Pan African Jewish Alliance


Pan African Jewish Alliance (PAJA) is an International non-profit, non-political organization. PAJA seeks to unite historic and emerging African and African-American Jewish communities around the world. PAJA seeks to integrate African and African-American Jews into the mainstream of the Jewish community. The immediate goals of PAJA are to document the history and current structure of Jewish communities, assess community needs, and to plan and convene an international conference in the future.

PAJA instructs emerging Jews in the basic knowledge of Judaism so that they may contribute individually towards meeting human needs in conformity with Jewish doctrines and beliefs. It shall be the purpose of PAJA to avoid any non-Jewish practices, and to create a feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood.

The organization was founded in San Francisco during the Be’chol Lashon International Think Tank, February 18-21, 2005 at Fairmont Hotel. Be’chol Lashon is a community building and research initiative of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research that seeks to grow and strengthen the Jewish people. The Institute for Jewish & Community Research is under the leadership of Dr. Gary Tobin (President) and Diane Tobin.

Goals and purposes

  • 1. Promote unity and joint action among Africans, African-America Jews and the rest of the world Jews.

  • 2. Create a vision for the emerging Jewish communities and to foster a welcoming environment within the Jewish communities.

  • 3. Maintain "Shalom Bayit" (harmony and mutual respect) in the communities.

  • 4. Ensure proper education and assistance in providing educational materials as well as prayer books to the emerging communities.

  • 5. Be involved in qualitative and quantitative research among the emerging Jewish communities especially those in the continent of Africa, Caribbean and South America.

    • 6. Continually reevaluate the needs of the Jewish communities and seek to meet them.
  • 7. Promote friendly relations between Jews and non-Jews.

  • 8. Encourage and provide proper leadership training for interested individuals among the emerging Jewish communities.

  • 9. PAJA shall endeavor to build Jewish schools if it has the resources to do so as well as encourage emerging Jewish communities to build schools and orphanage homes.

  • 10. PAJA seeks to create Jewish Communities that will promote goodwill and positive relationship with the government in power in their various communities that will portray Jews as racially, ethnically and culturally inclusive.



Rabbi Capers Funnye, the coordinator of PAJA, is working with Be’chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) to establish PAJA chapters in different states and countries. This is an outreach to individuals who share the vision of PAJA to join us to build a vibrant organization that will grow in numbers, in spiritual depth, in community building, in knowledge and in our ability to make the world a better place. As well stated by the leadership of Be’chol Lashon, we are a people of many cultures, languages, and colors, yet we share Torah, Hebrew and Israel and that is what PAJA stands for.