When the Land of Israel was under Greek rule during the Hanukkah events of the Second Temple period, quite a few Jews adopted Hellenistic culture and were called "Greeks."
In contrast, Shmuel ben Avraham did the opposite way from the detachment from the African tradition to which his ancestors belonged, through the world of Christianity and mission to the lap of Judaism that Alya joined when he was deep in the eighth decade of his life.
He was born 80 years ago as Gikuro in the city of Nairobi, as a member of the Kikuyu tribe.
His father was a carpenter, a builder and a building supervisor, his mother a housewife and next to him lived two other brothers and five sisters.
From a young age he was exposed to the Christian religion but testifies that he never connected with it.
“We had no connection to the traditional cultural customs that existed in our grandparents’ time, because they were banned in this area by the missionaries, ”he explains.
"Our whole area was owned by the Church of Scotland Mission including schools, hospitals and the like. The missionaries taught us their religion by force and punished us for every mistake. If we were wrong in the New Testament verse the missionary would hit us with a whip. Outwardly I was a Christian but inside I was very negative about Christianity. "
In 1952 the Mao Mao uprising against British rule began, an attempted revolt by a local underground movement, but four years later it ended in failure and Shmuel, then 14, experienced severe cuts with his friends.
"We were expelled from school and forced to undergo baptism into Christianity."
So he made the decision to leave the religious lifestyle into which he was born and raised and look for another religion in which he would feel at home.
Violent demonstrations in Nairobi (archive photo), Photo: AFP
In the 1970s he began researching various streams in Christianity but did not find what he was looking for, however when he learned about one of the streams he was exposed to the concept of "Shabbat".
From there the road to Messianic Judaism was short.
"I realized that the leader of this sect was in Israel, in Jerusalem and I thought I had found what I wanted. I was a member of this community, but I always knew that it was still a Christian Torah and within me I was still looking for a better religion."
He was first exposed to Judaism by chance in the early 2000s. For 27 years it was just not right and I decided to fly to Israel to learn more. "
Shmuel, still a member of Messianic Judaism, was hosted at the home of the cult leader and took advantage of his stay to visit the Western Wall and research Judaism.
When he returned to Kenya, he contacted a number of rabbis through whom he deepened his knowledge of the world of Judaism and felt that he had found his place spiritually, but then a health crisis befell him. "
The young Gikro, Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
"I got prostate cancer," he says, "it also stressed me out financially but because I was afraid I would not be able to continue learning about Judaism."
Later, his health stabilized and he felt that he did not have enough knowledge of the Jewish religion and decided to undergo Orthodox conversion.
He began to prepare for the rabbinical court stage, with the help of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, until in 2016, at the age of 75, he completed the conversion process and became a full-fledged Jew. "
The person who has been exposed to Shmuel's story in recent years is Rabbi Netanel Kasowitz, who serves as an emissary in Nairobi on behalf of the Strauss Amiel Institute from the Or Torah Stone network.
"Shmuel is one of the people who holds the synagogue and comes to prayers every Shabbat. The search for the truth burns in him from a young age and so does Judaism. Nothing stops him, neither the age nor the state of health. He lives as a devoted Jew. We are fortunate to have lived like this."
Samuel continues to live in Nairobi, with his wife and four sons, who have joined the past spiritual journey, and together they embrace nine grandchildren.
According to him, his extended family and some of his friends did not accept in good spirits the religious change he experienced, "their reaction was very negative. Being Christians, they do not like Jews."
However, he regrets for a moment his visits to Israel and not the new way he chose to march, "I felt very blessed to come to Israel and in general I definitely feel that I have found what I wanted after many, many years."
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