan border, 16 American college students sit in a circle. They are protected by the shade of a straw thatch structure adjacent to the complex where they have been living for the past month.

Freshly-ordained Ugandan rabbi gets ball rolling on returning home

By Roberto Loiederman
Published on July 17, 2008

Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the first black sub-Saharan rabbi ordained at an American rabbinical school, has had a very busy time since returning to Uganda in June, after not having lived there for five years.

VIDEO: Jews of Uganda —the Abayudaya—dream of Israel

Published on July 1, 2008

The Abayudaya, only Jewish community in Uganda, are hoping to emigrate to Israel. It's a move that requires preparation, so some US Jews help them get ready.

Ugandan Gershom Sizomu ordained as first black sub-Saharan rabbi

By Brad A. Greenberg
Published on May 21, 2008

The first Abayudaya becomes a rabbi

Briefs:  100th birthday for Workmen’s Circle; ‘Kosher’ is numero uno

Published on January 3, 2008

100th birthday for Workmen's Circle; 'Kosher' is numero uno; Billionaire Leviev Leaving Israel; Israeli Airport Profiling Reviewed; Nazi HQ to be Learning Center

Ugandan Rabbinic Student Up for Grammy

By David Finnigan
Published on February 10, 2005

University of Judaism rabbinic student Gershom Sizomu is deciding what he and his wife will wear to the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13. "I'm confused," said Sizomu, 35. "Some people say I should put on Ugandan clothes; others say I should put on a tuxedo."

Ugandan Jews Keep the Faith in Isolation

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 6, 2004

In the documentary, "Moving Heaven and Earth," an American Jew describes spying an African, Gershom Sizomu, amid the white expatriates in a Nairobi synagogue in the 1990s."

Out of Africa, Into the Valley

By Gaby Wenig
Published on February 26, 2004

When his father was arrested for building a sukkah at a time when Idi Amin had outlawed Judaism in Uganda, Gershom Sizomu paid the arresting scout five goats for his father's freedom.