Natan Gamedze, a prince of the royal family of the Kingdom of Swaziland in Africa, is a man very sensitive to words. In fact, he majored in German, Italian and French, and now speaks 14 languages.
But it was words of Hebrew that led him to transform his life.
In the 1980s, he was studying Hebrew at the Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was reading the Torah’s account of how the patriarch Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac (Genesis 22:1-24).
“It opened up a dimension of myself I was not previously exposed to,” he told The Chronicle in an interview on Nov. 15. “The power of the Hebrew language seemed to reveal an inner dimension of reality I hitherto was not exposed to.”
“The most important thing to me,” he continued, “is the pursuit of truth and not being afraid as to where that leads a person.”
So he ended up studying in Israel; and, in 1991, converting to Orthodox Judaism. Today, Rabbi Gamedze is a teacher and lecturer who speaks in venues throughout Israel and the world.
He made his first visit to Milwaukee last week at the invitation of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning.
He spoke about his “Transformation from Swazi Royalty to Orthodox Rabbi” at Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine and the Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee; and about “Anti-Semitism: Is the Hatred toward our Nation a Curse or a Blessing?” for Judaism Without Walls and Ohr HaTorah – Jewish Heritage Center.
Slow speaking
Gamedze said most of his audiences want to hear his life story. When asked whether that makes him feel that he is treated as a novelty rather than a human being, he replied that he doesn’t mind because he decides how to tell his story.
And up to now, he has decided to tell it orally, not in writing. “I feel my strength is in the spoken more than in the written word,” he said. His presence in speaking “is part and parcel of my message.”
“I speak slowly and do not hurry,” he said. “Every word is calculated and thought out.”
Gamedze said he is also leery of cultural gaps, such as how British and American English differ; and “the only way to bridge this is to hear a person speak in front of you.”
He also seems bemused by how important the issue of race is in America — “To me, it is so ridiculous” — and how his being a “black Jew” who is “straight Orthodox” and not coming from “an alternative type of Judaism … intrigues a lot of people.”
“To me, Judaism is about belief,” Gamedze said. “My being black is God’s business, not mine.
“It is like anything else a person is born with. Where you are held accountable is for the choices you make in the situation you find yourself given.” What is “most compelling” about his life is “the choices I made,” he said.
As for the second topic he addressed while here, anti-Semitism, Gamedze said, “Everybody likes to see themselves as special. It seems a tall order for a people to be selected by God for a particular task. That tends to arouse different types of feelings.”
“One of the problems that Jews face is that simply being Jewish presupposes the existence of God,” Gamedze said. “Jewish history presupposes that God exists and has relationships with human beings. That is something which many people don’t find too comfortable.”
Gamedze has lived in Israel for the past 19 years. “I firmly believe that Israel is at the center of Jewish activity. As a Jew, I like to be where Jewish history is in the making.”
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