Kulanu (organization)

Not to be confused with the defunct Israeli political party Kulanu (2015–2019).

Kulanu is a Jewish non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Jewish communal life among lost and dispersed communities, primarily in Africa and Central America.[1][2][3]

The organization was founded in 1994 and is associated with a dozens of communities around the world.[4] The organization is noted for actively in supporting members of the Lemba people who wish to practice Judaism.[5][6] Related efforts by Kulanu include the development of indigenous form of Jewish practice such as the production of Jewish liturgy with African melodies and rhythms.[7]

  1. ^ Bruder, E. (2020). “New Jews” in contemporary Kenya: from philo-Semitism to conversion. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 19(4), 412-433.
  2. ^ Eltringham, N. (2006). ‘Invaders who have stolen the country’: The Hamitic Hypothesis, Race and the Rwandan Genocide. Social Identities, 12(4), 425-446.
  3. ^ Kirsh, N. (2020). Jewishness, blackness and genetic data: Israeli geneticists and physicians tracing the ancestry of two African populations 1. In Blackness in Israel (pp. 43-57). Routledge.
  4. ^ "About Kulanu". kulanu.org. Accessed 9 Sep 2023.
  5. ^ Parfitt, T., & Egorova, Y. (2005). Genetics, history, and identity: the case of the Bene Israel and the Lemba. Culture, medicine and psychiatry, 29, 193-224.
  6. ^ Parfitt, T. (2013). The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe. In Judaising Movements (pp. 39-51). Routledge.
  7. ^ Charmé, S. Z. (2012). Newly found Jews and the politics of recognition. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 80(2), 387-410.