Who We Are

Read our Bulletin

Our History

Clergy

Staff

Leadership

Our Synagogue

News

Upcoming Events

Member Profiles

Request Information

How to become a TI member

Makom Torah - A Place of Torah

Photo Gallery

Nigerian Jewry to Benefit Again From TI's Tech and Texts.........posted Jun 19, 2007

Jews in the West African nation of Nigeria will benefit once again from the generosity of Tikvat Israel members and friends.

A second shipment of technology and Jewish liturgy is now enroute as part of Africa Project 2. It departed the synagogue grounds in a huge storage trailer during the second week of June.

The final count of materials collected by congregants was impressive: 2,600 books on Jewish history and culture, 500 machzorim, 170 siddurim, 375 chumashim, 210 Jewish bibles (tanakhim), five complete sets of the Encyclopedia Judaica and a plethora of textbooks plus 40 computers and monitors and peripherals (scanners, printers, etc.).

Rabbi Howard Gorin organized the collection effort over recent weeks as a followup to Africa Project 1, which took place in February 2006. That shipment included some 8,000 pounds of books about Judaism, more than 50 computers and an assortment of peripherals.

This time the rabbi was joined by a Nigerian professor, Christiana Okechukwu, who teaches at Montgomery College and carries useful connections in her homeland.

Rabbi Gorin decided to launch his collection of Jewish texts and modern technology following trips to Nigeria in 2004 and 2006. He met with various Jewish communities during those visits.

"See, a lot of people go and they see the poverty and they meet the people and they make promises and promises, which largely go unfulfilled," Rabbi Gorin told NBC4, which aired a segment about the synagogue's computer and text collection on its 5 p.m. evening news show on June 13. Watch the interview.

Okechukwu has established a permanent learning center in the city of Enugu, where the books and computers can be put to use. The rabbi, meanwhile, is helping some of the Jews he has met create Internet cafes to support their religious needs.

"This will allow them to generate income for themselves and their communities, but also it will give them access to all the resources on the World Wide Web -- both spiritual resources and professional resources in terms of networking," he told NBC4.

"They're very excited. What did one person call it? A tsunami of knowledge," said Gorin.

The professor said the synagogue's kindness, coupled with her know-how, has created a highly effective effort. "I'm thrilled because I feel I'm making a difference," said Okechukwu.