The Nairobi Hebrew Congregation is a synagogue founded in 1912 by Jewish merchants residing in Nairobi, which was part of the British East Africa. The Nairobi Jewish community has existed since 1904, [1] when a few families migrated to East Africa following the Uganda Scheme, the plan proposed by Joseph Chamberlain, which offered the Jews a refuge from the pogroms in the Russian Empire by the Mau Escarpment, and took its current name in 1907. [2] It was the first synagogue in eastern Africa. [3] [2]
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The original building was inaugurated in 1912, and it was demolished in 1954 to make room for a larger building, which was designed by Imre Rozsa and inaugurated the next year. [2]
Approximately 20 native Kenyans who converted to Judaism are part of the community. [4] [5] The community is officially Orthodox and has around 600 members. [6] The synagogue is affiliated to the World Jewish Congress. [7]
