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Deep in Madagascar, converts arise from a cold river mikveh

June 13, 2016 08:23
Members of the Malagasy community

ByDebbie Josefson, Debbie Josefson

2 min read

June 3 marked the 76th anniversary of the Madagascar Plan. Conceived as an alternative means to achieving the Final Solution, the plan called for the mass-deportation of European Jewry to Vichy-controlled Madagascar, where those who did not die en route would be exterminated far from the prying eyes of the international community.

Now, a just over three quarters of a century later, Madagascar is once more in the news for Jews, this time as a place of rebirth rather than extermination.

Over the past five years, a novel Jewish community has taken root in Madagascar, the remote Indian Ocean Island better known for lemurs, chameleons, vanilla and a movie about escaped zoo animals.

The community emerged five and half years ago when members of various Christian Messianic sects splintered off and began to study the Torah and follow its precepts.