Tazria–Metzora & Rosh Chodesh
רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ – תזריע–מצורע
She gives birth / person afflicted with tsaraat (a form of leprosy) & renewal of the month
Leviticus 12–15, Numbers 28:1–15, Isaiah 6:1–24
Tazria deals with the laws of purity, isolation, examination by the priest, immersion, and reintegration. The haftarah evokes Rosh Ḥodesh, consolation, and renewal.
Leviticus 14:9
וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם וְטָהֵר
He shall bathe in water and become pure.
In the heart of nature, among the hills of eastern Uganda, a spring of living water fed by rainfall and underground aquifers serves as a mikveh for the Abayudaya[1], a Jewish community founded in the early 20th century by Semei Kakungulu[2], a local leader who adopted Judaism and introduced it to those around him.
The community today numbers nearly 3,000 people, spread across five villages, most of whom live in Nabugoye, where the main synagogue[3] is located. Built in the early 21st century with the support of American Jewish donors, it can accommodate about 200 worshippers. It is led by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu[4] and houses several sifrei Torah[5] donated by Jewish communities in the United States and Israel.
Since Judaism has no official status in Uganda, the community’s tranquility still depends largely on the political context[6] and, to a lesser extent, on international relations[7], particularly between Uganda and Israel.
[1] The term Abayudaya means “People of Judah” in Luganda.
[2] Semei Kakungulu (1869–1928), from the Baganda people — the largest ethnic group in Uganda — was a military and political leader. After breaking with Christian missionaries, he adopted a literal reading of the Hebrew Bible and, in 1919, gathered around him a group of disciples who would become the Abayudaya community.
[3] Besides the Moses Synagogue in Nabugoye, the Abayudaya community is spread across several villages in the Mbale region, each with its own place of prayer. The Abayudaya constitute a unique case in Africa; no other network of rural Jewish villages organized in a comparable way is known on the continent.
[4] Gershom Sizomu (born 1972) is the chief rabbi of the Abayudaya, the Chief Rabbi of Uganda, and also a member of parliament. He is the first African rabbi trained in an American rabbinical institution, the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles.
[5] Among these sifrei Torah, one was given by Congregation Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States, founded in 1654 in New Amsterdam (New York). It remained the only Jewish congregation in New York until 1825.
[6] Political context: Under the dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada (1971–1979), Judaism was banned in Uganda. Synagogues were destroyed, religious practices suppressed, and the Abayudaya community shrank from several thousand members to a few hundred. Since the 1980s, the community has gradually rebuilt itself.
[7] International relations: According to Ugandan press published in April 2026, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of President Yoweri Museveni and commander of the Ugandan army since 2024, declared that he was ready to mobilize “100,000 men” to support Israel.