A few years ago, I read about the *Black Jews* in Southern Africa for the first time. A small column tucked away in an obscure place of the daily paper had caught my eye.
Louis Trichardt and surrounding area where the Lemba were living is also where Sam, [Shmeuly as we had nick-named him] our trusted friend and twice-a-month gardener came from. Whenever he had been home for his yearly visit, he would bring my son, David, his friend, avocado pears. They grow in profusion in the hot climate of the Northern Province, quite close to the Kruger National Park and the Mozambique border.
He had worked for us, as a gardener and handy-man for 20 odd years. He and my son share the same birth date and had been affectionately nick-named Shmeuly from the beginning of our relationship.
All through the dark days of apartheid, Shmeuly was accepted in our home as a friend - and to me - he was the brother I never had. There were many times he had slept over on the couch due to having a cold, a hangover, and even on occasion a broken heart!!
Shmeuly my *brother* - I often referred to him as such-- shared in our lives as much as we did in his. He attended Barmitzvah's, Batmitzvah's, weddings, engagements and all our simchas. He shared the sad times too. He truly has been the brother I never had.
After reading the little paragraph, I joined him one day while he was working in the garden and asked him if he had heard of the Lemba -the black Jews who lived in the area he came from. He looked at me and looked away into the distance - as I waited. I asked again, "do you know anything about these people Shmeuly?" He turned to me and whispered softly: "I thought you knew - you called me your brother." I felt like a worm. That was after knowing him for 20 years.
I was intrigued. Why would people who had suffered so much under apartheid "want" to be Jews- unless they believed what they were saying? Why would they say they were Jews unless this was their oral history? Who wanted to be Jewish in these precarious times in South Africa. Didn't they suffer enough as Black South Africans under apartheid rule, do they want to suffer more in a climate not particularly partial towards the Jewish community?
That was a few years back. Lots has happened since. They, the Lemba have been vindicated and proved correct. After the initial tentative discussions, Shmeuly started chatting openly and shared many interesting traditions and stories. Together we planned and waited for "our" shaliach to arrive.
Today, my dear brother, friend and gardener called me . He only works for us twice a month but managed to spend a few hours with Yaacov before Yaacov left for Louis Trichadt .They had lunch together at my home and shared some of the hopes and dreams both shared for the Lemba project.
Shmuely called me today to share something he could not wait to tell me next week when he is due to come and work - he wanted to say thank you to "all you people" [his words] who have sent Yaacov, and are helping the Lemba back to being Jews. He said you deserve the "Nobel Peace Prize" -- I think he may have had a few beers too many -)) But his happiness and sincerity was very touching.
Sam (Shmeuly) is uneducated - one of the "rural-poor" of Venda -and as I like to describe him: "the salt of the earth". A Lemba man who has worked for 4 Jewish families for the last 30 years -- and not once have they acknowledged his heritage. He asked me to please convey this message to you --you who have given him and the many others like him -- a new beginning - a new pride -a feeling of "belonging"....... I see it in his smile, his jaunty walk. He is a tall man -but now he seems a little taller.
