Chabad Lubavitch of Tanzania
Chabad-Lubavitch in Tanzania: the Azizas' Chabad of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam (2025), plus Israeli-run Chabad houses for travellers in Arusha (2021) and Zanzibar (2023)
| Chabad of Tanzania
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation; travellers' Chabad houses |
| Founded | 2025 (Dar es Salaam); 2021 (Arusha); 2023 (Zanzibar) |
| Founder(s) | Shimi Aziza and Chani Aziza (Dar es Salaam) |
| Headquarters | Dar es Salaam |
| Area served | Tanzania |
| Key people | Shimi Aziza and Chani Aziza (Dar es Salaam); Rabbi and Mrs Kofchik (Arusha); Mendi Neeman and Levana Neeman (Zanzibar) |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Dar es Salaam: Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa. Arusha and Zanzibar: not stated. Website jewishtanzania.com (Dar es Salaam) |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Tanzania has three centres. Chabad of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam was launched in 2025 by Rabbi Shimi Aziza and his wife Chani Aziza, a young couple from Israel, at the suggestion of Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila of Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa.[1][2] Two smaller Chabad houses mainly serve Israeli travellers: Chabad of Arusha, founded in 2021, and Chabad of Zanzibar, founded in 2023 by Rabbi Mendi Neeman and his wife Levana.[3][4] The Dar es Salaam centre serves "several dozen" resident Jews and "thousands of Jewish travelers from Israel and around the world" on safari and island holidays.[2]
Emissaries and centres
- Shimi Aziza and Chani Aziza (Dar es Salaam). The Azizas began looking for a post in 2023. In 2024 Bentolila phoned to suggest Tanzania. They visited at Purim, when they knew of only "five or six Jews", and launched Chabad of Tanzania "earlier this year" (2025).[1] The centre has a synagogue, kosher catering, a restaurant, a kosher grocery and a Sunday Hebrew school, and in 2025 was raising money to build "the very first mikvah in Tanzania".[2][1] Chabad.org published a photograph of Aziza with Michael A. Battle Sr., a former US ambassador to Tanzania.[1]
- Chabad of Arusha. Founded in 2021 by Rabbi and Mrs Kofchik (their given names appear only in Hebrew on the site). Address: 9 Mawandammo Road, Arusha. Contact numbers are Israeli. The site says the house "is not funded by the global Chabad movement, but by donations".[3]
- Chabad of Zanzibar. Founded in 2023 by Mendi Neeman and Levana Neeman. It offers Shabbat meals and kosher food for visitors, uses Israeli contact numbers, and gives the same funding statement.[4]
- Earlier. In July 2018 Chabad.org said a centre had opened in Tanzania "earlier this year". An older Kinshasa page listed only "punctual visits" to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.[5][6]
The Arusha and Zanzibar houses do not appear in Lubavitch.com's Tanzania listing, which shows only Dar es Salaam.[7]
The Jewish community
Chabad.org traces Tanzania's Jewish history to Yemenite Jews in the late 1800s and Polish Jewish refugees in the 1930s. It says the Arusha synagogue was destroyed and that the community "largely dispersed" by the 1960s.[1] The Azizas say they found Jews who "felt completely alone", some "afraid to publicly identify as Jewish".[1]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
No source was found on dealings between Chabad and the Tanzanian government, Israeli diplomats or businesses, apart from the photograph with a former US ambassador noted above.[1]
Funding and donors
The Arusha and Zanzibar sites ask for donations and say they receive no central Chabad funding.[3][4] No accounts or named donors were found.
Controversies
None found.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Chabad.org reports a centre opened in Tanzania |
| 2021 | Chabad of Arusha founded |
| 2023 | Chabad of Zanzibar founded |
| 2024 | Bentolila suggests Tanzania to the Azizas; first visit at Purim |
| 2025 | Chabad of Tanzania launched in Dar es Salaam; mikvah project begun |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Tanzania
- Chabad Lubavitch of Kenya
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Motti Wilhelm, "Bringing the Scent of Shabbat to the 'Lone Jews' of Tanzania", Chabad.org, 10 June 2025. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chabad.org Staff, "Chabad of Tanzania: Building Jewish Life in the Heart of Africa", Chabad.org, 25 May 2025. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chabad of Arusha, "About and Contact", chabadtanzania.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chabad of Zanzibar, "About and Contact", chabadzanzibar.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Dovid Margolin, "Raised in the Congo, She Will Now Start Up Chabad in Ivory Coast", Chabad.org, 12 July 2018. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa, "Our Locations", JewishAfrica.com, accessed 20 October 2026 (undated). Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Tanzania – Centers", Lubavitch.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side directory.