Rivkah Nabulo and Rabbin Asiimwe during the wedding ceremony at Kehilat Moreshet Avraham in Jerusalem, January 4, 2020.Tammy Gottlieb
Great multitudes over the weekend assembled at a Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem to witness the first-ever Israeli wedding of Ugandan Jews.
According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, the wedding “was a true demonstration of the beauty and acceptance of Jews of Uganda by the pluralistic Jewish world,” whose representatives turned out to show their love and support.
Rivkah Nabulo, 23, and Rabbin Asiimwe, 30, exchanged their wedding vows at a ceremony officiated by Rabbi Andy Sacks, director of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel on Saturday.
They are both members of the 2,000-strong Abayudaya community based majorly in eastern Uganda.
Haaretz reported that invitees included prominent Conservative and Reform rabbis in Israel and several young members of the Abayudaya community who are currently participating in educational programs in Israel.
Mobilization for Nabulo and Asiimwe’s wedding was done within a matter of days, according to Haaretz. This included the catering, the klezmer band, the wedding attire and even a ring for the bride.
“They were persuaded by leaders of the Conservative movement to hold a proper Jewish ceremony in Israel before Nabulo returned to Uganda, where weddings are known to be prohibitively expensive,” The Haaretz newspaper reported.
Both Nabulo and Asiimwe were students during the fall semester at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Sources say that the bride returned to Uganda on Sunday, while the groom will remain in Jerusalem to spend another semester at the school.
Nabulo and Asiimwe knew each other for more than seven years, however they began dating two years ago. “It was a wonderful, wonderful wedding,” Asiimwe told Haaretz .
Nabulo explained to media that he intends to complete his program at the Conservative Yeshiva, while his wife, an aspiring Jewish educator, plans to enroll in a rabbinical studies program run by the movement either in Israel or the United States.
Vice chairman of the Jewish Agency David Breakstone attended the wedding, and was quoted by local media as saying: “I hope this will open the way and open the path for other members of your community to be welcome here by the entire country, the entire society, and not only here in this room.”
It should however be noted that after years of deliberations, the Israeli Interior Ministry has still not resolved to grant recognition to the Jewish community of Uganda.
