The Igbo of Nigeria

Abstract Around 30,000 Igbo of Nigeria claim to have a connection with Judaism. Their oral history maintains that their ancestors came from Israel, and they describe themselves as being a fragment of the Jewish diaspora. They consider the traditional customs of the Igbo, notably circumcision on the eighth day, as linked to biblical tradition, and interpret the name of the Supreme Being whom they worship, Chukwu Abiama, as meaning “God of Abraham.” This chapter examines how, although they had very little knowledge of Judaism, they strictly observe all the rites and prayers of Jewish ceremonies and customs as a result of contacts and exchanges with international Jewry. The different phases of their affiliation to Judaism are detailed, emphasizing how the persecutions of which they were the target during the Biafran War (1967–1970) took on a particular meaning and intensified the sense that they really did belong to the Jewish people.