Partnering with African Jewish Communities

We partner with global Jewish communities to share their stories through film and photography.

Global Jewish Communities Course (Fall 2024)

As part of an ongoing partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation, Profs. Decherney and Byala and 15 Penn students traveled to Uganda to collect oral histories of members of the Abayudaya (Ugandan Jewish) community.

The Abayudaya (Summer 2024)

days between rest (2024)

Grammy-nominated singer Rachel Namadosi tells the story of how her community overcame antisemitism and found peace in music, prayer, and shabbat.

the cave synagogue (2024)

Ugandan elder JJ Keki returns to the cave synagogue where he prayed as a boy, when Judaism was banned in Uganda.

The Abayudaya Jews of Uganda Photography Exhibit at UCLA (2024)

UCLA Hillel exhibited Prof. Peter Decherney’s photographs of the Abayudaya community. The show later moved to Beth Am Synagogue in Los Angeles and the 14Y Gallery in New York.

Ethiopian Passover Photography Exhibit (2023)

Prof. Peter Decherney’s exhibit of photographs of the Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia was on display at the 14Y Gallery in New York.

Dreaming of Jerusalem: A Discovery+ Original Film

In 2019 and 2002, Peter Decherney and Sosena Solomon traveled to Ethiopia to make a short film, Dreaming of Jerusalem, about the Jewish community living in Gondar, Ethiopia. The film has been shown at many festivals globally and it is available of Discovery+.