The Sunday Mail
Chief Mposi
When the 12 tribes of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were exiled for 70 years by the Babylonians, it became difficult for some of them to uphold their Jewish customs as they were living in a foreign land under captivity.
As a result, some of them gave up hope that they would return to the Holy land of Israel and started to deviate from Judaism.
They broke several Jewish canonical laws by getting married to people of non-Jewish culture (gentiles), a development which, according to scripture, did not please God.
Nonetheless, the Jewish captives continued with their ways and when they finally returned to Israel after the fall of the Babylonian empire, many did not think their deeds in exile would be punished.
However, upon reaching the Holy Land, the people who had married gentiles were told to give up their gentile families or risk being expelled from the Kingdom of Judah.
Many disobeyed this order and were expelled from Israel as they were deemed to be tainted before God.
Those who were expelled then moved out of Israel and settled in Yemen where they lived for several years in a City called Sena.
From there, the group split into various groups and migrated to different parts of the world, including Africa.
Those who came to Africa, particularly the southern parts, became to be known as the Lemba, va-Remba or more simply Mwenye.
In Zimbabwe, a group of people in Mberengwa district claim to be of this lineage and also call themselves va-Remba as they say they are the descendants of Leviticus.
They say they are Jewish although they believe in Jesus Christ, something which most Jews are opposed to.
While DNA tests carried out by British scholar Tudor Parfirtt confirmed that the Remba people of Zimbabwe have Jewish blood, they left some questions unanswered.
Remba people are found in most parts of the country but studies show that it is in Mberengwa where a majority of them are settled.
Last week, The Sunday Mail Extra traced some of the Remba people in Mposi village in Mberengwa, the heartland of their culture, to unravel their history as well as their unique cultural practices.
Here, these people are known for isolating themselves from non-Remba people as they adhere to strict dietary and matrimonial laws.
Historian and vice-chairman of the Remba Cultural Association, Mr Godwin Nyikavaranda, narrated the history of the Remba people to our news crew.
He said after his ancestors were expelled from Judea in Israel for disobedience, they settled in Yemen before they migrated to other parts of the world including Zimbabwe.
“We came from a city called Sena in Yemen. There are several Remba cities called Sena but the one we link directly with is the one in Mozambique which was built by our ancestors before they came to settle here (Mberengwa),” he said.
“Our history as the Remba people shows that we are descendants of Israelites as we came from Judea.
“What shows that we are one people is the fact that the Judah have their 12 tribes and us the Remba we also have 12 tribes and there is scientific evidence to back that.”
Nyikavaranda said after unrests broke out in Yemen due to various issues which included land and trade disputes, his ancestry then migrated to Africa and briefly settled in Tanzania before going to Beira, Mozambique.
“Our ancestors then settled in Mozambique where they stayed for many years and build the Sena,” he said.
“However, problems then developed between our ancestors and the Portuguese. The Portuguese were not happy with the trade activities of the Remba people so they started persecuting them.
“It was then that our ancestors moved out of Mozambique and came here before staying in Wedza, Gokomere and Great Zimbabwe for some years.”
Mr Nyikavaranda even claimed that it was the Remba people who built the Great Zimbabwe.
One of the Remba elders, Mr Alfius Matando, agreed with Mr Nyikavaranda saying their culture is unique and that they prefer secrecy.
“We believe that we are Jews because DNA tests conducted by Professor Tudor Pafirtt determined that our blood is 100 percent Jewish,” he said.
“While there are those who follow Christianity and Islam in our Remba culture, we are neither Christians nor Moslems.
“However, we believe in the messianic way of worship, that Jesus died for our sins and that we should worship God through him.”
Mr Matando said they adhere to strict dietary laws which forbid them to eat pork or buy meat from the butchery.
“We do not eat livestock which has not been slaughtered in a Remba way by a Remba person. We do not buy meat from the butchery and we adhere to our ancestors’ male circumcision practices.”
Mr Matando said the Remba people in Mberengwa are now building a synagogue to preserve their culture.
“We applied for land from local government and we were given almost two hectares for which we paid $1 100. We want to build our synagogue here with the help of the Messianic Jewish Voice.”
He emphasised that they were not Christians despite believing in Jesus Christ. He added that they do not celebrate Christmas and are not allowed to marry outside the Remba culture.
According to Sandy Leeder, the Lemba co-ordinator for Kulanu, a New York-based non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting isolated and emerging Jewish communities, the Remba people have a dilemma of identity.
“It’s hard to say what the Lemba really want,” Leeder said. “I believe they really would like to be Jewish, but there is a minimalist Jewish presence, in fact the only Jewish presence is Kulanu, period.”
“If they become Christian, they lose these traditions,” Leeder continued. “And if they become Muslim, they lose drinking, and they like to drink.”
However, Chief Mposi of Mposi village in Mberengwa and a Remba himself, said he was pleased with the development of the Remba culture in Zimbabwe adding that for a long time they had lived in silence as no-one cared about them.
“I am very pleased with the dynamics of the Remba culture here in Mberengwa and Zimbabwe at large. I am so happy because here in Zimbabwe there is freedom of worship and we are free to practice our culture.
“For a long time we have lived in silence because no-one really paid attention at what we do, but coming out to talk about our culture has helped us a lot. We now benefit from various community projects being done by our Jewish brothers from all over the world.”
Mposi is the only area with a chieftaincy which rotates among the people of Remba people.
The Remba people are still demanding their ancient war weapon called Ngomalungundu which is believed to be the Ark of the Covenant and kept at a museum in Harare.
In 2007, Tudor Parfitt re-discovered a 700-year-old replica of the Ark of the Covenant, a chest allegedly built by the Israelites 3 000 years ago to hold the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed.
Around the same time, a series of genetic studies were conducted, proving the Semitic origin of the tribe.
Remba people are also found in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Ethiopia although they are found in large numbers in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
