The Lemba are an ethnic group currently residing in South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, of mixed Bantu and Yemeni ancestry.
Since the late twentieth century, there has been increased media and scholarly attention about the Lemba's common partial descent from Semitic peoples of West Asia.Parfitt, Tudor (1993/2000) Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel, New York: Random House (2nd edition)Parfitt(2002), "The Lemba", p. 39 Genetic Y-DNA analyses have established a paternal West Asian origin for the majority of the Lemba population, while the matrilineal origins are exclusively from Sub Saharan Africa.
Etymology It has been suggested that the exonym "Lemba" may originate in kilemba (most likely spread via the Mwera derivative chilemba), a Swahili word meaning turban. Thus, in context, the word "Lemba" as an ethnic identifier therefore translates to 'those who wear turbans'.
Another theory is that the word "Lemba" may originate from the word lembi, a term which occurs in several Northeastern Bantu languages meaning a "non-African" or a "respected foreigner".Parfitt, Tudor (1992) Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel.see the full explanatory note on p. 263.
The 'Lemba' themselves prefer the name Mwenye as an exonym but call themselves Sena (or Sana) as an endonym for their city of origin.Parfitt, Tudor. (2002), "The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe", in Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism, edited by Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E., London: Routledge Curzon, pp. 42–43
History According to modern-day historians, the Lemba were Muslim traders with possible Jewish ancestry who gradually Africanised and came to speak Shona. As they integrated more into Shona life they eventually lost their Muslim faith and culture, and were known as . Their candidate lost the 1644 Butua civil war, and they later migrated south.
Oral traditions
What is possibly the oldest recorded origin story of the Lemba people was documented by Henri-Alexandre Junod (a Swiss-born South African missionary). In 1908, he wrote:Some old Balemba of both the Spelonken and the Duiwelskloof country told my informant the following legend:
'[We] have come from a very remote place, on the other side of the sea. We were on a big boat. A terrible storm nearly destroyed us all. The boat was broken into two pieces. One half of us reached the shores of this country; the others were taken away with the second half of the boat, and we do not know where they are now. We climbed the mountains and arrived among the Banyai. There we settled, and after a time we moved southwards to the Transvaal; but we are not the Banyai.Tudor Parfitt interprets that the legend about the destruction of the boat and the division of the tribe is perhaps a way of explaining the fact that Lemba clans are to be found in several separate locations. However, it could equally be taken as an expression of a fractured sense of identity.
The original Sena was most likely located in Yemen, specifically in the ancient town of Sanā (also known as Sanāw) which is located within the easternmost portion of the Hadhramaut.Lost Tribes of Israel, NOVA Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 22 February 2000
Migration into Africa The Lemba claim that they settled in Tanzania and Kenya, building what was referred to as another Sena, or "Sena II". Others supposedly settled in Malawi, where their descendants reside today. Some settled in Mozambique, eventually migrating to Zimbabwe and South Africa. They also claim that their ancestors constructed Great Zimbabwe, now preserved as a monument. While some scholars, including Zimbabwean archaeologist Ken Mufuka, as well as writer Tudor Parfitt believe that either the Lemba or the Venda may have participated in the construction of Great Zimbabwe, most academics who are experts in this field believe that the construction of the enclosure at Great Zimbabwe is largely attributable to the ancestors of other Shona peoples.Beach, D. N. (1994). A Zimbabwean past: Shona dynastic histories and oral traditions. Such works are noted as typical of their ancestral civilizations.Pwiti, Gilbert (1996). Continuity and change: an archaeological study of farming communities in northern Zimbabwe AD 500–1700. Studies in African Archaeology, No.13, Department of Archaeology, Uppsala University, Uppsala:.Ndoro, W., and Pwiti, G. (1997). Marketing the past: The Shona village at Great Zimbabwe. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2(3): 3–8.
Religion
Whilst most Lemba are Christians, there is also a sizeable minority of Lemba who are practicing Jews or Muslims. Edith Bruder wrote that "from a theological point of view, the Lemba's customs and rituals reveal religious pluralism and interdependence of these various practices" and see membership of these religions "in cultural rather than religious terms. These apparently religious identities do not prevent them from declaring themselves Jews through religious practice and ethnic identification." In 1992, Parfitt pointed to the strong cultural component in Lemba identification with Judaism.Parfitt, Tudor (1992) Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of IsraelLondon: Hodder and Stoughton. In 2002, Parfitt wrote that "Those Lemba, who perceive themselves as ethnically Jewish, find no contradiction in regularly attending a Christian church."
In recent years, there has been a Jewish "renaissance" amongst the Lemba, with many of them reverting to religious Judaism under halakhic laws. Some Lemba have even made aliyah. Many religious holidays which were rarely celebrated due to urban migration and Evangelicalism in Africa are being celebrated by greater numbers of Lemba, with many communities coming together for passover seders all over the region.
Dietary laws of Jewish-identifying Lemba These Lemba practice dietary laws based on the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Permitted and forbidden animals are seen in Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8. Forbidden birds are listed in Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20. The Lemba do not eat rodents, shellfish or any other "sea-scavengers" such as crustaceans, unlike in Islam, where consumption of prawns is permitted. Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten, with traditional Lemba households having separate pots for each of them.
Halakhic status as Jews In Orthodox Judaism Halakhic Jewish status is determined by documentation of an unbroken matrilineal line of descent and when no such line of descent exists, it is determined by conversion to Judaism. Jews who adhere to Orthodox or Conservative rabbinism believe that "Jewish status by birth" is only passed from a Jewish female to her children (if she herself is a Jew by birth or a Jew by conversion to Judaism) regardless of the Jewish status of the father. Because of the absence of matrilineal Jewish descent for the Lemba, Orthodox or Conservative Judaism would not recognise them as 'Halakhically Jewish.' The Lemba would need to complete a formal conversion process in order to be accepted as Jews.
The Reform and Reconstructionist denominations,"Patrilineal descent", Jewish Virtual Library the Karaites, and Haymanot Jews all recognize patrilineage. As more is learned about the widespread history of the Jewish people, the Reform branch of Judaism has acknowledged the existence of an unusual line of descent outside the European and indigenous Middle Eastern Jewish spheres. Especially since the publication of the genetic results of the Lemba, American Jewish communities have reached out to the people, offering assistance, sending books on Judaism and related study materials, and initiating ties in order to teach the Lemba about Rabbinic Judaism. So far, few Lemba have converted to Rabbinic Judaism.
South African Jews of European descent have long been aware of the Lemba, but they have never accepted them as Jews or thought of them as more than an "intriguing curiosity." Generally, the Lemba have not been accepted as Jews because of their lack of matrilineal descent. Several rabbis and Jewish associations support their recognition as descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel". In the 2000s, the Lemba Cultural Association approached the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, asking for the Lemba to be recognized as Jews by the Jewish community. The Lemba Association complained that "we like many non-European Jews are simply the victims of racism at the hands of the European Jewish establishment worldwide". They threatened to start a campaign to "protest and ultimately destroy 'Jewish apartheid'".
In Apartheid South Africa, the Lemba were not recognized as an ethnic group which was distinct from other black South Africans. The Lemba Cultural Association face misconceptions about their goals such as the belief that the Lemba identify more with European Judaism, the belief that they aim to affiliate with European Jewry rather than other black Jews, and the belief that they are distanced from South African politics. However, while the Lemba do identify with their religious Judaism, many practice Christianity as well.
According to Gideon Shimoni, in his book, Community and Conscience: The Jews in Apartheid South Africa (2003): "In terms of halakha the Lemba are not at all comparable to the Falasha [of Ethiopia]. As a group they have no conceivable status in Judaism."
Rabbi Bernhard of South Africa has stated that the only way for a member of the Lemba tribe to be recognised as a Jew is to undergo the formal Halakhic conversion process. After that, the person "would be welcomed with open arms."
In May 2013, the Harare Lemba Synagogue was established in a rental building in Bluffhill, Harare, Zimbabwe with the assistance from Kulanu (organization)
As of 2015, the Lemba were building their first synagogue in Great Zimbabwe, Mapakomhere, in Masvingo District.
Culture The Lemba are divided into 12 primary clans:
Dumah Hamisi Bakari Sulaymani Tobakare / Tobakale Mani Haji Sadiqi Sharifu Hasani Madi Manga
There are various different transliterations of these primary clans depending on location.
Marriage The Lemba follow strict endogamous marriage practices, discouraging unions between Lemba and non-Lemba; mostly against tribes they live amongst (which they collectively refer to as Senji). Endogamy is also common among many groups.
Lemba's role in Southern African society According to Tooke, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lemba were highly esteemed for their mining and metalwork skills by the surrounding tribes which lived in the Soutpansberg region of South Africa. He wrote in his 1937 book that the other tribes considered the Lemba outsiders. According to articles which were written during the early 1930s, in the 1920s, the Lemba's medical knowledge earned them respect among tribes in South Africa. Parfitt believes that colonial Europeans had their own reasons for considering some tribes rather than other tribes indigenous to Africa, because they made the British believe that they had a right to be on the continent just like other migrants. Modern Y-DNA evidence confirms the extra-African origin of some of the Lemba's male ancestors. By contrast, the lead anthropologist in Zimbabwe firmly places them among African peoples.Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba", pp. 43–44
Sacred ngoma