Moïse Lévy (August 12, 1915 – September 29, 2003) was a Sephardi Jewish

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

who led the Jewish community in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo for 53 years.Hommages su
karibouni.info
4 mai 2013, consulté le 9 avril 2014

Biography

Lévy was born on August 12, 1915, in Antalya, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He grew up on the island of Rhodes which, at the time, was under Italian control. There he began his rabbinical studies. At age 22, having been ordained as a Rabbi, he left Rhodes for the Belgian Congo (modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) where a small Jewish community, composed mostly of Sephardic Jews from Rhodes, had settled in Élisabethville (modern-day Lubumbashi)., n° 16 He became the first Rabbi in the Congo in 1937 and, in 1953, was named

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of the Belgian Congo,

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

, and

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

. He organized prayers, rites of passage and maintained Jewish life in the area. In the event of a dispute between members of the community, he served as a mediator and his judgements were accepted as final, thus avoiding having to involve the colonial administration. The Rabbi built a sphere of influence far outside his community in Southern Congo. During the colonial period, provincial governors regularly consulted him. He had audiences with both King Leopold III and King Baudouin. When the colony became independent in 1960,

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

attempted to secede from the country. Moïse Tshombe, leader of the

State of Katanga The State of Katanga; sw, Inchi Ya Katanga) also sometimes denoted as the Republic of Katanga, was a breakaway state that proclaimed its independence from Congo-Léopoldville on 11 July 1960 under Moise Tshombe, leader of the local ''Co ...

, remembered the Rabbi for ruling in his favor during a dispute in his youth, and entrusted Levy with the diplomatic missions of France, the United States, and Israel. Following the rise of

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

and the creation of Zaire in 1965, Levy continued to have good relations with the local authorities and was named to the

National Order of the Leopard The National Order of the Leopard (french: Ordre national du Léopard) was the highest honorific decoration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1966 until 2002 when it was discontinued and replaced by the Order of the National Heroes Kab ...

. Following the collapse of Zaire in the

First Congo War The First Congo War, group=lower-alpha (1996–1997), also nicknamed Africa's First World War, was a civil war and international military conflict which took place mostly in Zaire (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo), with major spillo ...

in 1991, Levy decided to leave the country for Belgium where he retired. He died in 2003., n° 16

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1915 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Belgian Jews 21st-century Belgian Jews 20th-century Italian rabbis 21st-century rabbis Belgian Congo people Belgian rabbis Belgian Sephardi Jews Democratic Republic of the Congo Jews Democratic Republic of the Congo people of Greek-Jewish descent Greek Sephardi Jews History of Katanga People from Antalya People from Rhodes People of Turkish-Jewish descent Sephardi rabbis