The Jewish Home | MAY 26, 2022
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Finding the Lost Souls Rudy Rochman Connects Jews from the Four Corners of the World By Tammy maRk
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OctOber 29, 2015 | the Jewish Home
Raise a banner to gather the lost of Israel and gather us together from the four corners of the earth... - Yishayahu 11:12
R
udy Rochman envisions the Jewish future closer than most. Rochman, a Jewish and Israel rights activist, is the executive producer of the upcoming We Were Never Lost documentary series, a project dedicated to portraying the stories and struggles of lesser known or disconnected communities of Jews around the world. The first season of the documentary will highlight communities in countries across Africa, each with their own distinctive histories, with the first episode centered on the Igbo Jewish community in Nigeria. Rochman doesn’t consider them “lost” and is determined bring them out of obscurity. “The Igbo people are a people with a rich history, diversity and a lot of culture and have had very similar experiences that other Jewish communities have had around the world,” explains Rochman. “They are believed to be descendants of a tribe of Israel, specifically of Gad. There is a large community within the Igbo population that has either preserved elements of their Jewish culture or heritage, or has come back to their Jewish culture or heritage. Some of them
are even now second generation born, where all they know is being Jewish.”
The Storytellers Become the Story
At the age of 28, Rochman has faced formidable challenges on both the physical and intellectual battlefields. An IDF sniper and Ivy League student, he is bold, passionate and confident in his convictions, yet measured, articulate and calm in his demeanor. These attributes serve Rochman well on his mission and have been tested numerous times, especially in July 2021 as he was held captive in a Nigerian prison. When Rochman and his crew, Director Noam Leibman of Kavana Films and Producer and Emmy-nominated journalist David Benaym, applied for visas to visit Nigeria as filmmakers, they knew there were risks associated with travel in the region. They took necessary precautions and set out, eager to connect with the Igbo Jews and learn about their unique existence. After many years of having promoted Jewish pride, Rochman was mystified by this gap in knowledge and determined to fill in the blanks. Rochman, Leibman and Benaym spent two days in the Igbo community where they were welcomed with open arms. Video footage
