Chabad Lubavitch of Angola
Chabad-Lubavitch in Angola: the Cheklys' Luanda centre (since 2015), opened in 2016 with donors including Haim Taib, whose Mitrelli group holds large Angolan state contracts
| Chabad Lubavitch of Angola
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | Announced December 2014; emissaries in post from early 2015; centre opened September 2016 |
| Founder(s) | Levi Yitzchak Chekly and Devorah Leah Chekly |
| Headquarters | Rua Ramalho Ortigão n.º 13, Alvalade, Luanda |
| Area served | Angola |
| Key people | Levi Yitzchak Chekly and Devorah Leah Chekly |
| Remarks | Philanthropists at the 2016 opening: Jacob Karako, Ouriel Mansour, Elazar Benjamin, Haim Taib |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Angola is run in Luanda by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Chekly and his wife Devorah Leah Chekly, who moved from Paris in late 2014 or early 2015. They were sent by Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila of Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa.[1][2] In announcing the post, Chabad linked the growth of Angola's Jewish population to post-war foreign investment "in its infrastructure, along with its minerals, diamonds, oil and land".[1] The centre and synagogue opened in September 2016 in a three-storey villa. Government officials attended, along with philanthropists including the Israeli businessman Haim Taib.[2] Taib's Mitrelli Group has won large Angolan state contracts, financed through a sister company, Luminar Finance.[3]
Emissaries and centre
- Appointment. On 3 December 2014 Lubavitch.com announced that the Cheklys would relocate from Paris to Luanda. Until then, Angola's Jews had been served by visiting rabbinical students in the summer and at Jewish holidays. As a student, Chekly had travelled "on many occasions" to Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo.[1]
- Opening, 2016. On Sunday 18 September 2016 about 150 people attended the opening of the new building and synagogue. Plaques were unveiled "dedicated to the founders". The Cheklys had been in Angola for about 18 months, at first in a small apartment.[2] That evening a new Torah scroll, donated by Jacob Karako in memory of Holocaust victims, was completed at the Epic Sana Hotel in Luanda.[2][4]
- Community. Chabad.org estimated "300 Jewish families living full-time in Angola", along with business visitors. The Cheklys typically drew 50 to 60 people a week to Shabbat services and meals.[2]
- Address. Rua Ramalho Ortigão n.º 13, Alvalade, Luanda.[5]
The Jewish community
Chabad describes Angola's Jews as "a diverse bunch comprising of Israelis, Europeans and Americans", drawn by the construction boom in Luanda.[4] No other organised Jewish community body in Angola was found, so Chabad is in effect the community's only religious institution.
- Editor's note: The absence of any other Jewish body comes from the sources reviewed, not from a positive statement by any of them.
Relations with the state, business and Israel
Government. Chabad.org reports that "government officials" attended the 2016 opening. It does not name them.[2] COLlive says it was attended "by public figures and officials".[4]
Haim Taib and Mitrelli. Taib was one of the four philanthropists named at the opening.[2] According to the Angolan business weekly Expansão (2021):
- Luminar Finance, based in Zurich, and the Mitrelli group both belong to Taib's Menomadin group.
- Luminar "only finances projects in countries that have contracts with Mitrelli" (translated).
- Mitrelli's Kora Angola had built about 40,000 homes in state "centralidades" under a $2.5 billion Luminar credit line.
- Presidential order 54/21 of 29 April 2021 approved $782 million for three more housing projects. It used a simplified procurement procedure and required that the contract go to the firm benefiting from the Luminar credit line.
- Mitrelli was also "the main supplier of tests and biosafety material" to Angola during the COVID-19 pandemic (translated).[3]
None of this is alleged to involve Chabad. It is recorded here because Taib is a named benefactor of the Luanda centre.
Diamonds. Chabad itself names diamonds among the investments behind the community's growth.[1] Bloomberg reports that Dan Gertler, who is linked to Chabad in Kinshasa, began his career buying rough diamonds in Angola and Liberia.[6]
- Editor's note: No source was found linking Lev Leviev, whose Angolan diamond interests are covered on his own page, to Chabad of Angola. The other three donors (Karako, Mansour and Benjamin) could not be identified beyond their names.
Funding and donors
- The 2016 opening named Jacob Karako (who also donated the Torah scroll), Ouriel Mansour, Elazar Benjamin and Haim Taib.[2][4]
- No accounts or Angolan registration were found.
Controversies
None found involving Chabad.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Before 2014 | Visiting rabbinical students serve Angola in summer and at Jewish holidays |
| 3 Dec 2014 | Chekly appointment announced |
| Early 2015 | The Cheklys settle in Luanda |
| 18 Sep 2016 | Centre and synagogue opened; Torah completed at the Epic Sana Hotel |
| Apr 2021 | Presidential order 54/21 awards $782m in housing work to Taib's Mitrelli group (Expansão) |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Angola
- Mitrelli Group
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Republic of the Congo
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Staff writer, "Chabad To Open in Angola", Lubavitch.com, 3 December 2014. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Karen Schwartz, "A Grand Day for Angola Jews, Complete With a New Torah", Chabad.org, 22 September 2016. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Telma Van-Dúnem, "Grupo israelita financia, constrói e passa factura de 782 milhões USD", Expansão (Luanda), 7 May 2021. In Portuguese; translations ours. Press.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "New Center Inaugurated in Angola", COLlive, 21 September 2016. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, "Luanda – Centers", Lubavitch.com, accessed 20 October 2026. Chabad-side directory.
- ↑ Franz Wild, Michael J. Kavanagh and Jonathan Ferziger, "Gertler Earns Billions as Mine Deals Fail to Enrich Congo", Bloomberg Markets (December 2012), republished by Pan African Visions, 2 July 2013. Press.