Judaism in Madagascar

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency , a vast majority of Malagasies believe they are descended from Jews. Genetic research hasn't been able to corroborate their stories, instead showing that the first people to settle on the island were of Malayo-Indonesian origin, explained Nathan Devir, an associate professor of Jewish studies at the University of Utah, who has studied the group since 2012. Later, African Bantu migrants also settled on the island. Communities have been forming in Madagascar in recent years and have been slowly growing throughout the region. After France colonized the island and Europeans began settling there in the 19th century, a small number of Jewish families settled in Madagascar, but did not establish a Jewish community. In the summer of 1940, the Madagascar Plan was proposed by the Nazis , under which 4 million European Jews would be forcibly relocated there. The plan ultimately became unfeasible, and was scrapped. When Madagascar gained independence as the Malagasy Republic in 1960, Israel was one of the first countries to recognize its independence and send an ambassador. Relations between both countries are close and friendly. The country continues to be home to a tiny Jewish population, and there is a small trickle of aliyah to Israel from Madagascar. A small community of Malagasies began practicing Judaism in 2010, and three separate communities formed, each embracing a different wave of Jewish spiritual practice. Many of those who converted previously belonged to Messianic Jewish congregations, which incorporate elements of rabbinic Judaism but retain belief in Jesus. Community members searched for religious resources about Judaism online and ultimately came in contact with Kulanu, a Jewish outreach group that has organized group conversions elsewhere. In May 2016, 121 members of the Malagasy Jewish community were converted in accordance with traditional Jewish rituals; appearing before a beit din and submerged in a mikvah . The conversion, organized with the help of Kulanu, was presided over by three Orthodox rabbis.

Nevertheless, an enduring origin myth across numerous Malagasy ethnic groups suggests that the island's inhabitants descended from ancient Jews , and thus that the modern Malagasy and Jewish peoples share a racial affinity. This belief, termed the "Malagasy secret", is so widespread that some Malagasy refer to the island's people as the Diaspora Jiosy Gasy (Malagasy Jewish Diaspora). As a result, Jewish symbols , paraphernalia, and teachings have been integrated into the religious practices of certain Malagasy communities. The island’s small rabbinic Jewish population is outnumbered by numerous mystical groups identifying as Jewish or Israelite and practicing syncretic combinations of Christianity , Judaism, Islam , and traditional ancestor worship and animism . These include the roughly 2,000 members of the "approximate[ly]... dozens" of Messianic Jewish congregations in Madagascar, which incorporate Judaic elements into Christian belief. Similar notions of Madagascar's supposed Israelite roots persisted in European accounts of the island until the early 20th century, and may have influenced a Nazi plan to relocate Europe's Jews to Madagascar. Madagascar's small Jewish community faced challenges during the Vichy regime, which implemented antisemitic laws affecting the few Jews on the island. In the 21st century, some indigenous Malagasy communities informally identified with Jews and Judaism have adopted rabbinic Judaism, studying the Torah and Talmud across three small congregations and undergoing Orthodox conversion . The unified rabbinic Jewish community practices a Sephardic liturgy and refers to its ethnic division within Judaism as Madagascar Sepharad .