Onto Africa: This Year’s Omer Project

Posted on by

Every year I take on a project during the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot. Some years it is really basic: remember to buckle your seatbelt every time you get in the car. Some years it is more difficult: sort a box of paper in the basement. One year it was actually “Kiss Simon every day.”

Since I will be going to Kenya this summer with American Jewish World Service as one of 18 Global Justice Rabbinic Fellows, I realized how little I know about Africa. I didn’t even know what language they use in Kenya. (It’s Swahili! duh!) In order to prepare for this trip, in this season of preparation, I will undertake one of my most complex projects for Omer ever.

Every day I will learn something new to me about Africa. Here’s where you can help. Become my clipping service. If you see something about Africa, especially Kenya forward it to me. If you think there is a book I should read, tell me. If you, yourself spent time in Africa, come join me for coffee. I bought Kenyan, fair trade Kosher for Passover whole bean coffee at Starbucks!  Our seder will feature some Kenyan and other African food, like Moroccan carrots in addition to the usual ones. Several of the guests live in Africa or have taught in Africa or have just come back from a safari.

During the seven weeks I will read seven books (starting now!) about Africa. My current list includes:

  • Out of Africa
  • Lion Seeker
  • Half the Sky
  • Cry the Beloved
  • Dorris Lessing Short Story
  • On the Way To War

I am looking for one more! My chevruta partner and I, Rabbi Beau Shapiro will continue to study the material that American Jewish World Service has provided. We have already completed our first assignment and as I predicted the conversation deepened my understanding of the texts provided.

I will explore Kenyan culture: food, music, language, art, video. And since this is me and I am always looking for ways to incorporate Tikkun Olam, repairing the world into everything I do, there will be some social justice component as well. An added reading at the seder, advocacy through AJWS and T’ruah, one of the activities at the back of the book Half the Sky. I will try for one a week!
I am sure that as the 50 days progress we will all learn together. Send your questions about Kenya and Africa here and I will try to learn!

4 thoughts on “Onto Africa: This Year’s Omer Project”

  1. Rabbi, do you have a Lost Boys organization in your community? About three weeks ago I got a call from my local university asking me to teach a half-day ethics workshop to a group of visiting young African leaders. Because ethics are culturally situated, I knew that I could not go about this in my regular way – teaching the ethical implication of our rolls from a western perspective. Through a friend on the board of the Lost Boys organization, I happened to know a young Sudanese man who is a “lost boys,” although he has been in the states for many years now. I contacted this young man, and invited him to meet me for coffee to help me think through how to teach a culturally situated class two people from a culture with which I had no familiarity. We sat for a couple of hours talking about issues that come up and all cultures: personal and tribal conflict, relationships between family members, community expectations, and so forth. One of the most important things that came out of that was a much clearer understanding of the differences between my own perspective and the cultural frames of the people of Africa. My young friend, starting from one culture and then being thrust into another, had experienced those distinctions personally. So he told me that in Africa one does not look directly into the eyes of one’s elder or one’s superior. He explained that young Africans moving to America had trouble getting jobs because they could not meet the eye of the interviewer. He told me that complex were resolved by elders in a room away from those who experienced the conflict, and whatever the outcome, it was accepted without question. He told me that here in America, the lost boys could get almost nothing done around the board table because it was so new to them to build consensus around an idea, or to be allowed to voice their own opinions, that they could neither stop talking nor form a decision. They could talk for four hours straight without making a decision. There was much more, and I won’t keep going. But my point is this: we interpret what we see around us through the rules and frames that have been set up by her own culture. To really experience Kenya, you will need temporarily dismantle your own frames. If there is a Lost Boys organization in your community, a wonderful opportunity for you to see if there is someone in your town willing to come share what they know about their home country over a cup of coffee.

    • Sandy, I agree there are always challenges and sensitivities needed in cross-cultural work and suspending our own frameworks can be important. Your information about eye contact is especially helpful tonight as we prepare for our seder. We are hosting the novices from a Catholic seminary. Two are from Africa and I noticed that they did not make eye contact when we first met about two weeks ago. I thought it was me. Or that they were shy. Or they didn’t want to talk in front of their superiors towards whom they were quite deferential. It should be a very interesting weekend here. As for Lost Boys, I knew some in Boston but not here yet. Good thought.

  3. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading in more depth (but probably not until my Passover preparations are more complete! I have done extensive research in my previous life with IBM so IBM Africa should be really interesting!

Comments are closed.