Eighteen year old Rachel has had the guitar for a while, strumming the chords to a song the community plays to welcome visitors. Gershom grins as he takes the battered instrument in his hands. Its wood is chipped, the strings are so old they only make dull, toneless twangs. Still, Gershom when strums the first chord of the melody he wrote for Adon Olam everyone appreciates the song's beauty. The lyrics are the same traditional Hebrew that congregations around the world recite to end their services, but the music is lively, cheerful and very African.
Music is an essential part of Jewish observance.
In the Jewish communities of Africa, Jews use song as a way to express their love for the religion they practice. Without access to European or Israeli music, the Abayudaya and the House of Israel community of Ghana have developed their own Jewish songs. In some cases they have put their own African melodies to the text of accepted Hebrew prayers. In others they have written their own lyrics and blended them with beautiful African tunes. When Jay visited the House of Israel community in Ghana he made the first recording ever of their music.