Qesher Book Club: "Shalom Uganda - A Jewish Community in the Equator"

Janice  Masur grew up in a tiny, remote European Jewish community in Kampala,  Uganda, under British Imperial rule, with no rabbi or Jewish  infrastructure. And yet, this community of only twenty-three families  formed a cohesive group that celebrated all Jewish festivals together  and upheld their Jewish identity. Sadly, while Kampala Jewry made every  effort to survive, it eventually failed and withered under the hot  African sun. In "Shalom Uganda: A Jewish Community on the Equator",  Masur tells her story of living in this little-known Ashkenazi Jewish  community from 1949 to 1961. Because so many Jewish communities were  obliterated in the last century, she documents, remembers, and preserves  Kampala European Jewry with all the respect that it deserves. This book  is the only piece of scholarship on this particular Jewish topic.

Supported with  interviews, photos and research, this presentation will be enjoyed by  Jewish scholars and anyone interested in Jewish history and life in  far-flung places.

You can read more and order the book here.

Janice Masur was born in Eritrea, spent her childhood in Uganda, and attended  university in New Zealand—all countries where Jewry was barely visible  on the Jewish diaspora spectrum. Today, Masur feels strongly rooted in  her Jewish community in Vancouver, Canada, where she lives with her husband.

In March 2024 Janice went to Uganda to unveil a memorial plaque for her  non-existent Jewish community. The author has also held a photographic  exhibit in 2019 in Vancouver entitled "Shalom Uganda". A travelling  banner exhibit in May 2022 in Toronto which will find a final home in  the newly built Buganda Museum in Kampala in 2024.

Janice has spoken in London, England, Toronto and Seattle, Windhoek, Namibia  and Vancouver in person and has participated in several zoom talks on  this particular topic.