EXODUS OF THE JEWS OF ETHIOPIA
Terminology
HISTORY
- Beta Yisrael
- Falashas
- BUDA (POSSESSORS OF THE EVIL EYE)
HISTORY
- ANCIENT TIMES: ISAIAH REFERS TO JEWS BEING EXILED TO THE LAND OF KUSH (ETHIOPIA)
- 9TH CENTURY: ELDAD HADANI MENTIONS DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF DAN IN ETHIOPIA
- 10TH CENTURY: REBELLION BY QUEEN JUDITH AGAINST CHRISTIAN RULERS- NOT AUTHENTICATED: JEWS ESTABLISH OWN MONARCHY
- 13TH CENTURY: MENELIK DYNASTY FIGHTS AGAINST JEWS; JEWS REBEL; MANY KILLED OR FORCED TO CONVERT
- 16TH CENTURY: CHRISTIANS TAKE REVENGE ON JEWS FOR HAVING SUPPORTED SHORT-LIVED MUSLIM INVASION, KILLING JEWISH KING, YORAM. JEWS CONFINED TO GONDAR REGION.
- 17TH CENTURY; DISCOVERED BY CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES
- 18TH CENTURY: REDISCOVERED BY EUROPEAN EXPLORER- A COMMUNITY IMPOVERISHED, TAXED, OPPRESSED
- 19TH CENTURY- PEAK OF POPULATION- HALF A MILLION, THEN DIMINISHED THROUGH DROUGHT, DISEASE, WARFARE. FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH WHITE JEWS (FROM FRANCE)
- 20TH CENTURY: 1974- HAILLE SELASSIE DEPOSED BY COMMUNIST DICTATOR, MENGHISTU. UNDER SELASSIE, JEWS SECOND CLASS CITIZENS BUT FREE TO PRACTISE JUDAISM. ETHIOPIA NOW PART OF SOVIET BLOC- JEWS DISPOSSESSED OF LANDS, JUDAISM AND HEBREW ILLEGAL, SOME KILLED.
- MANY JEWS FLEE TO SUDAN- UN REFUGEE CAMPS SET UP. SUDAN IS A MEMBER OF THE ARAB LEAGUE AND JEWS FACE HOSTILITY.
- 1984 FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA AND CIVIL WAR- THOUSANDS OF JEWS DYING IN THE CAMPS. NOVEMBER: 8000 JEWS RESCUED IN OPERATION MOSES.
- 1991: OPERATION SOLOMON: 14 000 JEWS RESCUED DURING 25 HOURS, USING 28 AEROPLANES FLYING SIMULTANEOUSLY..
CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Partriarchal society.
Religion based on pre-Talmudic era- written Law only, no knowledge of Hebrew. Religious leaders (kessim) more like kohanim than rabbis.
Partriarchal society.
Religion based on pre-Talmudic era- written Law only, no knowledge of Hebrew. Religious leaders (kessim) more like kohanim than rabbis.
TEXTS
1. 1908- ETHIOPIAN JEWISH LEADERS APPEAL TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES
"Beforehand we considered your very existence a legend"
"We have no schools...our books have been destroyed....missionaries....."
"We cannot carry this on our own strength"
2. 1973- RULING OF SEPHARDI CHIEF RABBI
"The falashas are Jews"
"...no sages and masters of Oral Tradition...overtaken by superficial interpretations of Written Law"....like "individuals taken captive in infancy by Gentiles"
3. 1985- ISRAEL IS ANOTHER WORLD
"destitute....frightened....barefoot, some naked except for a t-shirt....
"kissed the ground (of Israel) and prayed"
4. A PLEA FOR ETHIOPIAN JEWS
"We demand fairness and equality:one is either a Jew or not a Jew. This humiliation must stop once and for all.Ethiopian Jews deserve to be respected as Jews returning to their homeland like any other Jewish community."
5. INTERVIEW: KESS RAPHAEL HADANE AND RABBI YOSEF HADANE
"There is a big gap between the kessim and the rabbinate"
"Do you think the Ethiopian practice of Judaism will disappear?"
1. 1908- ETHIOPIAN JEWISH LEADERS APPEAL TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES
"Beforehand we considered your very existence a legend"
"We have no schools...our books have been destroyed....missionaries....."
"We cannot carry this on our own strength"
2. 1973- RULING OF SEPHARDI CHIEF RABBI
"The falashas are Jews"
"...no sages and masters of Oral Tradition...overtaken by superficial interpretations of Written Law"....like "individuals taken captive in infancy by Gentiles"
3. 1985- ISRAEL IS ANOTHER WORLD
"destitute....frightened....barefoot, some naked except for a t-shirt....
"kissed the ground (of Israel) and prayed"
4. A PLEA FOR ETHIOPIAN JEWS
"We demand fairness and equality:one is either a Jew or not a Jew. This humiliation must stop once and for all.Ethiopian Jews deserve to be respected as Jews returning to their homeland like any other Jewish community."
5. INTERVIEW: KESS RAPHAEL HADANE AND RABBI YOSEF HADANE
"There is a big gap between the kessim and the rabbinate"
"Do you think the Ethiopian practice of Judaism will disappear?"
An interesting discussion about Ethiopian Jews in Israel can be found on this link:
http://tlv1.fm/the-tel-aviv-review/2016/09/26/members-of-a-tribe-the-evolution-of-israels-jewish-ethiopian-immigration-policy/
http://tlv1.fm/the-tel-aviv-review/2016/09/26/members-of-a-tribe-the-evolution-of-israels-jewish-ethiopian-immigration-policy/