Dateline Jerusalem –– I love that Israel is a melting pot. Jews from all over the world gather here for many reasons. Unfortunately too many have come because they were refugees. This is true especially for the Jews of Arab countries, such as Egypt and Yemen. They had to flee secretively, or were given weeks to depart, leaving behind their homes, businesses, personal possessions, and money. Some, like Ethiopian Jews, had to be airlifted in the middle of the night.
The guest speaker at a charitable function I attended spoke about his trip to Ethiopia a few years ago. His guide was one of the Israelis responsible for “Operation Solomon” that airlifted 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in 1991. There had been a covert “Operation Moses” in 1984, evacuating the Ethiopian Jews also known as “Beta Israel,” from the Sudan famine. But Prime Minister Shimon Peres revealed the secret airlift at a press conference, forcing the operation to end prematurely from pressure on Sudan by its Arab allies. This caused Ethiopians to die in the refugee camps in Sudan. In Israel, the words “secret” and “covert” are anything but. As my Naval officer father, z”l, used to say, “Loose lips sink ships.” As for “Operation Solomon” 24 years ago, 35 Israeli Air Force and El Al jets flew without seats for 36 hours non-stop to evacuate the Jews. One flight made history, carrying 1,122 passengers. Babies were born on board.
Every year in the city of Rehovot in Israel, my city, there is a memorial service in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood. It celebrates Jerusalem Day because the Ethiopians Jews yearned to be in Israel. They are descended from the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. Ethiopians believe they were originally Jews before they were forced to convert to Christianity in the fourth century. Ethiopia was the first country to convert to Christianity. Not everyone converted. The Ethiopian Jews who remained faithful to their Jewish roots continued to practice their version of Judaism, based solely on the Torah, also known as the written law. The brit milah (circumcision) for baby boys is performed by the mother because in the Torah, Moses’s wife Zipporah performed it on her son Gershon. They did not have the Talmud, or oral law, like the Jews of Yemen because they were so isolated. They were unaware of the holidays of Chanukkah and Purim, which commemorated events after the Torah.
Gondar in Ethiopia has been the capital of the Jewish Ethiopians (Beta Israel) for over 1,000 years. The last of the Jews left this compound in 2012. The “Falash Mura,” however, are Ethiopians who converted to Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are not considered part of the Beta Israel (Jewish Ethiopians who did not convert and remained faithful to Judaism). The Falash Mura are not entitled to make aliyah to Israel under the Law of Return, which is for all Jews or those with at least one grandparent who was Jewish. At one time, the Israeli government made an exception and granted the Falash Mura special permission to enter Israel.
Although some Falash Mura kept to their own community in Ethiopia, problems arose between them and the Beta Israel. The Beta Israel may have family ties with them over the centuries, but Beta Israel will not intermarry with them because they do not consider them Jews. Therefore, Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews are taught in their families to know seven generations of their lineage.
The rabbinate in Israel did not accept either Beta Israel or Falash Mura as Jews. The rabbis required them to go through a Jewish conversion in Israel. The Beta Israel, however, were upset about having to go through the conversion. Although they have no written documents to prove their Jewishness, they observed Torah and Jewish religious practices. They never converted to Christianity, unlike the Falash Mura. They know their roots. They are proud of their ethnic and religious identity. They believe they are Jews. They were insulted that their Judaism was questioned. My next door neighbor is an Ethiopian Jew. Born in Israel, her parents are very religious Jews from Ethiopia.
Some interesting facts about Ethiopia: Amharic is their language. Giving someone respect means not looking them in the eye. People still live in huts. They have outhouses. They grind wheat for bread. No lights exist in their huts because they work hard outdoors all day and only sleep in the huts at night when lights are not needed. Most of the country is green and untouched, not industrialized. Coffee was discovered there — tell that to the Colombians. It happened when a farmer noticed his goats were acting feisty. They would not sleep at night after eating berries from a tree. When the farmer told the monks at a nearby monastery, they devised a drink with the berries. Unsurprisingly, the drink kept them up during the long hours of evening prayers. The beginnings of coffee!
L’hitraot. Shachar