Shoshana Nambi
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Shoshana Nambi is the first female rabbi from Uganda; she was ordained in 2024 by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York.[1][2][3] She currently serves as the assistant rabbi at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, California.[4][5]
Nambi grew up in Eastern Uganda, in the Abayudaya community.[6]
Nambi studied for a year at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and later enrolled at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), spending her first year at the Jerusalem campus before continuing her studies in New York City.[5] She was the first Ugandan female rabbinic student at HUC-JIR.[7]
Career
Nambi is the author of the children’s book The Very Best Sukkah: A Story from Uganda, which is about the celebration of Sukkot in her home community.[8][9] The book, published by Kalaniot Books in 2022, received a 2023 National Jewish Book Award and was named a Sydney Taylor Honor Book.[10][6]
Nambi was ordained in 2024 by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City,[2] making her the first Ugandan woman to be ordained as a rabbi,[3] and the second member and first female member of the Abayudaya community to be ordained as a rabbi in the United States, with the first being Gershom Sizomu.[1]
She now serves as the assistant rabbi in Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, California.[4][5]