Chabad Lubavitch of Zambia
Chabad-Lubavitch in Zambia: the Hertzels' Lusaka centre since late 2022, the first resident rabbi in decades, backed by a former MP who converted to Judaism
| Chabad-Lubavitch of Zambia
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation |
| Founded | 2022 (announced 20 November 2022; opened before Chanukah) |
| Founder(s) | Mendy Hertzel and Rivky Hertzel |
| Headquarters | Lusaka |
| Area served | Zambia |
| Key people | Mendy Hertzel and Rivkah (Rivky) Hertzel |
| Remarks | Affiliations: Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa (Kinshasa); Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch. Website chabadzambia.org. Opened in memory of Myriam Bentolila |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Zambia was opened in Lusaka in late 2022 by Rabbi Mendy Hertzel, who grew up in Rosh Pina in Israel, and his wife Rivky, whose parents are Chabad emissaries in Alaska. Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch announced the post on 20 November 2022. Chabad.org's headline called it Zambia's "First Rabbi in Over 75 Years".[1] Rabbi Shlomo Bentolila of Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa had pledged in April 2021, while sitting shiva for his wife Myriam, to open a Zambian centre in her memory.[1] Two figures were prominent in bringing Chabad to Zambia: Yehuda Bendavid, a former member of parliament from the Bemba royal family who converted to Judaism, and the community president, Saul Radunsky.[1]
History
Jews first arrived in what was then Northern Rhodesia in the late 1800s, drawn by cattle and copper and fleeing European antisemitism. The community reached more than 1,000 members in the 1950s. By the 1980s there was "no longer a rabbi or a shochet".[1] In 1969 the Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, told Yerachmiel Glazer, a young Zambian Jew from Ndola, "I would like you to return to Zambia and involve yourself in spreading Judaism there". Glazer worked in Ndola and the Copperbelt before moving to South Africa.[1] Before 2022, Chabad of Central Africa sent rabbinical students for the holidays.[1][2]
Emissaries and centre
- The Hertzels first visited Lusaka for Purim 2022 and came back before Passover to run a matzah-baking class.[1]
- The centre runs Shabbat services, holiday events, adult education and children's programmes.[1]
- Zambia appears among the ten countries with permanent centres in Chabad's 2026 list.[3]
The Jewish community
The community is mixed: descendants of the pre-war Ashkenazi settlers (such as Bonnie Abutbul, "a third-generation Zambian Jew"), Israeli expatriates, and Bendavid.[1] Saul Radunsky, the community's president, is the son of Rachmiel Radunsky. Rachmiel came to Livingstone around 1929–31, chaired the Jewish community, and campaigned for independence. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Grand Companion of Freedom.[1] Saul Radunsky said Chabad's approach that "a Jew is a Jew is a Jew" was "a completely new thing for us".[1]
Relations with the state, business and Israel
- Yehuda Bendavid. Bendavid's mother holds the title "Her Royal Highness Mumbi Mumbi of the Bemba Royal Establishment". He became an MP in 2006 and "spoke about the importance of reconnecting with Israel". As an MP he "campaigned against antisemitism and BDS measures". In 2009 he left parliament to study at a yeshiva in Jerusalem, and he later converted "under the auspices of the Chief Rabbis of Israel". On his return to Zambia as a businessman, he "supported the rabbi's efforts to establish a Chabad center in Zambia", and he flew to New York for the 2022 conference.[1]
- Bendavid's account of Zambia–Israel relations. Bendavid told Chabad.org that after the 1973 war "the president of Zambia made a big mistake and withdrew our embassy from Israel, and confiscated many Jewish properties", and that the economy then "began to collapse".[1] This is his own view.
- Copper. The early community was tied to copper mining, and Rachmiel Radunsky prospered from the wartime copper trade.[1]
- Editor's note: Chabad.org is the only source for Bendavid's biography and statements; they were not independently checked. No source was found on Chabad's dealings with the current Zambian government or the Israeli embassy.
Funding and donors
None found beyond Bendavid's support, as described by Chabad.org.[1]
Controversies
None found.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1950s | Zambian Jewish community peaks at more than 1,000 |
| 1969 | The Rebbe tells Yerachmiel Glazer to return to Zambia |
| Apr 2021 | Bentolila pledges a Zambian centre in memory of his wife |
| Mar 2022 | Hertzels' first visit (Purim) |
| 20 Nov 2022 | Post announced at the emissaries' conference |
| Late 2022 | Hertzels move to Lusaka (planned for before Chanukah) |
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Zambia
- Chabad Lubavitch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Chabad Lubavitch of South Africa
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Bruria Efune, "Rich in Jewish Tradition, Zambia Welcomes First Rabbi in Over 75 Years", Chabad.org, 20 November 2022. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa, "Our Locations", JewishAfrica.com, accessed 20 October 2026 (undated). Chabad-side.
- ↑ Shloimy Galperin, "Getting Central Africa's Rabbis Into One Room Isn't Easy", Chabad.org, 10 June 2026. Chabad-side.