.....MESSAGE OF TODAY'S LIFE-SCINECES SHARING AT PVAF.... "This story has the potential to remind the greater community that you have to step outside of this very narrow European view of what it means to be Jewish."  "see the divine intervention in the story of the Torah scroll and how it has intersected with lives on three continents." "Judaism is always thought of as an ethnicity, but it's not - it's a community of the soul," "The journey may also challenge some people's  religious reference points."  Today's PVAF sharing is about going back to 1907 to Jews living in remote villages in the shadow of an ancient and now dormant volcano -Mount Elgon in Uganda, East Africa.... and the story gets interesting when you  read: British Uganda Programme - a 1903 British plan to give a portion of British East Africa to the Jewish people as a homeland....some 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2) of the Mau Plateau in what is today Kenya and Uganda....which was rejected by the 1903 Zionist Congress in preference of establishing Jewish State in Ottoman Palestine...all this for eliminating the persecutions of Jews in Russia and other parts of Europe.... And then the story of Uganda Judaism of 20th century picks up in the year 2000 by "divine intervention" in the form of a then Uganda medical student Mark Kayanja studying to be an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery in Cleaveland, Ohio, USA "forcefully and persistently inspiring from 2000-05, a Jewish Spinal Surgeon Dr Lieberman to deliver ancient Hebrew text Torah to the current Uganda African Bagishu tribe in a remote village called Tutti in Uganda practicing Orthodox Judaism since 1907 " ..... What else could it be other than the divine intervention when you come to know that the Jewish Dr. Isador Lieberman, MD. MBA, FRCSC..who was brought up as a medical doctor at Toronto University, Toronto, Canada have Jewish parents who emigrated to Toronto, Canada after surviving Germany's Adolf Hitler's Nazi concentration camps in Germany and Poland to exterminate through genocide Jews and other Europeans who Hitler considered as enemies of daily humanity in Europe and....And then this 2000 "divine orthopedic intervenists" duo of Drs Lieberman and Kayanja began running a Uganda Spine Surgery Mission from USA treating to date some 200 Uganda citizens afflicted by infectious, degenerative, traumatic and congenital spinal ailments. In addition the Mission will strive to provide a fertile environment for the education of those local Uganda medical personnel who serve these patients.... The story was started in 1907 when Semei Kakungulu (1869 – 24 November 1928),  a warrior and statesman of the powerful Baganda tribe in British Uganda founded the Abayudaya community in Uganda in 1917 to practice Orthodox Judaism after getting disenchanted by the natural resource plundering greedy morality and politics of British empire and British Protestant Missionaries in Uganda at the life-cost of local Uganda Africans....This community currently numbering 1500 is scattering in several villages on what was once Semei Kakungulu's tribal land in early 1900's. Today's history-religion-humanity service knowledge sharing has been presented by Champaklal Dajibhai Mistry of Edmonton, Alberta as part of his daily life-sciences knowledge learning/sharing of history and today as it is....with his fellow life-travelers with a prayer that these type of life anecdotal sharing will empower all humans individuals and collectives to live at peace sharing the bounties of Nature which is given to humanity freely and unconditionally....but as you read this you will note that humans are at war with each other individually and collectively as communities, nations, races, faith and religious groups...it is not necessary to be at "war" daily with yourself and others...but to live daily at peace you need life-sciences knowledge empowerment and use of that empowerment with the human body, brain, heart and soul Nature has kindly bestowed on the diversity of humanity on this Planet Earth...PVAF prays for this human empowerment.....     And to have this human empowerment....please click on the next line to read today's news-anecdotal  story along with getting to know the key players in this human 110 years old human drama that is playing out to show the kindred human spirit transcends all boundaries of human race, colour, faith and human greed based possessions.....please do not forget to look up all the hyperlinked words to have the in-depth life-sciences knowledge that you want, wish and desire for a happy tomorrow than today simply because you have more life-sciences knowledge tomorrow to understand yourself and others.....

TODAY YOU HAVE A LIMITLESS LIFE-SCIENCES LEARNING DAY... .....you are your only limit..... ......keep scrolling and clicking on hyperlinked words....                                       BulunywaBlog                                         MindsprinsCom ....SEMEI KUKUNGULU  (1869 – 24 November 1928) a warrior and statesman of the powerful Baganda tribe  in british uganda.... ......founded Jewish practice and African-Jewish community  called "Abuyudaya" in Uganda, East Africa in 1917.... Semei Kakungulu (1869 – 24 November 1928) was a Ugandan man who founded the Abayudaya (Luganda: Jews) community in Uganda in 1917. He studied and meditated on the Old Testament, adopted the observance of all Moses' commandments, including circumcision, and suggested this observance for all his followers. .....The Abayudaya follow Jewish practices and consider themselves Jews despite the absence of Israelite ancestry...... He was also chosen to be the president of the Lukiiko of Busoga by the British colonists, and in effect, he became Busoga’s first 'King', although the British refused to give him that title. However wrangles amongst the different chiefs and clans continued, and most Basoga still retained affiliation to their chief, clan or dialect. The Lukiiko structure collapsed, and Semei Kakungulu was dismissed by the British. Kakungulu was a warrior and statesman of the powerful Baganda tribe. During the 1880s he was converted to Christianity by a Protestant  missionary who taught him how to read the Bible in Swahili....... Because he commanded many warriors, because of his connections to the Bugandan court and because he was a Protestant, the British gave Kakungulu their support. He responded by conquering and bringing under the British sphere of influence two areas outside of the Bugandan Empire, Bukedi and Busoga. These areas were between the Nile River's source in Lake Victoria and Mt. Elgon on the Kenyan border. Kakungulu believed that the British would allow him to become the king of Bukedi and Busoga, but the British preferred to rule these areas through civil servants in their pay and under their control. The British limited Kakungulu to a 20-square-mile (52 km2) area in and around what has now become Mbale, Uganda. The people who inhabited this area were of the Bagisu tribe rivals to Baganda. Nevertheless, Kakungulu, with the help of his Baganda followers, although much reduced in numbers, was able to maintain control so long as he received British support...... Beginning in about 1900, a slow but continuous mutual disenchantment arose between Kakungulu and the British. In 1913, Kakungulu became a Malakite Christian. This was a movement described by the British as a "cult" which was "a mixture of Judaism, Christianity and Christian Science." Many who joined the religion of Malaki where Kakungulu was in control were Baganda. While still a Malakite, Kakungulu came to the conclusion that the Christian missionaries were not reading the Bible correctly. He pointed out that the Europeans disregarded the real Sabbath, which was Saturday, not Sunday. As proof, he cited the fact that Jesus was buried on Friday before the Sabbath, and that his mother Mary and his disciples did not visit the tomb on the following day because it was the Sabbath, but waited until Sunday.....In 1922, at Gangama, Kakungulu published a 90-page book of rules and prayers as a guide for his Jewish community. The book set forth Jewish laws and practices as Kakungulu found them in the Old Testament, although it contained many verses and sections from the New Testament as well. Despite this interest in Jewish practices, there does not appear to have been any direct contact between Kakungulu and Jews before 1925....... Beginning in about 1925, several European Jews who were employed as mechanics and engineers by the British chanced upon the Christian-Jewish community near Mbale. Jews such as these, during what appear to have been chance encounters, told Kakungulu about Orthodox Judaism. As a result, many remaining Christian customs were dropped, including baptism. From these encounters, the community learned to keep the Sabbath, to recite Hebrew prayers and blessings, to slaughter animals for meat in a Kosher manner, and also to speak some Hebrew........Please continue reading the full life-travel inspiration of Semei Kukungulu by clicking here....and additonal life info by clicking on the hyperlinkded credits under the two photos of him above.... .....KNOW DR. ISADOR LIEBERMAN, MD. MBA, FRCSC PRIOR TO READING TODAY'S NEWS/KNOLWEDGE SHARING.... .....of human spirit and what it can achieve in a human body transcending race and colour conflicts of current humanity.... Dr. Isador Lieberman is a fellowship trained orthopedic spine surgeon who has spent more than a dozen years performing complex spine surgeries and sharing his knowledge of the spine through research, philanthropy and teaching. He specializes in the surgical treatment of spinal disorders. He is committed to "providing the most appropriate and least invasive treatment for the spinal pathology at hand." His clinical interests include: adolescent and adult scoliosis, deformity reconstruction, spinal tumors, minimally invasive and robotic spinal surgery, cervical and lumbar degenerative disorders, including herniated discs and stenosis, spinal tumors, infections and spinal trauma.....Dr. Lieberman was instrumental in the development of the SpineAssist surgical robot. The SpineAssist technology can be used in biopsies, to treat thoracic-lumbar fusion and vertebral compression fractures, and to correct scoliosis; it is the latest in advanced spine and orthopedic surgical technology. In addition to increasing precision, it reduces the amount of radiation exposure during surgery, which can reduce infection and pain after surgery, give fewer complications, allow a shorter hospital stay and result in a quicker recovery for patients. SpineAssist is a workstation that enables a surgeon to pre-plan procedures in 3D based on the patient’s individual anatomy, creating a surgical blueprint. A robotic arm guides the surgeon during the procedure using the preoperative plan. During surgery, the robot’s extension arm guides the surgeon to the pre-planned location, allowing the surgeon to operate through small incisions in the skin and underlying muscles in order to reach the exact location on the spine. (From SpineUniverse.Com)........Dr Lieberman is a fellowship trained Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgeon who was recruited to join the Cleveland Clinic in 1997 in Cleavland, Ohio, USA. He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, and holds specialist certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He completed Medical school and residency at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada . He completed Spine surgery and Trauma surgery fellowships at the Toronto Hospital in Canada and at Queen's Medical Center in Nottingham , England . He held a full time academic appointment at the University of Toronto and was on the Academic staff of the Toronto Hospital up to his recruitment to the Cleveland Clinic. He obtained his Masters degree in Business Administration from Cleveland State University . He was appointed to the faculty of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at the rank of Professor of Surgery.....Along with his Cleveland Clinic related responsibilities Dr Lieberman is chairman of the "Multidisciplinary Patient Care Committee" and vice chairman of the "Operative Coding Committee" for the North American Spine Society. He also serves on the scientific advisory board for a variety of prominent medical device manufacturers and start up spine companies.....Continue reading about Dr. Liberman by clicking here.... A Torah scroll's unlikely 2011 journey to remote Uganda (Copy-pasted with KNOWLEDGE-ENHANCING WORD EDITS in italics AND WORD HYPERLINKS From: sobserver.com/2011/07/20/1357110/a-torah-scrolls-unlikely-journey.html"> NewsObserver.com: By Scott Farwell - The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, USA) Dr. Isador Lieberman, a world-renowned spinal surgeon, is the kind of guy whose work life is scheduled to the minute. So, when a man appeared unannounced in his office 11 years ago with vague questions and a hard-to-decipher accent, Lieberman's response was frosty. "Can't you see I'm busy?" he said to his secretary. "Does he have an appointment? Who is he? What does he want?" She shrugged and offered thinly, "He's pretty persistent." "OK," he relented, "bring him in." The decision changed the trajectory of Lieberman's life. Next month (August, 2011), Dr. Lieberman will lead a small team of Texans into the foothills of Mount Elgon, a towering, dormant volcano located on the border of Uganda and Kenya in East Africa. . He will carry a dirt-proof, waterproof, insect-proof acrylic cylinder containing the most sacred document in Judaism: a Torah scroll. How did a 51-year-old Jewish physician from Plano, Texas, end up delivering an ancient Hebrew text to a remote village in Uganda? The story begins in the early 1900s with an elephant hunter named Semei Kakungulu. (1869-1928) Protestant missionaries and European colonialists swarmed across Africa, importing Christianity while exporting the continent's natural resources.   Kakungulu, a charismatic and opportunistic leader of the Baganda tribe, learned to read the Bible in Swahili and to understand the language and ambitions of the British, eventually helping them conquer vast swaths of his homeland. Some called him a traitor; others called him Uganda's first king. But as Kakungulu's power grew, he became disillusioned with the moral and political agenda of the white men. Around 1917, he retreated to the jungles encircling Mount Elgon and began meditating on the Old Testament. He claimed a conversion to Judaism, wrote a 90-page manual of rules and prayers and planted a Jewish community called the Abayudaya, which flourished even after Kakungulu died of tetanus in 1928. Ugandan leader Idi Amin outlawed Judaism soon after he seized power in 1971, and later proclaimed that Adolf Hitler "was right to burn 6 million Jews." The Abayudaya fractured in the face of persecution, but some tribesmen continued to worship in private, honoring the Sabbath on Saturdays and circumcising their sons. Religious freedom was eventually restored in Uganda, and today about 1,500 of the Abayudaya remain in a scattering of villages on what was once Kakungulu's estate. They exist in relative obscurity, unknown to many Jews - including Lieberman, until he came upon a collection of clay huts imprinted with menorahs and Stars of David last year. Lieberman, who runs a spinal surgery mission in Uganda, celebrated a Friday evening religious service last year with about 200 Jews in a small village called Putti. "In typical fashion, it was a culture shock to us North Americans, as privileged as we are," he said. "I saw how they lived, and their grass hut, which was their synagogue." Villagers danced and sang, blending African rhythm with traditional Jewish rituals. Lieberman's spirits soared, until religious leaders opened a small wooden box, the Aron Kodesh, which in Hebrew language means "Holy Ark." "I saw this little paper Torah scroll, maybe 12 inches high, one of those things you buy in some Judaica shop for kids to draw on with crayons," he said. "I was just troubled by that." The Torah consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and is the foundation for the Old Testament. It is used in religious services for ritual readings and teaching. Lieberman listened as community members described their struggle to live as Orthodox Jews and their desire to undergo conversion to Judaism and be recognized by rabbinical authorities in Israel. The Abayudaya are not accepted as Jewish by all Jews. Under Orthodox law, a person who was not born into the faith must undergo conversion. "I don't know what came over me, but I said, 'I'm going to work on getting you a Sefer Torah,' " Lieberman said. "I had no idea what it would take to get one, the logistics involved, the resources needed. "And that just triggered this incredible chain of events." A turning point in the story, Lieberman said, was the afternoon 11 years ago (2000) when the man showed up unannounced in his office. His name was Mark Kayanja. He had traveled from Uganda to learn spine surgery. Dr. Mark Kayanja, MD, PhD; Cleavland, Ohio, USA; Hometown: Kampala, Uganada Lieberman was skeptical. "Mark, do you have a license?" No. "Do you have any support?" No. Kayanja interrupted. He said he'd do anything, including work for free. "I started him off in our research lab," Lieberman said. "Within six months, I realized I was dealing with - this is no stretch - one of the smartest human beings I've ever had the privilege of being associated with." Kayanja, today a spinal surgeon in Cleveland, was the first graduate of an orthopedic program in Uganda to train abroad. Lieberman was his mentor at the Lerner Research Institute's Cleveland Clinic, but in some ways, he learned more than he taught. "He was always asking me about Uganda, what the conditions are like, what is the state of spine surgery there, what could be done to improve it," Kayanja said. "I told him a lot of the patients have conditions that are treatable, especially the children." Lieberman said Kayanja began a relentless campaign in 2000. "He pestered me for four years, 'Let's go to Uganda. We need to work in Uganda,' " Lieberman remembered, laughing. "I was like, 'OK, Mark. May 2005, we'll go to Uganda. Now get back to work.' " In April 2005, Kayanja appeared in Lieberman's office again with airline tickets and a list of patients. "At that point, I realized I did promise," Lieberman said. "We did go to Uganda. I was hooked, and we've been going back ever since." In six years, Lieberman, Kayanja and other physicians have operated on more than 200 patients through the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission, which is operated under the auspices of a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, Health Volunteers Overseas. Their work focuses on treating spinal injuries, correcting children's congenital deformities and training local doctors. Searching Orthodox Judaism history in Uganada After a few years volunteering in Uganda, Lieberman began hearing rumors about Jews living in remote villages in the shadow of an ancient volcano. (Also read: British Uganda Programme - a plan to give a portion of British East Africa to the Jewish people as a homeland) Last year, he set out to find them. It took about six hours to drive from Uganda's capital of Kampala to Mbale, a city of about 80,000 near the country's eastern border with Kenya. From there, Lieberman's group followed red-clay motorcycle trails into the jungle. It was nearly dark by the time they arrived in Putti, a village of about 200 subsistence farmers who live in mud huts without electricity or running water. Tribal leaders seemed thrilled at the prospect of having a legitimate parchment scroll. "When you're looking at a village that's struggling to survive, a Torah doesn't seem like the first thing they need," said Lieberman. "From a religious standpoint, sure, but when you look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, there's no Torah scroll on there." (Read the article hyperlinked but for a quick understanding see the Marslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid representation at the end of this article) After he returned to his home in Dallas, Lieberman said, he received emails nearly every day from the religious leader in Putti, Rabbi Enosh Keki Mainah. He either walked or caught a ride to the nearest Internet cafe about seven miles away from his home. "He was like, 'We're so thankful that you promised to bring us a Torah. We can't wait until next year to see our new Sefer Torah,' " Lieberman said. "And I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh, my God, what have I gotten myself into?' " His anxiety grew as he started making calls. Lieberman learned that Torah scrolls can cost $25,000 or more and often require expensive repairs. To withstand the climate in rural Uganda, the parchment document would need a special protective case. In December, he scheduled a meeting at a Starbucks in Plano with Rabbi Nasanya Zakon, director of the Dallas Area Torah Association, and Rabbi Avraham Bloomenstiel, an expert in the rare art of writing and repairing Torah scrolls. "That place was empty," Lieberman said. "And we're sitting there, drinking tea with Christmas music in the background, planning how to get a Torah scroll into Uganda. And I'm thinking, 'This is not real. You couldn't write a sitcom like this.' " Months later, Bloomenstiel - who was admitted to Harvard University at 16 and later received a master's degree in music from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University - found five stolen Torahs in a police evidence locker in Brooklyn. They had gone unclaimed for more than a decade and were available for purchase. With the help of donors, Lieberman bought one of the ancient texts for $12,000 - a scroll created in Poland about the time his father was a prisoner at Nazi death camps in Buchenwald, Germany, and Auschwitz, Poland. He survived and ultimately immigrated to Canada. "I must admit that I was a less-than-enthusiastic religious Jew until my father passed away in 2001," Lieberman said. "Some things have happened the last few years that are just not explainable to me. I feel like there's something guiding all of us." Bloomenstiel said it's hard not to see divine intervention in the story of the Torah scroll and how it has intersected with lives on three continents. "Here we have a story that starts with a leader of the Baganda tribe who is living in the jungle and develops a connection with Judaism," he said. "Then Izzy contacts me to get a Torah scroll that was written pre-World War II, somehow survived being stolen, ends up in an evidence locker in Brooklyn and now has found its way to a synagogue in the mountains of Uganda." The journey may also challenge some people's religious reference points. "Judaism is always thought of as an ethnicity, but it's not - it's a community of the soul," Bloomenstiel said. "This story has the potential to remind the greater community that you have to step outside of this very narrow European view of what it means to be Jewish." An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom. .....THERE IS ONLY ON HUMANITY WITH INFINITE DIVERSITY.....

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