Nigerian Bar Mitzvah Boy’s Gift of Water to Muslim Village

Until now, the villagers of Atunda Village in Nigeria had to walk miles to access safe drinking water.

But last month, Yossi Uzan, 13, chose to honor his becoming a bar mitzvah by helping finance a source of clean potable water for its residents. He was influenced by the charitable giving of his parents, Rabbi Israel and Haya Uzan, co-directors of Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria in the capital city of Abuja.

Today, the recently bored underground hole and piping system delivers sparkling clean well water near the front doorsteps of those living in small, round thatch-roofed homes in Atunda. The system will serve the village’s approximately 670 adults and 1,040 children.

In attendance at the water-system inauguration were the Uzan family’s congregants from the capital city of Abuja, three-quarters of whom split their time between Nigeria and Israel, where they are citizens. Also enjoying the festivities were more than 2,000 native Nigerian neighbors and friends, of which the majority are Muslims and many Chabad leaders from 13 Central African countries.

One such guest was fellow emissary Mendy Sternbach, who with his wife, Mazal, co-direct Chabad of Lagos.

Sternbach, in a jocular manner, said that in today’s world, with rampant antisemitism, he has survivor’s guilt at having experienced not even one antisemitic incident in Nigeria.

“After Oct. 7 there was a beautiful outpouring of support for the Jewish people in our time of need. I had people emailing me and calling me to provide comfort after the attacks in Israel, and even some who wanted to enlist in the Israeli army,” he said.

When it comes to antisemitism in Nigeria, Rabbi Uzan is in full agreement with his friend and colleague. “Through soulful nurturing and meaningful collaborations, we’ve been able to cultivate a warm and caring relationship with our native Nigerian friends,” he said.

Rabbi Uzan estimates that 850 Jews live in Abuja and the more industrialized Lagos. The community members are primarily expatriate employees with work contracts ranging from three to five years.

“Additionally, Jews are dispersed in various small towns across the country, where we conduct annual programs with the help of young volunteer rabbis, particularly during Jewish holidays,” the rabbi told Chabad.org.

Addressing the crowd, Yossi said, “ … The world was created to do chesed (‘acts of kindness’). The Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—sent us not only to help the Jewish people but to help the local people with every charity need.”

As sparkling water poured through their communal pipe, Nigerian children and adults gathered—both their clothes and their mouths dripping water—as Chabad leaders throughout Central Africa danced with the villagers. Touching the hearts of the largely Muslim Nigerians from Atunda and neighboring villages, Yossi’s gift also included take-home food packages.

In 2023 alone, the Uzans provided more than 23 fresh water projects throughout Abuja and in neighboring areas. With the dearth of local roads, the rabbi gratefully reached some of the sites in the only way possible: via boat.

Mazal Sternbach, is a close family friend of the Uzans and a former volunteer at Chabad of Nigeria. Mazal met her husband, Mendy Sternbach, who had, like Rabbi Uzan, volunteered in Central Africa to help run holiday programs.

After deliberation, they agreed to co-direct Chabad of Lagos, which had formerly fallen on the shoulders of the Uzans. Mazal describes the Uzans “as glue for everyone. They’re always willing to help the other 13 Chabad centers in Central Africa.”

‘They’re always building’

The Uzans hadn’t originally planned on settling in Nigeria as lifetime emissaries—nor, for that matter, in any other African country.

Rabbi Shlomo and Mrs. Miriam Bentolila were sent in 1991 by the Rebbe to the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire); the rabbi became head of the umbrella of Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Africa, comprising 13 countries.

Rabbi Uzan, then a rabbinical student, joined the efforts at outreach during holidays and was invited back year after year. Although navigating the rough terrain wasn’t part of their plans, all it really took was seeing that the needs of some Jews in Central Africa were left unmet for the Uzans to make the shift.

The Uzans settled in Abuja, which is in close proximity to major Israeli companies, in order to establish a Jewish presence and to share their rich Jewish heritage with the entire community.

As an emissary couple, the Uzans focused their time first and foremost on making every aspect of Jewish life accessible and enjoyable, prioritizing simultaneously the physical and spiritual needs of the Jewish population. They built the first school for Jewish children in Nigeria, a kosher-food store, a state-of-the art mikvah, a synagogue, holiday celebrations, and classes for men, women and children. They also bought a space for a Jewish cemetery, local cemetery, building a fence around the site and naming it the “Abuja Jewish cemetery.”

Speaking of the Uzans’ work, a member of the Jewish community said of the couple: “They’re always building.”

Their work on the continent, however, is not limited to religious life and practice. Another group of people the Uzans help are members of the Igbos community, who are very close to the Jewish community; some believe that they are connected to one of the 12 tribes.

“We collaborate with them in various cultural forms, and to our knowledge, they do not claim religious need but rather preserve their attachments while embracing Christianity. Our mission is not to persuade them in any way but to instill pride in their beliefs, whatever they may be, by being attentive to each request,” Uzan explained.

Shlomo Godsi, who was born in Israel and has come to Africa regularly for nearly 30 years to continue his family business—selling generators, used during the many times the power in Nigeria is interrupted—remembers a few Israeli families living near him in northern Nigeria in the 1960s. He maintains that Jewish life in Nigeria has taken a 180-degree turn since the Uzans moved there. “They’ve made their Chabad into a one-stop-shop for everything Jewish,” he said. “The Uzans have made a tremendous impact not only on the Jewish community but the wider non-Jewish community.”

“The Israeli community tried to organize themselves, celebrating the chagim (‘Jewish holidays’) together and sending their children to the same school,” Mazal said.

But today, the landscape is different. Following Nigeria’s push to industrialize through a series of National Development Plans in the late 20th century, the community has welcomed newcomers from across the world. Now, the community boasts Americans, Frenchmen and Australians who rub shoulders with the Israeli old guard, and so the Jewish community has approximately 450 people who travel back and forth with some 300 Jews in Lagos at any given time.

For Mazal, the ebbs and flows of the population demographic means only one thing: that the Chabad centers in the region are “booming.”

With Extended Arms

While the physical and spiritual needs of the Jews in Abuja remains their primary focus, the Uzans could not turn a blind eye to the approximately 8.5 million Nigerian residents living in dire poverty in Nigeria’s capital.

“I remember thinking that I had a responsibility to change what I saw,” Israel said. “It’s a Jewish value to help whomever ever needs help, regardless of their religion.”

Gradually, they developed initiatives and eventually created a humanitarian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) named Chabad Aid to improve the lives of Nigerians.

Additionally, the Muslim population benefits from their generosity. During Ramadan, Chabad whirs into action, providing meals to the less fortunate

They also host a large Iftar meal: the main meal of the fasting day for all Muslim leaders in the country, which Uzan credits with significantly strengthening the bond between the Abrahamic religions.

So strong are these bonds that Uzan says “we have received numerous expressions of gratitude from them, including religious titles and commendations from governmental authorities.”

But it wasn’t the titles and commendations that had 2,000 people attending their son’s bar mitzvah last month. Rather, it was the recognition from a local population of an emissary family’s commitment to bettering their environment and by extension the world around them.