Rabbi Gershom Sizomu

Rabbi Gershom Sizomu earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from Islamic University in Uganda. As a Be'chol Lashon Rabbinic Fellow at the Institute for Jewish & Community Research, he came to the U.S. to 2003 to study in a five-year graduate program at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He graduated in 2008 and was ordained as a rabbi under the auspices of Conservative Judaism.

In July 2008, Sizomu returned to Uganda and conducted a conversion ceremony for 250 people at the village of Nabogoya, with converts coming from across Uganda and from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. During the ceremony, Sizomu stressed the viability of the Jewish faith for sub-Saharan Africans by noting, "The relationship between God and the Jews in the Torah resonates for many spiritual seekers. It is important that Africans and others know that they can choose Judaism as a spiritual path and that we are open to them.

Rabbi Gershom is the first native-born black rabbi in sub-Saharan Africa. He is also the first chief rabbi of Uganda. In February 2016 he was elected as a Member of Parliament in Uganda representing Bungokho North outside of Mbale.