[COLD OPEN] There was a story, one of my friends from the US came to Uganda. And we were doing Havdallah. And because he knew that the Jewish community in Uganda had melodies for every song, so he asked if we had a melody for Havdallah, and we said yes. So when we started singing, it was Debbie Friedman. And you know, he had taken out his camera and everything to record the songs, but it was Debbie Friedman.
[MUSIC, INTRO] This is The Book of Life, a show about Jewish kidlit, mostly. I'm Heidi Rabinowitz. The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda is a brand new book that was named to AJL's Holiday Highlights list for fall 2022. Author Shoshana Nambi, who is in the US studying to become the first female Ugandan rabbi, joined me to talk about her debut picture book.
Shoshana Nambi, welcome to The Book of Life.
Thank you. It's such an honor to be here.
The Very Best Sukkah is your debut book. Tell us what it's about.
So The Very Best Sukkah is a story about a young girl, Shoshi, from the Jewish community, the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda. She loves everything about the Jewish community and loves to go for Shabbat services. She loves Sukkot and decorating the sukkah. And the community makes this big walk competition visiting everybody's sukkah. The rabbi leads the walk and has a teaching and everybody goes and sees somebody else's sukkah and they're really well decorated with fruits, with art, and with so many things. She hopes that this year her family, her and her brothers and her grandparents' sukkah would be the winner. At the end, she sees how wonderful it is, everybody coming together and helping each other, especially helping this person, helping him and his family build the sukkah that was destroyed. It's a story about a little competition. It's about community working together. It's about families. It's about the love that she shares with her brothers and her grandparents. It's about culture, the Ugandan Jewish culture, the food and decorations and everything that happens in Uganda.
I really liked how it moved from competition to cooperation, when the storm destroyed the neighbor's sukkah, and everybody pitched in. And so it became a sukkah that belong to the whole community. And so they all won. I love that at the end when she says that they all won, because it was everybody's sukkah. That was beautiful.
Yeah. And, you know, it doesn't have to take a tragedy or something happening. But I think the idea that people came together to help each other and to build this kind of United Nations sukkah was really a wonderful thing for her to observe and for the community as well.
Why did you choose the holiday of Sukkot as the entry point to introduce Jews around the world to the Abayudaya community?
This story is mostly a lot of things about my childhood. I'm Shoshana. So I love the name Shoshi as a nickname. Shoshi has a lot in common with me. I grew up with my grandparents. I have two brothers, Avram, and David. You know, I grew up on the farm, my grandparents grew coffee as well. But we grew maize and beans and greens of every sort. And we had goats, I had a goat, my brothers, each, we each had a goat and we were responsible for our goats. I didn't take my goat to school, but if I had my way, I would take my goat to school. But I would, you know, take the goat for grazing, and we would milk the goats and sell some of the milk to buy books and other things and also drink some of the milk. And I loved Sukkot because I love decorating. And I love the fruits, the smell of the fruits put in the sukkah, and I love the kids sitting and singing in the sukkah. Yeah, so I would say Sukkot is one of my favorite Jewish holidays. I didn't grow up with my parents, I grew up with my grandparents, and they had so much love, and I always have stories and memories of them and how much they made us love going to the synagogue and going and celebrating Jewish holidays, and Sukkot was one of the holidays.
So it's very closely tied to your own childhood. Is the sukkah contest in the story based on an actual sukkah contest that happens in your community?
Yes. It doesn't happen anymore. But this is something I grew up with. Now I think people go to a few sukkahs around and they can sit and chat with their friends and sit in each other's sukkahs. But when I was growing up, we had this thing where we'd finish services and we would go and look at everybody's sukkah and we would admire everybody's creativity and art and everything. And some people put out food. And we kids would steal food, like the fruits that were hanging, which was also something that was fun. And yeah, so that was something that really happened in the community.
What inspired you to write this book?
I grew up, we did not have any books to read at all. So I read my first children's book when I was an adult. I went to schools where we were like 80 to 100 kids in a class and the only person who would have a book, a storybook, a textbook, were the teachers. But we had stories from home, my grandparents loved telling stories, mostly folk stories, scary stories; they loved to scare us. I did not start out wanting to write a book, that was something that was really out of my reach. I did not know anything about writing a book. It's not something that I talked about. But for two falls, I came to the US with Kulanu, an organization that works with smaller Jewish communities around the world. And I would talk about my Jewish community in Uganda. And this was also a big fundraiser for the projects that were happening in Uganda, a women's project, and the schools and education projects. So I would tell my stories. In one of the Zoom sessions, I was talking about this memory of going around and visiting people's sukkahs. And it happened that rLili Rosenstreich was there,who is my publisher, and she sent me an email later and said, you could write a children's storybook about the story that you told. I was very inspired because even as an adult now, I think we've had some, you know, donations from America of books to the Jewish schools in Uganda and from Israel, and from around the world about Jewish stories and Jewish holidays. But there's really no book that is written by Ugandans, with all the Ugandan, you know, culture and food and everything. My best friend used to love books. And as a teenager, she would read books about other places. And she was asked about what her favorite hobby was, and she said ice skating. She's never been to ice skating, but it's something that she read in a book. But I think that writing this book, I wanted to do it so that parents and caregivers and everybody around the world that reads to children or to themselves can learn about the Jewish community in Uganda, but also for the Ugandan kids to see themselves and their Jewishness in a book like this and see that they are fully celebrated, and their culture is celebrated and that as much as they learn from other Jewish communities, they could have books that are written from their own perspective and from home.
Wonderful. What was the easiest part of writing this book? And what was the hardest part?
So the hardest... I think the easiest part was working with Lillian Rosenstreich, my publisher and also collaborating with Moran Yogev who did these amazing illustrations for the book, I was just blown away by the colors and everything. So we coordinated a lot, we went back and forth on how the community would look, like what the trees would look like, people's faces. We corrected that. But so it was really fun and really easy, and they were very wonderful working with. The hardest part of writing the book was really starting to write the book and believing that I could write the book. But once I started typing, everything came back to me, you know, I already had the story, and I knew what I wanted to tell. So that was easy.
Are you planning to write more books for children?
Yes. Yes, I didn't start out saying that. But it's such a fun thing to do. And children's books speak to us in a different way. And they have so much meaning and message for everybody.
I know that many of my listeners will be curious about the Jewish community in Uganda. Can you give us some background about how that community came to be and what it's like now?
Yes, so the Jewish community in Uganda is more than 100 years old. The Jewish community, it started in 1919. And it started basically with this one man, Semei Kakungulu who worked for the British, and he was kind of like faith seeker or somebody who hopped from one religion to another. He was Christian. He was Malakite. But he was a scholar. So he read the Bible. And at some point, he decided he wanted only the Old Testament, as he called it. So he, like, built a temple in his home, and he practiced everything that was, not everything, but most of the things like the holidays that were in the Old Testament. And as he was doing that, he met a Jew. We know him as Joseph, but he was traveling, I think, from Yemen or Jerusalem, people don't remember exactly, who told him that whatever he's doing, he's keeping Shabbat and he's building the sukkah, he's doing all these things that that's what Jewish people around the world do. And so from that day onwards, he said, I want to be Jewish. That's what I want to be. He prayed in his home. And he had a lot of friends who joined him, including my great grandfather. When he died in 1928, all his friends and the young people took on the community. By that time, there was no interaction with Rabbinic Judaism. But now we have a rabbi who was ordained from Ziegler. I am studying through Hebrew Union College to be a rabbi, and hopefully I am going to be the first woman rabbi in the community. And we have about 12 Jewish communities. We have three Orthodox communities, and conservative communities, and more progressive communities as well. So the Jewish community has been growing. We had an official conversion ceremony that was in 2002. You know, people had already been living Jewish for like about 90 years and there was a very big debate of whether they should convert and people you know, already felt Jewish. So they call it a confirmation ceremony. And we had a beit din of rabbis from the Conservative and Reform movements come to Uganda and do a big conversion for everybody in the community. We have about 2000 people. We have three primary schools; we have Hadassah Primary School, and Ben David and Tikkun Olam Primary Schools, we have Semei Kakungulu High School, a students' community that is growing in Kampala, in the capital city, and Judaism and the Jewish community continues to grow.
How does the Jewish community fit in with the wider non Jewish community in Uganda? Is it difficult to be Jewish in Uganda?
So there were some times during Idi Amin's time because he banned Judaism, and not only Judaism, but other smaller regions like Hindu and other people. It was a very hard time, the Jewish community suffered a lot and people really feared for their lives. There is a big cave that we have in one of the Jewish communities where people would go and hide and pray. Also, the story of Sukkot, people were arrested for having sukkahs in their homes, and they were taken to prison and they would bribe the officers with goats and land so that they can let the community members free. So that was a really terrible time and the community celebrates Idi Amin's fall every Pesach because he was overthrown two days before Pesach. And that's like, as we tell the story of Pharaoh and exodus from Egypt, the Jewish community, also people tell stories of Idi Amin. And I think the community has worked really hard to have really good relationship with the neighbors, with the Christians and the Muslims. The Jewish schools are open for everybody. The Jewish kids do learn about Judaism and Shabbat but the school also offers English and all the other secular subjects. We have the same wells that we go to to fetch water. And we have relatives, most of our families are big, extended families that have Christian and Muslim neighbors. And so in the community right now, the Muslims go to the mosque on Friday, and the Christians go to the church on Sunday, and the Jews go celebrate Shabbat and other holidays. Thank God, people live in peace with each other.
Glad to hear that! Now that you've experienced Jewish life in the US as well, can you tell us about similarities or differences that you see between Judaism in the US and in Uganda?
I think there are a lot of things that are similar, like I would go to any Jewish community and be able to pray. I'll tell you there was a story, one of my friends from the US came to Uganda, and we were doing Havdallah. And because he knew that the Jewish community in Uganda had melodies for every song, so he asked if we had a melody for Havdallah. And we said yes. So when we started singing, it was Debbie Friedman. You know, he had taken out his camera and everything to record the songs. But it was Debbie Friedman! And so we have a lot of that in common, and the celebrations are almost the same. Except we have different traditions, even around funerals around weddings, because it's also blended with the Ugandan culture. So when we do a wedding, we have a big introduction ceremony. That's the traditional ceremony for Uganda where the family of the groom goes to visit the family of the bride to be and there's sometimes some gift exchanges and a very big celebration. And then after that is a Jewish wedding. Everybody in the village comes to whatever ceremony you're doing, whether you invite them or not, it's still very open and everybody in the community works together, Muslims and Christians and everybody. And the community has composed different Ugandan melodies to some of the prayers and songs. So when you come, the words might be familiar, but in a different melody that's more of Ugandan rhythm and drums and things like that. And you could see a chicken walk through the synagogue and you know, like there's just a different kind of feeling and vibe to the celebrations in Uganda, to the Jewish community in Uganda.
Okay, very cool. As you mentioned, you are studying to become the first female rabbi in Uganda. So what inspired you to follow this path?
I was one of those kids who loved singing in the choir. And I loved studying Hebrew and being able to lead services. And I used to take children out of the service during Torah reading and teach them about the Torah portion and sing songs with them. And some of the songs I learned from my friends who volunteered in the community and came from America or Israel, so I would teach to the kids. My rabbi was wonderful. And I just wanted really, that kind of life, to celebrate with everybody, you know, be around the community. So I wanted to be a rabbi, because I love Torah. And I love prayers. And I love the community and Jewish celebrations. I think it's very meaningful to be there for people in happy times, and also hard times as well. So I didn't know where to start from, to go to rabbinic school. In my undergrad I did business administration, and majored in banking and finance; I didn't work so much in it because I went back and I worked at the community clinic doing records. And after that, I traveled to the US several times, sometimes with Kulanu, doing the speaking engagement, and I also was in Georgia outside of Atlanta, at URJ summer camp, Camp Coleman. And I just have never prayed outside of a synagogue and prayed by the lake and you know, the songs and everything. So I really, it just inspired me even more. And I talked to the rabbis who came to camp, so they introduced me to Hebrew Union College, and I'm here!
When you go home, do you expect to find good support for yourself as a woman rabbi, or do you think you'll find some opposition to that?
So the community right now is very open to a woman rabbi. I was there over the summer, and I did some teaching in the community and worked with people. We had a big Women's Conference and women and everybody else are just too excited to have a woman rabbi! So the community hasn't always been that. After the conversion, even though we had like a Conservative and Reform conversion, the community was more traditional. Women and men sat separately, women did not go to synagogue during niddah, and all these things. It really took the rabbi going to rabbinic school, and when he came back, he told stories of his wonderful women havrutas and teachers and things like that. And he really encouraged young people, including myself, to take up leadership in the community and to lead services. And there was a heated discussion, especially for the older women who this was really new, and everybody else, even up to now, like the synagogue is open, you can sit anywhere, but some people prefer to sit on one side and the other. But in terms of whether they would accept me as a woman rabbi, they're very open to that. They love the idea of somebody who's going to study torah and coming back to teach them. I really want to go back home once I'm done. It's something that I need to work on. Because the community has different needs other than paying a rabbi, it still needs to have education and malaria and typhoid and water and so many others. So that's something that I need to either build connections or a network or find paying organization or something like that to be able to go back home.
So way back in 2009, because this podcast has been going for a very long time, I interviewed Rabbi Gershom Sizomu on the podcast about creating a CD of music from the Abayudaya. And the end note in your book, in The Very Best Sukkah, mentions that music is a very important part of the community and that Jewish songs are sometimes sung to traditional African melodies and sung in the language of Luganda. So can you talk about that? And is there any chance you could sing something in Luganda for us?
Yes, and yes! During the time of Semei Kakungulu who was the founder of Judaism, he didn't have a siddur or any organized way of doing prayers. So they used to just chant in Luganda from, he called it the Old Testament, from the Torah. And so mostly what is famous is the Parashat Haazinu, the last parashat in Deuteronomy. So we have this whole Parasharat, it's broken down into songs that are really melodic, and you know, people chant, they sing it all the time, not only during Parashat Haazinu, it's such wonderful music. And also an after Idi Amin, this is what allowed the community members who had remained, because some people feared for their lives and left the Jewish community, so they wanted a way of bringing people back. One of the things is they formed a kibbutz, took inspiration from Israel and they formed a kibbutz and young people came and lived together. And they composed all this music. Most of them were call and response so that they could have people join in. And this is like one of the things that really brought people together. Music has meant a lot to the Jewish community in Uganda. And this music was recorded by Smithsonian Studios and directed by Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, who was at Tufts Hillel for a really long time, he just retired. The music was nominated for a Grammy. And he sold a lot of this music and fundraised and sent money back to Uganda for the college scholarship fund. And that's how I got to go to university. And that's how a lot of my friends got to go to university. Otherwise, we would never have dreamed of going to school at all, especially to university. So music has just meant a lot to the Jewish community. And I remember the story of Jeff and Rabbi Gershom who came to the US for the first time, the Jewish communities, I think somebody sang for them, our songs here in the US, and they were just in tears of how their music has traveled around the world. So I will sing the Hinei Ma Tov because it's both in Hebrew and it's in English. And it's one of the songs that we use to sing when we come together. It's the song that we sang when we were seated in somebody's sukkah. It's the song that was sung in the book by all the families and the community.
[SINGING] Hinneh mah tov umah na’im,
Shevet achim gam yachad.
Hinneh mah tov umah na’im,
Shevet achim gam yachad. Laba bwekuliokulungi,
bwekusanyusa
abaluganda okutula. Laba bwekuliokulungi,
bwekusanyusa
abaluganda okutula.
So these songs are usually sung in harmony. And there's so many people, it's just joyous and you know, a wonderful way of celebrating.
That was beautiful. I love that. So it's Tikkun Olam Time. What action would you like to call listeners to take to help heal the world?
The Jewish community in Uganda, just like any other communities in rural areas in Uganda, we have challenges still of malaria and education and water in so many other needs. Kulanu has been working with the community since 1995. And they have funded the Jewish schools in Uganda. And they do a nutrition fund feeding the kids in school, they work with women's programs, youth programs, university scholarships, and everything. And so if people are able, and they are called to it, I think checking out organizations like Kulanu and making a contribution would highly benefit the Jewish community in Uganda. Thank you.
Okay. Is there anything else that you would like to talk about that I haven't thought to ask you?
Oh, I wanted to say that I am in awe of the illustrator of the book, seeing the final book and seeing all the images was just lovely. And I think the collaboration worked really well. And I'm very grateful to Lili Rosenstreich for finding me. And I'm so glad that she gave me the opportunity to write a children's book and to think that I could do it and my friends are encouraging me to do it. And thanks to everybody who is going to buy it or have a copy of the book.
Shoshana Nambi, thank you so much for speaking with me.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. This was such an honor. Thank you.
[MUSIC, DEDICATION] Hi, I'm Isaac Blum, author of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen.
Hi, I'm Leah Scheier, the author of The Last Words We Said.
And we'll be joining you soon on the Book of Life podcast.
And we would like to dedicate this podcast to English teachers everywhere. Me in particular my English teacher, Mrs. Fowler in the eighth grade at Beth Tfiloh in Baltimore. She influenced me more than she will ever know.
And me to Jennifer Gorzelany, who really was the first person to encourage my writing in high school and gave me the opportunity to express myself that way for the first time.
[MUSIC, OUTRO] Say hi to Heidi at 561-206-2473 or bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com Check out our Book of Life podcast Facebook page, or our Facebook discussion group Jewish Kidlit Mavens. We are occasionally on Twitter too @bookoflifepod. Want to read the books featured on the show? Buy them through Bookshop.org/shop/bookoflife to support the podcast and independent bookstores at the same time. You can also help us out by becoming a monthly supporter through Patreon. Additional support comes from the Association of Jewish Libraries, which also sponsors our sister podcast, Nice Jewish Books, a show about Jewish fiction for adults. You'll find links for all of that and more at BookofLifepodcast.com Our background music is provided by the Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. Thanks for listening and happy reading!
[MUSIC, PROMO] Aviva is a rock star committed to speaking about the truth of her life, even if, or especially if, it makes other people uncomfortable. She has a happy marriage and loyal fans. But what she doesn't have is a baby. In Human Blues, we follow her through nine months of her cycle of hope, grief and anger. I'm Sheryl Stahl. Join me for my discussion with Elisa Albert at www.Jewishlibraries.org/NiceJewishBooks.
