The Story of the AfricanPrince Who Left Royaltyand Fortune to Pursue a

Torah Lifestyle

By Yitta Halberstam

Yitta Halberstam is the author and co-author of eight books, including the best-selling Small Miracles series (Cincinnati, 1997-2003)and Holy Brother: Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (New Jersey, 2002). Her most recent bookis the anthology Changing Course: Women’s Inspiring Stories of Menopause, Midlife, and Moving Forward (Cincinnati, 2004).To reach Rabbi Gamedze, visit his web site: www.natangamedze.com.

Photos courtesy ofChaya Lipschutz

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As Rabbi Natan Gamedze likes totell it, his path to self-discovery—histransformation from prince to rabbi—was paved with chance encounters, mys-tical experiences, strange signs andguideposts, all orchestrated to lead himto his present life as an observant Jew. Alinguist with an honors degree fromOxford, Rabbi Gamedze is the grandsonof a former king of Swaziland

1and scion

of the royal Gamedze dynasty that hadruled Swaziland for generations.

He first encountered Judaism incollege, while taking a class in Italian lit-erature. Rabbi Gamedze, who is fluentin twelve languages, noticed a fellowstudent scribbling in a script he did notrecognize. He was intrigued. After class,the student told him it was Hebrew.“I’m usually slow to make decisions,”admits Rabbi Gamedze. “But right afterI spoke to the student, I dashed downto the Languages Department andsigned up for an introductory course inHebrew. I [can’t] really explain myimpulsiveness ... something just mademe do it.” Six months later, the lan-guage whiz had mastered basic Hebrew,and was taking Hebrew classes with anative Israeli. “During the first session, Iwas listening to a tape in Hebrew ofparashat Lech Lecha, and the words res-onated,” says Rabbi Gamedze. “I feltthat the text was talking to me. Hebrewseemed to speak to my soul, and I start-ed reading more and more texts until Icame to Rambam’s Mishneh Torah,which struck a huge chord. I loved it. Icarried the sefer with me wherever Iwent, and I shared its teachings with myJewish friends on campus, who wereassimilated and illiterate about theirown tradition. Ironically, my enthusiasmfor their religion turned them on toJudaism, and they began studying them-selves. It was a bit strange that the veryperson who ended up bringing themcloser to Judaism wasn’t Jewish himself.”

One day, in the spring of 1988,Rabbi Gamedze had one of those mysti-cal encounters he refers to often. “I wassitting in the campus restaurant, havinga cup of coffee, when a stranger walkedin and started speaking Hebrew to me,”he says. Rabbi Gamedze had never metthis man before, but the man—a visit-

ing professor from Israel—seemed toknow all about him. “Would you beinterested in pursuing a PhD in lan-guages at Hebrew University inJerusalem ... on a full scholarship?” theprofessor asked.

If there was one value theGamedze family cherished it was educa-tion. Rabbi Gamedze’s father, AronBhekithemba Gamedze—who had abdi-cated the throne years before in order tobecome a Christian (not the nationalreligion)

2—had often told his son that

“people can take everything away fromyou, except for an education.” Despitehis abdication, Aron Gamedze contin-ued to occupy some of the most impor-tant and powerful positions inSwaziland, partly because of his royalheritage but primarily because of hisextensive educational background andintellectual finesse. He served variouslyas the country’s ambassador to GreatBritain, minister of education and chiefliaison officer between Swaziland andBritain after the former first won itsindependence in 1968. Most signifi-cantly, Rabbi Gamedze’s father wasknown as the “Eye of the King” in hisrole as chief adviser to the currentmonarch. Rabbi Gamedze’s mother wasan English schoolteacher who sharedher husband’s convictions about educa-tion. When they learned of the offerthat had been made to their son, theyencouraged him to pursue it, never onceconsidering that living in the JewishState might imperil his Christian beliefs.It would be seventeen years before theywould see their son again.

“When I left South Africa, I had astrong feeling that it was for good, thatI wasn’t just leaving for a few years, butthat I was getting myself into somethingmuch bigger than that,” says RabbiGamedze. “I felt that the appearance ofthe professor that day was not just acoincidence—it was a sign fromHashem. I’ve always believed thatHashem is guiding me, and that I haveto be attuned to the signs He drops. Mymotto was: ‘Seize the signs, even if youdon’t know where they will take you.’ Inthis particular case, they took me toJerusalem.”

As soon as Rabbi Gamedze

stepped off the plane, he was overcomeby the sensation of everything beingvery familiar. “I felt that I had comehome,” he remembers. Although chaosand frenzy characterized the Jerusalemthat he traveled to in October 1988—political candidates campaigned rau-cously in the streets while studentstrikes engulfed Hebrew University, par-alyzing it for two weeks—his enthusi-asm only grew. The crowds, the disor-der, the vitality, the life: ”I just loved it.”

What he didn’t love, however, wasthe disappointing course of study atHebrew University. “For two years I wastaking classes in Biblical Hebrew, mod-ern Hebrew, Aramaic, but I felt thatsomething was lacking,” RabbiGamedze says. “I couldn’t put my fingeron it, but a certain dimension that I hadfound in Rambam was absent from mystudies. I was in a quandary ... trying tofigure out what Hebrew had to tell me... and I didn’t know how to progress.Then I got a call from the Jewishfriends I had left behind in SouthAfrica.”

Rabbi Gamedze remembered thatwhen he introduced his friends toMishneh Torah, he had sparked theirinterest in Judaism, but he hadn’tknown to what extent. “It turned out tobe not just intellectual curiosity on theirpart,” says Rabbi Gamedze. They hadcompletely returned to their faith. Intwo years’ time, they had become ba’aleiteshuvah, and were now studying at OhrSomayach in Israel. “Come join us,”they urged him.

When Rabbi Gamedze met hisold friends, he was dumbstruck by theirradically changed appearances (theywere now wearing tzitzit and yarmulkes)and intrigued to learn that he hadplayed such a pivotal role in their trans-formations. “How do you explain that anon-Jew brought Jews closer to theirheritage?” they challenged him. In1990, Rabbi Gamedze left HebrewUniversity to enroll full-time at OhrSomayach, where he ultimately stayedfor five years. His two greatest influ-ences there were the mashgiach, RabbiYehuda Samet, and Rabbi NachmanBulman, z”l, with whom he learnedMichtav MeEliyahu one-on-one. He

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loved his studies, but emotionally he feltuneasy, constantly tormented by onequestion: If Hashem wanted me to be aJew, then why wasn’t I just born one?

Several months into his studies atOhr Somayach, Rabbi Gamedze decid-ed that he needed a break. “Everythingwas becoming too intense,” he recalls. “Idecided to travel to Rome—the ‘leastJewish place in the world’—on holiday,where I hoped I could put Judaism onthe back burner. But the reverse hap-pened. Wherever I went, whatever Isaw, somehow everything kept comingback to Judaism. When I went to St.Peter’s, I thought about the glory of theRoman Empire and how it had disap-peared. But the Jewish people had neverdisappeared. I thought about all that theJews had gone through over the ages:the Crusades, the Inquisition, the autos-da-fe, the Holocaust. I thought of allthe Jewish suffering, and I couldn’t stopfocusing on how the Jewish people gaveup their lives for their beliefs. At thisstage, I had not yet taken onany Jewish [practices]. Butwhen I returned to the hotel,for the first time in my life, Idid something Jewish. I saidthe Shema, and I felt a greatsurge of energy within me, as ifI were serving as a conduit forall the souls who had said thisprayer over the millennia, andthey were joining me in thisprayer now. It was a very mov-ing experience.

“Two weeks later, I wasstill in Rome, sitting in the hoteldining room, preparing to eatbreakfast,” says Rabbi Gamedze.“And then a very strange thingoccurred: I put the fork to thefood, brought the food to my mouth,put down the fork. I repeated this sever-al times, each time the fork suspendedin mid-air. For some reason, I justcouldn’t eat the food. I couldn’t shrugoff the feeling that something was keep-ing me from eating the food in front ofme. I thought back to the days when Iwas a student in South Africa, when Ihung out with my Jewish friends, andremembered that there was one daywhen they didn’t eat—even the most

assimilated of them—and I would jointhem in this fast, not eating until night-fall. This set me wondering ... so Ireturned to my hotel room, found aHebrew calendar that I had broughtwith me, looked up the date and real-ized that it was none other than YomKippur! I couldn’t believe it. So I leftthe hotel and headed for the Jewishghetto. I went to the nearest shul, sawJews wearing talleisim and watched theservice. When [it was over], I decidedthen and there that I would become aJew. I believed that Hashem had givenme plenty of hints, and my feet weredefinitely leading me to Judaism. I feltthat Hashem had been waiting all theseyears for me to recognize that I pos-sessed a Jewish soul.”

Rabbi Gamedze did not tell hisparents that he was converting. “I feltthat there would be some resistance,” hesays. They only learned about his con-version by accident. “I wasn’t in con-

stant touch with them, but during theGulf War, they tried to track me down... they were very concerned. Theycouldn’t find my current [phone] num-ber, so they contacted my first mentorat Hebrew University, the Israeli profes-sor who had originally recruited me.When they asked him for my mostrecent phone number, he answered inastonishment: ‘Why are you calling me?Natan’s been at yeshivah for years, andhe’s a converted Jew!’”

Despite their initial shock, RabbiGamedze’s parents were accepting of thelife path their son had chosen. “I wasbrought up in a home that emphasizedindependent thinking and self-reliance... the idea that everyone is responsiblefor his own decisions, for his own life,”Rabbi Gamedze explains. “My choicewas in part an outgrowth of thisupbringing. How could they oppose it?”

For Rabbi Gamedze, the decisionto convert and dealing with his parentswas the “easy part.” “The hard part wasgetting to know what Judaism meansand what is required—the rectificationof Self, the rectification of the world,the rectification of life itself. I don’tthink it’s possible for a prospective Jewto understand what converting trulyinvolves. Suddenly, there’s a big yokeplaced on top of us. The reality wasmuch more difficult than I ever hadimagined.”

Rabbi Gamedze’s crucible—his“Akeidah” as he likes to call it—isshemirat halashon, the guarding ofone’s speech. “Being cautious aboutone’s speech, not speaking lashonhara ... for me, this was one of themost difficult aspects of becomingfrum.” In conversation, his everyword seems measured andthoughtful. Although he’s elo-quent, lyrical even, he doesn’tspeak quickly or easily. A certainreticence or royal reserve shadeshis sentences. It’s almost a surpriseto learn from others that in thepublic venue, he’s a dynamic andpowerful speaker. In private, how-ever, he’s a reluctant celebrity.

“Look, I know that in theJewish community I stick out likea sore thumb, the only black guy

in the room. I’m not the kind of personwho likes to be in the limelight,” hesays. “When I walk into a new shul, [Iknow that] someone’s going to whisper,‘Is it true that he’s an African prince?’But I had a talk with Hashem, and Isaid to Him, “Well, if that’s what Youwant, that’s it. I often think that maybeit’s precisely because I look so differentthat I can be a better keili [instrument]for Hashem’s will. Some Jews might paymore attention to me than to a regular

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white FFB [Jew who is frum frombirth]. They might say: ‘Well, if he’swilling to give up so much and changehis identity, why can’t I try to be moreJewish?’”

In 1995, Rabbi Gamedze left OhrSomayach to study at Brisk Yeshiva, oneof the most prestigious yeshivot inJerusalem. He completed his studies in2000, received semichah and was thenencouraged to get married.

When he was introduced toShayna Gordon, a white ba’alat teshuvahfrom New York studying at Neve

Yerushalayim College, he knew almostimmediately that he had found his soulmate. The two became engaged aftertheir third date, and married soon after-ward. They initially settled in Betar Illit,where Rabbi Gamedze continued tolearn at the local kollel. Soon after, theymoved to Tzefat, where Rabbi Gamedzetaught a Gemara shiur at YeshivaShalom Rav and gave classes inhashkafah (Jewish philosophy) andparashat hashavuah at another yeshivah.Tzefat, with its panoply of spiritualseekers, mystics and scholars, providedthe perfect milieu for the couple’s earlyyears together. Here they found both awarm welcome and acceptance as a bira-cial couple. And it was in Tzefat thattheir two children were born.

A spate of speaking engagementshas currently brought Rabbi Gamedze

to the United States, and the family,now temporarily based in New York, isconsidering the possibility of makingthe move permanent. “I’m planning togo wherever Hashem leads me,” RabbiGamedze says. “I don’t have a personalagenda. My agenda is finding out whatHashem’s agenda is. I feel that my mis-sion is to influence more and moreJews, and that Hashem is taking me tothe places I need to be. I think Hashemis teaching the Jewish people a lessonthrough its gerim [converts]. I havefound the Jewish community to be very

accepting, and in fact it gives [Jews]chizuk [strength] to meet me. Whenthey see what I’ve given up to be Jewish,it strengthens their own emunah[belief ].”

In between speaking engagements,Rabbi Gamedze waits for his destiny tounfold. “I’m waiting for Hashem todrop His usual hints,” he says cheerfully.“I have no worries; I know He’ll let meknow precisely what I should be doingnext.”

Why is it that Hashem is so mani-fest to Rabbi Gamedze, but so elusive toothers? “Because Hashem has no needto hide if you already know that He’sthere,” Rabbi Gamedze says. “The moreyou believe that Hashem is running theshow, the more He shows His Hand toyou. Whatever face Hashem shows aperson, it’s the same face that the person

is showing Hashem. It’s a reciprocalrelationship.”

Rabbi Gamedze is passionateabout spreading Yiddishkeit across theglobe; he is committed to bringingGod-awareness to far-flung corners andremote regions everywhere, anywhere,that he is directed. But couldn’t he havepursued his calling equally well, if notbetter, had he been born a Jew?

“A few years ago, I was teaching aclass on the Biblical Jethro, trying toconvey what a special person he was,”Rabbi Gamedze says. “And I remem-bered what I had heard many years agofrom Rabbi Moshe Carlebach, who saidthat the first time the phrase ‘BaruchHashem’ [Blessed is God] appears in theBible is when Jethro—a convert—prais-es God for saving the Jews from theEgyptians. The whole idea of a convertis that of Baruch Hashem, of bringingadditional glory to God. That is whyJethro’s name is derived from the wordyeter, which means ‘adding on.’ Becausesomeone who comes from outside theJewish people, [someone] who is Jewishby choice, gives additional glory toGod. Not that God lacks anything, butin our eyes, we see it more.

“As I was teaching this in class, Iheard a voice in my head saying, ‘Nu?Now you know why you have to gothrough all this—for the sake of God’sadditional glory,’” says Rabbi Gamedze.“God says to Himself: ‘How should Iget people more interested in Judaism?So he arranges for an African prince tocome around, to make people takenotice and think about things. Yes, it’shard for me. But it’s all about what Godwants, not what I want. My story is notabout how comfortable it is for me. It’sabout glorifying God.”�JA

Notes1. Swaziland is a small land-locked

kingdom that borders South Africa andMozambique. It is about the size ofIsrael, and its population numbersaround one million.

2. The national religion is similarto ancestor worship, which involves ven-erating deceased ancestors whose spiritsare believed to have the power to inter-vene in the affairs of the living.

The Convert’s Love of Torah“Rabbi Akiva was the foundation of the Oral Law. For this reason he wasa descendant of converts—because it is they who openly have greater lovefor the Torah. For the Jewish people were brought out of slavery to free-dom by the Holy One Blessed be He, who made them into a kingdomof priests. And after all this [He] brought them close to Mount Sinai andcompelled them to accept the Torah. And even when they subsequentlyaccepted the Torah out of love, in the days of Achashveirosh, this wasbecause of their appreciation of the miracle that was done for them. Butthe convert forsakes his tranquil life among the nations and [takes uponhimself ] a life of restraint from his own impulses, and joins Israel, whoseearthly plight is lowly and painful. Only because of love of Torah doesthe convert subjugate himself to the yoke of Heaven” (Rabbi ZadokHaKohen of Lublin, Machshavot Charotz, 84a-84b).

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