Chabad Lubavitch of Ivory Coast
Chabad-Lubavitch in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire): the Bensaids' Abidjan centre since 2018, run by Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila's daughter and son-in-law for a community of French, Israeli and other expatriate Jews
| Chabad Lubavitch of Côte d'Ivoire
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founder(s) | Yerachmiel Bensaid and Debbie Bensaid |
| Headquarters | Cocody, Abidjan |
| Area served | Ivory Coast |
| Key people | Yerachmiel (Yerah) Bensaid and Debbie Bensaid |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa (Kinshasa). Chabad uses both "Chabad Lubavitch of Côte-d'Ivoire" and "Chabad of Ivory Coast"; website jewishci.com |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) was set up in Abidjan in 2018 by Rabbi Yerachmiel (Yerah) Bensaid, who was born in Paris, and his wife Debbie. She is the daughter of Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila and Myriam Bentolila of Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa, and grew up in Kinshasa.[1][2] When it was announced, the Abidjan centre was the seventh permanent centre under the Kinshasa office.[1] In 2018 Bensaid put the Jewish community at 200 to 300 people, "a mixture of Israelis, Americans and Europeans, especially French Jews". He said they were "involved in a host of businesses, from infrastructure development to oil and gas to commodities".[1]
Emissaries and centre
- Chabad's link with Abidjan dates from 1988, when Bentolila, then a student, spent a week there on a "Roving Rabbis" trip. A gathering held that year to mark the completion of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah drew 125 people.[1]
- The Bensaids' move was announced in July 2018 for "later this year". Bensaid said their first priorities were Abidjan's first synagogue and, "ultimately", a mikvah.[1]
- The centre is listed in Cocody, Abidjan.[3]
The Jewish community
Chabad.org says a large Jewish community grew up in Abidjan in the 1960s. By 1973 it had a Jewish day school that "at a point drew 300 children", but most members left in the early 1990s.[1] Community members quoted in 2018 included:
- Igael Cohen, born in Abidjan in 1973;
- Efraim Meslet, a French-Israeli businessman also active in Brazzaville;
- Amnon Razin, an Israeli described as "one of the pillars of the Ivorian Jewish community".[1]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
- Razin first came to Ivory Coast "to work on transforming the country's driver's license system from a paper one to a credit-card-sized biometric type". He said more Israelis were coming to Africa because of "new markets hungry for technology".[1]
- Bentolila described Ivory Coast as "a little Paris, a beautiful little country".[1]
Funding and donors
None found.
Controversies
None found.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| c. 1973 | Jewish day school in Abidjan |
| 1988 | Bentolila's student visit to Abidjan |
| Jul 2018 | The Bensaids' move announced |
| 2018 | Chabad of Ivory Coast opens in Abidjan |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Ivory Coast
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Chabad Lubavitch of Ghana
- Chabad Lubavitch of Senegal
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Dovid Margolin, "Raised in the Congo, She Will Now Start Up Chabad in Ivory Coast", Chabad.org, 12 July 2018. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Dovid Margolin, "Myriam Bentolila, 52, Elegant and Unsung Rebbetzin of the Congo", Chabad.org, 19 April 2021. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Abidjan – Centers", Lubavitch.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side directory.