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Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
group originating from the territory of the Amhara and
Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
regions in northern
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide territory, alongside predominantly
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
populations. Most of them were concentrated mainly in what is today North Gondar Zone, Shire Inda Selassie, Wolqayit, Tselemti, Dembia, Segelt, Quara, and Belesa. After the founding of the
State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, most of the Beta Israel immigrated there or were evacuated through several initiatives by the Israeli government starting from
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. The
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
of the Beta Israel is disputed with genetic studies showing them to cluster closely with non-Jewish
Amharas Amharas (; ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly the Amhara Region. According to the 2007 national census, Amh ...
and
Tigrayans The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily lif ...
with no indications of gene flow with
Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...
in spite of their geographic proximity. Beta Israel appears to have been lastingly isolated from the more mainstream Jewish communities, and has historically practiced a divergent non-
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic form of
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
that is similar in some respects to
Karaite Judaism Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and t ...
. The religious practices of Israeli Beta Israel are referred to as ''
Haymanot Haymanot () is the branch of Judaism which is practiced by the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews. In Geʽez, Tigrinya and Amharic, ''Haymanot'' means 'religion' or 'faith'. Thus in modern Amharic and Tigrinya, it is common to speak of ...
''. Having suffered persecution by the authorities and being exposed to Christian missionaries, a significant portion of the Beta Israel community converted to Christianity during the 19th and 20th centuries; those who converted to Christianity then came to be known as the Falash Mura. The larger Christian Beta Abraham community is considered to be a crypto-Jewish offshoot of the Beta Israel community. The Beta Israel first made extensive contact with other
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
communities in the early 20th century, after which a comprehensive rabbinic debate ensued over their Jewishness. Following '' halakhic'' and constitutional discussions, Israeli authorities decided in 1977 that the Beta Israel qualified on all fronts for the Israeli
Law of Return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...
. Thus, the Israeli government, with support from the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, began a large-scale effort to conduct transport operations and bring the Beta Israel to Israel in multiple waves. These activities included Operation Banyarwanda, Operation Brothers, which evacuated the Beta Israel community in
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
between 1979 and 1990 (including Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Joshua in 1985), and Operation Solomon in 1991.Weil, Shalva. (2011) "Operation Solomon 20 Years On", International Relations and Security Network (ISN).http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?ord538=grp1&ots591=eb06339b-2726-928e-0216-1b3f15392dd8&lng=en&id=129480&contextid734=129480&contextid735=129244&tabid=129244 By the end of 2008, 119,300 Ethiopian Jews were living in Israel, including nearly 81,000 born in Ethiopia and about 38,500 (about 32% of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel) born in Israel with at least one parent born in Ethiopia or
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
(formerly a part of Ethiopia).
, ''Ha'aretz''
At the end of 2019, there were 155,300 Jews of Ethiopian descent in Israel. Approximately 87,500 were born in Ethiopia, and 67,800 were born in Israel with parents born in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel is mostly composed of Beta Israel (practicing both Haymanot and
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
), and to a smaller extent, of Falash Mura who left Christianity and began practicing Rabbinic Judaism upon their arrival to Israel.


Terminology

Throughout its history, the community has been referred to by numerous names. According to
tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
, the (literally, 'house of Israel' in Ge'ez) community had their origins in the 4th century CE, when they refused to convert to Christianity during the rule of Abreha and Atsbeha (identified with Se'azana and Ezana), the monarchs of the Kingdom of Aksum who embraced Christianity. This name contrasted with , the term for the church in Ge'ez, literally meaning "house of Christianity". Since the 1980s, it has also become the official name used in the scholarly and scientific literature to refer to the community.Quirun, ''The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews'', pp. 11–15; Aešcoly, ''Book of the Falashas'', pp. 1–3; Hagar Salamon, ''Beta Israel and their Christian neighbors in Ethiopia: Analysis of key concepts at different levels of cultural embodiment'', Hebrew University, 1993, pp. 69–77 (Hebrew); Shalva Weil, "Collective Names and Collective Identity of Ethiopian Jews" in ''Ethiopian Jews in the Limelight'', Hebrew University, 1997, pp. 35–48 The term , meaning "
Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...
", is also used by the community to refer to its members. The name (lit. "
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
") is rarely used in the community, as Ethiopian Christians had used it as a derogatory term; however, the term has increased in usage in the 20th century as the Beta Israel strengthened its ties with other Jewish communities. The term (lit. "Hebrew") was used to refer to the (lit. "free man") in the community, in contrast to the (lit. "slave"). The term (lit. "
Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
-true") was also used to refer to Beta Israel; since the 19th century, it has been used in contrast to the term ''Falash Mura'' (converts). The colloquial Ethiopian/Eritrean term ''or'' , which means "landless", "wanderers", or "exiles", was given to the community in the 15th century by the Emperor Yeshaq I; after they were conquered by the
Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...
, its use is now considered offensive. The term ''Zagwe'' is also used for Beta Israel, although it is considered derogatory, as it associates the community with the Agaw people of the
Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...
, who largely practice traditional African religion.


Religion

Haymanot ( Ge'ez: ሃይማኖት) is the colloquial term for "faith" which is used as a term for the Jewish religion by the Beta Israel community, although Ethiopian Orthodox Christians also use it as a term for their own religion.


Texts

(lit. "Holy Scriptures") is the name for the religious literature of the Beta Israel. These texts are written in
Geʽez Geez ( or ; , and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originates from what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today, Geez is used as the main liturgical langu ...
, which is also the liturgical language of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...
. The holiest book is the Octateuch, known as the Orit among Ethiopian Jews: the
Five Books of Moses The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Book of Numbers, Numbers and Deuteronomy. ...
plus
Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
, Judges and Ruth. The Beta Israel scriptures also include the
Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations (, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ("Five Scroll ...
and
Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...
, which are also found in the
Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon The Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon is a version of the Christianity, Christian Bible used in the two Oriental Orthodox Churches of the Ethiopian and Eritrean traditions: the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahed ...
.
Deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon', collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Chur ...
that also makeup part of the Beta Israel canon are the Book of Sirach,
Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
, Esdras 1 and 2, the Books of Meqabyan,
Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by members of Ethiopian Jewish ...
,
Book of Baruch The Book of Baruch is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, used in many Christian traditions, such as Catholic and Orthodox churches. In Judaism and Protestant Christianity, it is considered not to be part of the canon, with the Protestant B ...
(including 4 Baruch),
Book of Tobit The Book of Tobit (), also known as the Book of Tobias, is a deuterocanonical pre-Christian work from the 3rd or early 2nd century BC which describes how God tests the faithful, responds to prayers, and protects the pre-covenant community (i.e., ...
,
Book of Enoch The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; Hebrew language, Hebrew: סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ, ''Sēfer Ḥănōḵ''; , ) is an Second Temple Judaism, ancient Jewish Apocalyptic literature, apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the Patriar ...
, and the Testaments of Abraham,
Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
, and
Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
. Many of these books differ substantially from the similarly numbered and named texts in
Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...
and Hebrew (such as the Book of Maccabees), though some of the Ge'ez works are dependent on those texts. Others appear to have different ancient literary and oral origins. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians also use many texts used by the Beta Israel but other rabbinic Jewish groups but not other Christian groups. Essential non-Biblical writings include the ''Mota Aron'' ("Death of Aaron"), ''Mota Musé'' ("Death of Moses"), ''Nagara Muse'' ("The Conversation of Moses"), ''Təʾəzazä Sänbät'' ("Commandments of the Sabbath"), ''Arde'et'' ("Disciples"), ''Gorgoryos'' ("Apocalypse of Gorgorios"), ''Ezra'' ("Apocalypse of Ezra"), ''Barok'' ("Apocalypse of Baruch"), ''Mäṣḥafä Sa'atat'' ("Book of Hours"), ''Fālasfā'' ("Philosophers"), ''Abba Elias'' ("Father Elijah"), ''Mäṣḥafä Mäla'əkt'' ("Book of Angels"), ''Dərsanä Abrəham Wäsara Bägabs'' ("Homily on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt"), ''Gadla Sosna'' ("The Story of Susanna"), and ''Baqadāmi Gabra Egzi'abḥēr'' ("In the Beginning God Created").


Prayer houses

The synagogue is called the ''masjid'' (place of worship), it is also called the ''bet maqdas'' (Holy house) or the ''ṣa lot bet'' (Prayer house).


Dietary laws

Beta Israel
kashrut (also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...
law is based mainly on the books of Leviticus,
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...
, and
Jubilees The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered Biblical canon, canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot, Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by membe ...
. Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8 list permitted and forbidden land animals and their signs. Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20 list forbidden birds. Leviticus 11:9–12 and Deuteronomy 14:9–10 list the signs of permitted fish. Insects and larvae are forbidden in Leviticus 11:41–42. Gid hanasheh is forbidden in Genesis 32:33. Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten, but benefiting from them is permitted—Haymanot use a literal interpretation of the verses Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21, "shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk", similar to
Karaite Judaism Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and t ...
; whereas, under
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
, any benefit from mixing dairy products with meat is banned. Ethiopian Jews were forbidden to eat the food of non-Jews. A Kahen eats only meat he has slaughtered himself, which someone else may prepare. Someone else may also eat meat that a Kahen has slaughtered. Those who break these taboos are ostracized and must undergo a purification process that includes fasting for one or more days, eating only uncooked chickpeas provided by the Kahen, and ritual purification, before entering the village. Unlike other Ethiopians, Beta Israel do not eat raw meat dishes such as kitfo or gored gored.


Calendar and holidays

The Beta Israel calendar is a
lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...
of 12 months, each 29 or 30 days alternately. Every four years, there is a
leap year A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year. The 366th day (or 13th month) is added to keep t ...
which adds a full month (30 days). The calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandrian Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker, and the Ethiopian calendar. The years are counted according to the counting of Kushta: "1571 to Jesus Christ, 7071 to the Gyptians, and 6642 to the Hebrews"; according to this counting, the year 5771 () in the Rabbinical Hebrew calendar is the year 7082 in this calendar. Beta Israel holidays include (New Year in Nissan), (Passover), (Shavuot, lit. "harvest"), (Rosh Hashana, lit. "blowing holiday", compare in Hebrew), (Yom Kippur), and (Sukkot, lit. "tabernacles holiday"). Other holidays unique to Beta Israel include (a fast before Shavuot, lit. "harvest fast"), the fourth
sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
of the fifth month, and an additional and in Kislev. The most notable of the holidays unique to Beta Israel is Sigd, or (lit. "supplication"), celebrated on the 29th day of
Cheshvan Marcheshvan (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ; from Akkadian language, Akkadian , literally, 'eighth month'), generally shortened to Cheshvan (, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, S ...
, and recognized as an official state holiday in Israel since 2009. The month of Cheshvan also includes a holiday for the day Moses saw the face of God on the 1st, a holiday for the reception of
Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...
by the Israelites on the 10th, and a fast on the 12th. The month of
Elul Elul (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard , Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ) is the twelfth month of the civil year and the sixth month of the Jewish religious year, religious year in the Hebrew calendar. It is a m ...
also has additional holidays for the Beta Israel— (lit. "year rotate") on the 1st, (lit. "Elul fast") between the 1st–9th, (lit. "our atonement") on the 10th, and (lit. "eighteenth") on the 28th. The fast in Tammuz (), the fast for Tisha B'Av (), the fast in Tevet (), and the Fast of Esther () are multi-day fasts while they are only one day in rabbinical Jewish tradition.Aešcoly, ''Book of the Falashas'', pp. 62–70 (Hebrew); Shelemay, ''Music, Ritual, and Falasha History'', pp. 44–57; Leslau, ''Falasha Anthology'', pp. xxviii–xxxvi; Quirun, ''The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews'', pp. 146–150 The first of each month is celebrated as (lit. "new moon festival") (compare Rosh Chodesh), and the last of each month is a fast called (compare Yom Kippur Katan). There are also monthly celebrations commemorating the main annual holidays, ''asärt'' (lit. "ten") on the tenth day to commemorate Yom Kippur, (lit. "twelve") for commemorating Shavuot, ''and'' (lit. "fifteen") for Passover and Sukkot. Shabbat is called . There are also weekly fasts on Monday (), Thursday (), and Friday (). A Pentecontad calendar, an ancient calendar that is attested in the Bible, as well as in the
Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
is still in use among the Ethiopian Jews. In this calendar, each fifty-day period was made up of seven weeks of seven days and seven Sabbaths, with an extra fiftieth day, known as the ''atzeret'' (meaning "assembly" or "day of assembly" in Hebrew). In this Ethiopian tradition, :"The Sabbaths are divided into cycles of seven. A special prayer is recited at sunset and reflects the particular characteristics of each Sabbath. The seventh Sabbath--Legata Sanbat--is the holiest of all, and there are extra prayers, festivities and a special sanctification service."


Culture


Languages

The Beta Israel once spoke Qwara and Kayla, both of which are Agaw languages. Now, they speak Tigrinya and
Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...
, both
Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...
. Their liturgical language is
Geʽez Geez ( or ; , and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originates from what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today, Geez is used as the main liturgical langu ...
, also Semitic.Weil, Shalva 1987 'An Elegy in Amharic on Dr. Faitlovitch' Pe’amim33: 125–127. (Hebrew) Since the 1950s, they have taught
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
in their schools. Those Beta Israel residing in the State of Israel now use
Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...
as a daily language.


Origins


Oral traditions

Many of Beta Israel's accounts of their own origins state that they stem from the very ancient migration of some portion of the
Tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe initially settled in the hill lands bordering Tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim and Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin on the ...
to Ethiopia, which was led by the sons of Moses, perhaps at the time of the Exodus. Alternative timelines include the later crises in Judea, e.g., the split of the northern Kingdom of Israel from the southern Kingdom of Judah after the death of
King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
or the Babylonian Exile. Other Beta Israel take as their basis the Christian account of Menelik's return to Ethiopia. Menelik is considered the first Solomonic
Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...
, and is traditionally believed to be the son of
King Solomon King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
of ancient
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, and Makeda, ancient
Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...
(in modern
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
). Though all the available traditions correspond to recent interpretations, they reflect ancient convictions. According to Jon Abbink, three different versions are to be distinguished among the traditions that were recorded by the priests of the community.


Tribe of Dan

One of Beta Israel's origin stories is that they descend from a group of
Danite The Danites were a fraternal organization founded by Latter Day Saint members in June 1838, in the town of Far West, Missouri, Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri. During their period of organization in Missouri, the Danites operated as a vigila ...
that immigrated after the split of the Kingdom of Israel, through Egypt. To prove the antiquity and authenticity of their claims, the Beta Israel cite the 9th-century CE testimony of Eldad ha-Dani (the Danite). Eldad was a Jewish man who appeared in Egypt and created a stir in that Jewish community (and elsewhere in the Mediterranean Jewish communities he visited) with claims that he had come from a Jewish kingdom of pastoralists far to the south. The only language Eldad spoke was a hitherto unknown dialect of Hebrew. Although he strictly followed the Mosaic commandments, his observance differed in some details from Rabbinic halakhah. Some observers thought that he might be a Karaite, although his practice also differed from theirs. He carried Hebrew books that supported his explanations of halakhah. He cited ancient authorities in the scholarly traditions of his people, which helped persuade rabbinic authorities of the day of the validity of his practices, even if they differed from their traditional teachings.On this, also see the remarkable testimony of Hasdai ibn Shaprut—the Torah scholar and princely Jew of Cordoba—concerning Eldad's learning, in his letter to Joseph, King of the Khazars, around 960 CE., reproduced in Franz Kobler, ed., ''Letters of Jews Through the Ages'', Second Edition (London: East and West Library, 1953), vol. 1: p. 105. Eldad said that the Jews of his own kingdom descended from the tribe of Dan (which included the Biblical war hero Samson) who had fled the civil war in the Kingdom of Israel between Solomon's son Rehoboam and
Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇʿām''; ), frequently cited Jeroboam son of Nebat, was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel following a Jeroboam's Revol ...
the son of Nebat, and resettled in Egypt. From there, they moved southwards up the Nile into Ethiopia. The Beta Israel says this confirms that they are descended from these Danites. Some Beta Israel assert that their Danite origins go back to the time of Moses when some Danites parted from other Jews right after the Exodus and moved south to Ethiopia. Eldad the Danite speaks of at least three waves of Jewish immigration into his region, creating other Jewish tribes and kingdoms. The earliest wave settled in a remote kingdom of the "tribe of Moses": this was the strongest and most secure Jewish kingdom of all, with farming villages, cities, and great wealth.Elkan N. Adler, ed., ''Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages: 19 Firsthand Accounts'' (New York: Dover, 1987), pp. 12–14. Other Ethiopian Jews who appeared in the Mediterranean world over the succeeding centuries and persuaded rabbinic authorities there that they were of Jewish descent also referred to the Mosaic and Danite origins of Ethiopian Jewry—and so could, if slaves, be ransomed by Jewish communities, join synagogues, marry other Jews, etc. The Mosaic claims of the Beta Israel, in any case, like those of the Zagwe dynasty, are ancient. Other sources tell of many Jews who were brought as prisoners of war from ancient Israel by Ptolemy I and settled on the border of his kingdom with
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
(
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
). Another tradition asserts that the Jews arrived either via the old Qwara province in northwestern Ethiopia, or via the Atbara River, where the
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
tributaries flow into Sudan. Some accounts specify the route taken by their forefathers on their way upriver to the south from Egypt.


Rabbinic views

When the 9th-century Jewish traveler Eldad ha-Dani claimed he descended from the tribe of Dan, he also reported other Jewish kingdoms around his own or in
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
during this time. His writings probably represent the first mention of the Beta Israel in Rabbinic literature. Despite some skeptical critics, his authenticity has been generally accepted in current scholarship. His descriptions were consistent and even the originally doubtful rabbis of his time were finally persuaded. Specific details may be uncertain; Steven Kaplan has noted Eldad's lack of detailed reference to Ethiopia's geography and any Ethiopian language, although he claimed the area as his homeland. Eldad's was not the only medieval testimony about Jewish communities living far to the south of Egypt. Obadiah ben Abraham Bartenura wrote in a letter from Jerusalem in 1488: Rabbi David ibn Zimra of Egypt (1479–1573) also held the Ethiopian Jewish community to be similar in many ways to the Karaites, writing:
...Lo! The matter is well-known that there are perpetual wars between the kings of Kush, which has three kingdoms; part of which belonging to the Ishmaelites, and part of which to the Christians, and part of which to the Israelites from the
tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe initially settled in the hill lands bordering Tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim and Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin on the ...
. In all likelihood, they are from the sect of Sadok and Boethus, who are owcalled Karaites, since they know only a few of the biblical commandments, but are unfamiliar with the
Oral Law An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted. M ...
, nor do they light the Sabbath candle. War ceases not from amongst them, and every day they take captives from one another..., s.v. Part VII, ''responsum'' # 9 (first printed in
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
1652; reprinted in Israel, n.d.) ()
In the same ''responsum'', he concludes that if the Ethiopian Jewish community wished to return to rabbinic Judaism, they would be received and welcomed into the fold, just as the Karaites who returned to the teachings of the Rabbanites in the time of Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides. Reflecting the consistent assertions made by Ethiopian Jews they dealt with or knew of, and after due investigation of their claims and their Jewish behavior, a number of Jewish legal authorities, in previous centuries and in modern times, have ruled '' halakhically'' (according to Jewish legal code) that Beta Israel are indeed Jews, the descendants of the
tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe initially settled in the hill lands bordering Tribe of Ephraim, Ephraim and Tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin on the ...
, one of the
Ten Lost Tribes The Ten Lost Tribes were those from the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. They were the following ...
. They believe that these people established a Jewish kingdom that lasted for hundreds of years. With the rise of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and later
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, schisms arose and three kingdoms competed. Eventually, the Christian and Muslim Ethiopian kingdoms reduced the Jewish kingdom to a small impoverished section. The earliest authority to rule this way was the 16th-century scholar David ibn Zimra (Radbaz), who explained elsewhere in a responsum concerning the status of a Beta Israel slave: In 1973,
Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...
, the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel ruled, based on the writings of David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra and other accounts, that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel. Two years later this opinion was confirmed by a number of other authorities who made similar rulings, including the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel
Shlomo Goren Shlomo Goren (; 3 February 1918 – 29 October 1994), was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and Talmud#Scholarship, Talmudic scholar. An Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jew and Religious Zionism, Religious Zionist, he was considered a foremost Posek, rabbin ...
. In 1977, the law was passed granting the right of return. Some notable poskim (religious law authorities) from non-Zionist
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
circles placed a ''safek'' (legal doubt) over the Jewish peoplehood of Beta Israel. Such voices include Rabbi
Elazar Shach Elazar Menachem Man Shach (, Elazar Shach; January 1, 1899 O.S. – November 2, 2001) was a Haredi rabbi who headed Lithuanian Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Counc ...
, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, it is important to note they placed this as a protective measure to remove any doubt, thus they saw them as undoubtedly Jewish after immersing themselves. Similar doubts were raised within the same circles towards the Bene Israel and to Russian immigrants to Israel during the 1990s Post-Soviet aliyah. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Beta Israel were required to undergo a modified conversion ceremony involving immersion in a
mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
(ritual bath), a declaration accepting Rabbinic law, and, for men, a '' hatafat dam brit'' (symbolic recircumcision). Avraham Shapira later waived the ''hatafat dam brit'' was unnecessary as they were already circumised. More recently, Shlomo Amar has ruled that descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity are "unquestionably Jews in every respect". With the consent of Ovadia Yosef, Amar ruled that it is forbidden to question the Jewishness of this community, pejoratively called Falash Mura in reference to their having converted.


Companions of Menelik from Jerusalem

According to one account, the Beta Israel originated in the kingdom of Israel and they were the contemporaries rather than the descendants of King Solomon and Menelik.


Ethiopian national history

The Ethiopian history described in the '' Kebra Nagast'' relates that Ethiopians are descendants of Israelite tribes who came to
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
with Menelik I, alleged to be the son of King
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
and the
Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...
(or Makeda, in the legend) per and . The legend relates that Menelik, as an adult, returned to his father in Jerusalem, and later resettled in Ethiopia. He took with him the
Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, was a religious storage chest and relic held to be the most sacred object by the Israelites. Religious tradition describes it as a wooden storage chest decorat ...
. In the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, there is no mention that the Queen of Sheba either married or had any sexual relations with King Solomon (although some identify her with the "black and beautiful" in
Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
1:5). Rather, the narrative records that she was impressed with Solomon's wealth and wisdom, and they exchanged royal gifts, and then she returned to rule her people in
Kush KUSH 1600 AM is a radio station licensed to Cushing, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Full service format, consisting of local and national talk, sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, tha ...
. However, the "royal gifts" are interpreted by some as sexual contact. The loss of the Ark is not mentioned in the Bible.
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
later makes reference to the Ark in 2 Kings 19:15. The ''Kebra Negast'' asserts that the Beta Israel are descended from a battalion of men of Judah who fled southward down the Arabian coastal lands from
Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...
after the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel into two kingdoms in the 10th century BCE (while King
Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the split of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a grandson of David. In the account of I Ki ...
reigned over Judah). Although the ''Kebra Nagast'' and some traditional Ethiopian histories have stated that Gudit (or "Yudit", Judith; another name given her was "Esato", Esther), a 10th-century usurping queen, was Jewish, some scholars consider that it is unlikely that this was the case. It is more likely, they say, that she was a pagan southerner or a usurping Christian Aksumite Queen. However, she clearly supported Jews, since she founded the
Zagwe dynasty The Zagwe dynasty () was a medieval Agaw monarchy that ruled the northern parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270 AD, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the ...
, who governed from around 937 to 1270 CE. According to the ''Kebra Nagast'', Jewish, Christian and pagan kings ruled in harmony at that time. Furthermore, the Zagwe dynasty claimed legitimacy (according to the ''Kebra Nagast'') by saying it was descended from Moses and his Ethiopian wife. Most of the Beta Israel consider the ''Kebra Negast'' to be a legend. As its name expresses, "Glory of Kings" (meaning the Christian Aksumite kings), it was written in the 14th century in large part to delegitimize the Zagwe dynasty, to promote instead a rival "Solomonic" claim to authentic Jewish Ethiopian antecedents, and to justify the Christian overthrow of the Zagwe by the "Solomonic" Aksumite dynasty, whose rulers are glorified. The writing of this polemic shows that criticisms of the Aksumite claims of authenticity were current in the 14th century, two centuries after they came to power. Many Beta Israelis believe that they are descended from the tribe of Dan, and most reject the "Solomonic" and "Queen of Sheba" legends of the Aksumites.


Genetics

Several DNA studies have been done on the Beta Israel.


Paternal lineages

According to Cruciani et al. (2002), haplogroup A is the most common paternal lineage among Ethiopian Jews. The clade is carried by around 41% of Beta Israel males and are primarily associated with
Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...
and
Khoisan Khoisan ( ) or () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for the various Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the San people, Sān peo ...
-speaking populations. However, the A branches carried by Ethiopians Jews are principally of the A-Y23865 variety, which formed about 10,000 years ago and is localized to the
Ethiopian highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...
and the
Arabian peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
. The difference with some Khoisan is 54,000 years, and with others 125,000 years. Around 18% of Ethiopian Jews are bearers of E-P2 (xM35, xM2); in Ethiopia, most of such lineages belong to E-M329, which has been found in
ancient DNA Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient sources (typically Biological specimen, specimens, but also environmental DNA). Due to degradation processes (including Crosslinking of DNA, cross-linking, deamination and DNA fragmentation, fragme ...
isolated from a 4,500 year old Ethiopian fossil. Such haplotypes are frequent in Southwestern Ethiopia, especially among
Omotic The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. T ...
-speaking populations. The rest of the Beta Israel mainly belong to haplotypes linked with the E-M35 and J-M267 haplogroups, which are more commonly associated with Ethiosemitic and Cushitic-speaking populations in Northeast Africa. Further analysis show that the E-M35 carried by Ethiopian Jews is primarily indigenous to the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
rather than being of
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
ine origin. Altogether, this suggests that Ethiopian Jews have diverse patrilineages indicative of indigenous Northeast African, not Middle Eastern, origin.


Maternal lineages

A 2011
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
study focused on maternal ancestry sampling 41 Beta Israel found them to carry 51.2% macro-haplogroup L typically found in Africa. The remainder consisted of Eurasian-origin lineages such as 22% R0, 19.5% M1, 5% W, and 2.5% U. However, no identical haplotypes were shared between the Yemenite and Ethiopian Jewish populations, suggesting very little
gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as migration and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic variation, genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent ...
between the populations and potentially distinct maternal population histories. The maternal ancestral profile of the Beta Israel is similar to those of highland Ethiopian populations, such as the Amhara.


Autosomal ancestry

The Ethiopian Jews'
autosomal An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in autosome ...
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to Bayesian clustering analysis, the Beta Israel generally grouped with other Ethiosemitic and
Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2 ...
-speaking populations inhabiting the Horn of Africa. Also se
Supplementary Data
A 2010 study by Behar et al. on the genome-wide structure of Jews observed that "Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) and Indian Jews (Bene Israel and Cochini) cluster with neighbouring autochthonous populations in Ethiopia and western India, respectively, despite a clear paternal link between the Bene Israel and the Levant. These results cast light on the variegated genetic architecture of the Middle East, and trace the origins of most Jewish Diaspora communities to the Levant." According to the study of Behar et al. Ethiopian Jews are clustered with the Ethiosemitic-speaking Amhara and Tigrayans rather than the Oromos. The Beta Israel are autosomally closer to other populations from the Horn of Africa than to any other Jewish population, including Yemenite Jews. A 2012 study by Ostrer et al. concluded that the Ethiopian Jewish community was founded about 2,000 years ago, probably by only a relatively small number of Jews from elsewhere, with local people joining the community, causing Beta Israel to become genetically distant from other Jewish groups.


Scholarly views


Early views

Early secular scholars considered the Beta Israel to be the direct descendants of Jews who lived in ancient Ethiopia, whether they were the descendants of an Israelite tribe, or converted by Jews living in
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, or by the Jewish community in southern Egypt at
Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...
. In 1829, Marcus Louis wrote that the ancestors of the Beta Israel related to the Asmach, which were also called Sembritae ("foreigners"), an Egyptian regiment numbering 240,000 soldiers and mentioned by Greek geographers and historians. The Asmach emigrated or were exiled from
Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; ; ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological site, archaeological digs on the island became a World Heritage Site in 1979, along with other examples of ...
to Kush in the time of
Psamtik I Wahibre Psamtik I (Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664 and 610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian E ...
or Psamtik II and settled in Sennar and Abyssinia. It is possible that Shebna's party from Rabbinic accounts was part of the Asmach. In the 1930s, Jones and Monroe argued that the chief Semitic languages of Ethiopia may suggest an antiquity of Judaism in Ethiopia: "There still remains the curious circumstance that a number of Abyssinian words connected with religion, such as the words for
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, idol,
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
, purification, and
alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...
, are of
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
origin. These words must have been derived directly from a Jewish source, for the Abyssinian Church knows the scriptures only in a Ge'ez version made from the
Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
." Richard Pankhurst summarized the various theories offered about their origins, as of 1950. He said that the first members of this community were: According to Pankhurst, traditional Ethiopian scholars have said "We were Jews before we were Christians". He said that more recent hypotheses were more compelling—especially those of the Ethiopian scholars Dr Taddesse Tamrat and Dr Getachew Haile—and instead emphasized the conversion of Christians to the Beta Israel faith, suggesting the Beta Israel were culturally and ethnically an Ethiopian sect.


1980s and early 1990s

According to Jacqueline Pirenne, numerous
Sabaeans Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE. Modern historians agree th ...
left southern Arabia and crossed over the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
to Ethiopia to escape from the
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
, who had devastated the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. She says that a second major wave of Sabeans crossed over to Ethiopia in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE to escape
Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...
, and that this wave also included Jews fleeing from the Babylonian takeover of Judah. In both cases, the Sabeans are assumed to have departed later from Ethiopia to Yemen. According to Menachem Waldman, a major wave of emigration from the
Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...
to Kush and Abyssinia dates to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in the beginning of the seventh century BCE. Rabbinic accounts of the siege assert that only about 110,000 Judeans remained in Jerusalem under King
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
's command, whereas about 130,000 Judeans led by Shebna had joined
Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
's campaign against Tirhakah, king of Kush. Sennacherib's campaign failed and Shebna's army was lost "at the mountains of darkness", suggestively identified with the Simien Mountains. In 1987, Steven Kaplan wrote: Richard Pankhurst summarized the state of knowledge on the subject in 1992 as follows: "The early origins of the Falashas are shrouded in mystery, and, for lack of documentation, will probably remain so for ever."Richard Pankhurst, "The Falashas, or Judaic Ethiopians, in Their Christian Ethiopian Setting", ''African Affairs'', 91 (October 1992), pp. 567–582 at p. 567.


Recent views

By 1994, modern scholars of Ethiopian history and Ethiopian Jews generally supported one of two conflicting hypotheses for the origin of the Beta Israel, as outlined by Steven Kaplan: Steven Kaplan
On the Changes in the Research of Ethiopian Jewry
, ''Pe'amim'' 58 (1994), pp. 137–150. (Hebrew)
* An ancient Jewish origin, together with conservation of some ancient Jewish traditions by the Ethiopian Church. Kaplan identifies Simon D. Messing, David Shlush, Michael Corinaldi, Menachem Waldman, Menachem Elon and David Kessler as supporters of this hypothesis. * A late
ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is the formation and development of an ethnic group. This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th-century neologism that was later introduce ...
of the Beta Israel in the context of historical pressures between the 14th to 16th centuries, from a sect of Ethiopian Christians who took on Biblical Old Testament practices, and came to identify as Jews. Kaplan supports this hypothesis, and lists with him G. J. Abbink, Kay K. Shelemay, Taddesse Tamrat and James A. Quirin. Quirin differs from his fellow researchers in the weight that he assigns to an ancient Jewish element which the Beta Israel have conserved. Some Ethiopian Jewish practices disagree with rabbinic practice but do match the practices of late
Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...
sects, suggesting that Ethiopian Jews may possess a tradition from ancient Jewish groups whose beliefs have become extinct elsewhere.


History

The earliest recorded mention of the Beta Israel comes from the ''Royal Chronicle'' of Emperor Amda Seyon which dates back to the early 14th century AD. According to this source, the Emperor sent troops to pacify the people "like Jews" in the regions of Semien, Tselemt, Tsegede and Wegara.Steven Kaplan, "Betä Əsraʾel", in Siegbert von Uhlig, ed., ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A–C'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 553. Another early reference to the Beta Israel is found in a Christian Ethiopian hagiography which is known as the ''Gädl'' (Life) of Abba Yafqarana Egzi', a 14th-century Ethiopian saint. This work contains an account of a Christian monk by the name of Qozmos, who, following a dispute with his abbot, renounced Christianity, and joined a group of people who followed "the religion of the Jews". Qozmos then led the Jews of Semien and Tselemt to attack the Christians of Dembiya. Eventually, this revolt was defeated by Emperor Dawit I who dispatched troops from Tigray to crush the rebellion.


Immigration to Israel


Beta Israel Exodus

The emigration of the Beta Israel community to Israel was officially banned by the Communist
Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
government of Ethiopia during the 1980s, although it is now known that General Mengistu collaborated with Israel in order to receive money and arms in exchange for granting the Beta Israel safe passage during Operation Moses. *Late 1979 – beginning of 1984 – Aliyah activists and
Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
agents operating in Sudan, including Ferede Aklum, called the Jews to come to Sudan where they would eventually be taken to Israel. Posing as Christian Ethiopian refugees from the
Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...
, Jews began to arrive in the refugee camps in Sudan. Most Jews came from
Tigray The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...
and Wolqayt, regions that were controlled by the TPLF, who often escorted them to the Sudanese border. Small groups of Jews were brought out of Sudan in a clandestine operation that continued until an Israeli newspaper exposed the operation and brought it to a halt stranding Beta Israels in the Sudanese camps. In 1981, the Jewish Defense League protested the "lack of action" to rescue Ethiopian Jews by taking over the main offices of HIAS in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. *1983 – March 28, 1985 – In 1983 the governor of Gondar region, Major Melaku Teferra was ousted, and his successor removed restrictions on travel out of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Jews, many by this time waiting in
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
, began again to arrive in Sudan in large numbers; and the Mossad had trouble evacuating them quickly. Because of the poor conditions in the Sudanese camps, many Ethiopian refugees, both Christian and Jewish, died of disease and hunger. Among these victims, it is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 were Jews. In late 1984, the Sudanese government, following the intervention of the U.S., allowed the emigration of 7,200 Beta Israel refugees to Europe who then went on to Israel. The first of these two immigration waves, between 20 November 1984 and 20 January 1985, was dubbed Operation Moses (original name "The Lion of Judah’s Cub") and brought 6,500 Beta Israel to Israel. This operation was followed by Operation Joshua (also referred to as "Operation Sheba") a few weeks later, which was conducted by the U.S. Air Force, and brought the 494 Jewish refugees remaining in Sudan to Israel. The second operation was mainly carried out due to the critical intervention and pressure from the U.S.


Emigration via Addis Ababa

*1990–1991: After losing Soviet military support following the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, the Ethiopian government allowed the emigration of 6,000 Beta Israel members to Israel in small groups, mostly in hope of establishing ties with the U.S., a major Israeli ally. Many more Beta Israel members crowded into refugee camps on the outskirts of
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...
, the capital of Ethiopia, to escape the civil war raging in the north of Ethiopia (their region of origin), and await their turn to emigrate to Israel. *May 24–25, 1991 ( Operation Solomon): In 1991, the political and economic situation in Ethiopia deteriorated, as rebels mounted attacks against and eventually gained control of Addis Ababa. Worried about the fate of the Beta Israel during the transition period, the Israeli government, with the help of several private groups, resumed the migration. Over the course of 36 hours, a total of 34
El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...
passenger planes, with their seats removed to maximize passenger capacity, flew 14,325 Beta Israel non-stop to Israel. *1992–1999: During these years, the Qwara Beta Israel immigrated to Israel. Another 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who had failed to reach the assembly centre in Addis Ababa in time were flown to Israel in subsequent months. *1997–present: In 1997, an irregular emigration began of Falash Mura, which was and still is subject to political developments in Israel. *2018–2020: In August 2018, the Netanyahu government vowed to bring in 1,000 Falasha Jews from Ethiopia.
In April 2019 an estimated 8,000 Falasha were waiting to leave Ethiopia.
On February 25, 2020, 43 Falasah arrived in Israel from Ethiopia. *2021: On November 14, 2021, Falasha Jews in Israel held a protest for their relatives who were left behind in Ethiopia in hopes of convincing the Israeli government to allow their immigration. That day the Israeli Government permitted 9,000 Falasha Jews to go to Israel. On November 29, 2021, the Israeli Government permitted 3,000 more Falasha Jews to go to Israel. In 2021, 1,636 Jews immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia. *2022: In May 2022 340 Jews from Ethiopia were scheduled to arrive in Israel. *2023: On February 3, 2023, 120 Jews came from Ethiopia to Israel. On May 9, 2023, 111 Jews from Ethiopia were scheduled to arrive in Israel. On May 23, 2023, 3,000 Jews from Ethiopia were scheduled to arrive in Israel. On July 15, 2023, 5000 Jews from Ethiopia reunited with family in Israel. On August 10, 2023, Israel rescued 200 citizens and Jews from Ethiopia.


The Falash Mura's difficulties in immigrating to Israel

In 1991, the Israeli authorities announced that the emigration of the Beta Israel to Israel was about to conclude, because almost all of the community had been evacuated. Nevertheless, thousands of other Ethiopians began leaving the northern region to take refuge in the government controlled capital, Addis Ababa, who were Jewish converts to Christianity and asking to immigrate to Israel. As a result, a new term arose which was used to refer to this group: "Falash Mura". The Falash Mura, who weren't part of the Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia, were not recognized as Jews by the Israeli authorities, and were therefore not initially allowed to immigrate to Israel, making them ineligible for Israeli citizenship under Israel's Law of Return. As a result, a lively debate has arisen in Israel about the Falash Mura, mainly between the Beta Israel community in Israel and their supporters and those opposed to a potential massive emigration of the Falash Mura people. The government's position on the matter remained quite restrictive, but it has been subject to numerous criticisms, including criticisms by some clerics who want to encourage these people's return to Judaism. During the 1990s, the Israeli government finally allowed most of those who fled to Addis Ababa to immigrate to Israel. Some did so through the Law of Return, which allows an Israeli parent of a non-Jew to petition for his/her son or daughter to be allowed to immigrate to Israel. Others were allowed to immigrate to Israel as part of a humanitarian effort. The Israeli government hoped that admitting these Falash Mura would finally bring emigration from Ethiopia to a close, but instead prompted a new wave of Falash Mura refugees fleeing to Addis Ababa and wishing to immigrate to Israel. This led the Israeli government to harden its position on the matter in the late 1990s. In February 2003, the Israeli government decided to accept Orthodox religious conversions in Ethiopia of Falash Mura by Israeli Rabbis, after which they can then immigrate to Israel as Jews. Although the new position is more open, and although the Israeli governmental authorities and religious authorities should in theory allow immigration to Israel of most of the Falash Mura wishing to do so (who are now acknowledged to be descendants of the Beta Israel community), in practice, however, that immigration remains slow, and the Israeli government continued to limit, from 2003 to 2006, immigration of Falash Mura to about 300 per month. In April 2005, ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'' stated that it had conducted a survey in Ethiopia, after which it was concluded that tens of thousands of Falash Mura still lived in rural northern Ethiopia. On 14 November 2010, the Israeli cabinet approved a plan to allow an additional 8,000 Falash Mura to immigrate to Israel. On November 16, 2015, the Israeli cabinet unanimously voted in favor of allowing the last group of Falash Mura to immigrate over the next five years, but their acceptance will be conditional on a successful Jewish conversion process, according to the
Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...
. In April 2016, they announced that a total of 10,300 people would be included in the latest round of Aliyah, over the following 5 years. By May 2021 300 Falasha had been brought to Israel joining 1,700 who had already immigrated; an estimated 12,000 more are in Ethiopia.


Population


Ethiopian Jews in Israel

The Ethiopian Beta Israel community in Israel today comprises more than 159,500 people. They are a little more than 1 percent of the Israeli population. Most of this population are the descendants and the immigrants who came to Israel during Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991). Civil war and famine in Ethiopia prompted the Israeli government to mount these dramatic rescue operations. The rescues were within the context of Israel's national mission to gather diaspora Jews and bring them to the Jewish homeland. Some immigration has continued up until the present day. Today 81,000 Ethiopian Israelis were born in Ethiopia, while 38,500 or 32% of the community are native born Israelis. Over time, the Ethiopian Jews in Israel moved out of the government owned
mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabrication, prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or ...
camps which they initially lived in and settled in various cities and towns throughout Israel, with the encouragement of the Israeli authorities who grant new immigrants generous government loans or low-interest mortgages. Similarly to other groups of immigrant Jews who made
aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
to Israel, the Ethiopian Jews have had to overcome obstacles to integrate into Israeli society. Initially the main challenges faced by the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel arose from communication difficulties (most of the Ethiopian population could not read nor write in Hebrew, and many of the older members could not hold a simple conversation in Hebrew), and discrimination, including manifestations of racism, from some parts of Israeli society. Unlike Russian immigrants, many of whom arrived educated and skilled, Ethiopian immigrants came from an impoverished agrarian country, and were ill-prepared to work in an industrialized country. Efforts to increase social standing, and integration, have included scholarship programs such as the nursing training supported by La'Ofek and Hadassah International. Over the years, there has been significant progress in the integration of young Beta Israels into Israeli society, primarily resulting from serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, alongside other Israelis their age. This has led to an increase in opportunities for Ethiopian Jews after they are discharged from the army. Despite progress, Ethiopian Jews are still not well assimilated into Israeli-Jewish society. They remain, on average, on a lower economic and educational level than average Israelis. The rate of Ethiopians who have dropped out of school has increased dramatically as well as the rate of juvenile delinquency, and there are high incidences of suicide and depression among this community. Also, while marriages between Jews of different backgrounds are very common in Israel, marriages between Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians are not very common. According to a 2009 study, 90% of Ethiopian-Israelis – 93% of men and 85% of women, are married to other Ethiopian-Israelis. A survey found that 57% of Israelis consider a daughter marrying an Ethiopian unacceptable and 39% consider a son marrying an Ethiopian to be unacceptable. Barriers to intermarriage have been attributed to sentiments in both the Ethiopian community and Israeli society generally. A 2011 study showed that only 13% of high school students of Ethiopian origin felt "fully Israeli". In 1996, an event called the "blood bank affair" took place that demonstrated the discrimination and racism against Ethiopians in Israeli society. Blood banks would not use Ethiopian blood out of the fear of HIV being generated from their blood. Discrimination and racism against Israeli Ethiopians is still perpetuated. In May 2015, Israeli Ethiopians demonstrated in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem against racism, after a video was released, showing an Israeli soldier of Ethiopian descent that was brutally beaten up by the Israeli police. Interviewed students of Ethiopian origin affirm that they do not feel accepted in Israeli society, due to a very strong discrimination towards them. Many scholars such as Ben-Eliezer have been exploring how the discrimination, cultural racism, and exclusion have resulted in metaphorically sending many of the new generation of Ethiopian Jews "back to Africa". They say this because many of the new generation have been reclaiming their traditional Ethiopian names, Ethiopian language, Ethiopian culture, and Ethiopian music.


Converts


Falash Mura

Falash Mura is the name given to those of the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia who converted to Christianity under pressure from Christian missionaries during the 19th century and the 20th century. This term consists of Jews who did not adhere to Jewish law, as well as Jewish converts to Christianity, who did so either voluntarily or who were forced to do so. Many Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors converted to Christianity have been returning to the practice of Judaism. The Israeli government can thus set quotas on their immigration and make citizenship dependent on their conversion to
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...
.


Beta Abraham


Slaves

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
was practiced in Ethiopia as in much of Africa until it was formally abolished in 1942. After the slave was bought by a Jew, he went through conversion (''giyur''), and became property of his master.


In popular culture

*The 2005 Israeli-French film "'' Go, Live, and Become''" (), directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu focuses on Operation Moses. The film tells the story of an Ethiopian Christian child whose mother has him pass as Jewish so he can immigrate to Israel and escape the famine looming in Ethiopia. The film was awarded the 2005 Best Film Award at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. * Several prominent musicians and rappers are of Ethiopian origin. *The plot of the 2019 American film '' Uncut Gems'' opens with Ethiopian Jewish miners retrieving an opal in Africa. *The 2019 film '' The Red Sea Diving Resort'' is loosely based on the events of Operation Moses and Operation Joshua in 1984–1985, in which the Mossad covertly evacuated Jewish Ethiopian refugees to Israel using a base at the once-abandoned holiday resort of Arous Village on the Red Sea coast of Sudan. *Israeli-born singer Eden Alene was set to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The chorus of her song " Feker Libi" featured lyrics in Amharic, Arabic and Hebrew. Due to the 2020 contest's cancellation, she represented Israel again in 2021 with the song " Set Me Free", placing 17th out of 26 in the final.


Monuments

National memorials to the Ethiopian Jews who died on their way to Israel are located in Kiryat Gat, and at the National Civil Cemetery of the State of Israel in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.


Ethiopian Heritage Museum

In 2009, plans to establish an Ethiopian Heritage Museum dedicated to the heritage and culture of the Ethiopian Jewish community were unveiled in
Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...
. The museum will include a model of an Ethiopian village, an artificial stream, a garden, classrooms, an amphitheater, and a memorial to Ethiopian Zionist activists and Ethiopian Jews who died ''en route'' to Israel.


Café Shahor Hazak

Strong Black Coffee ("''Café Shahor Hazak''"; קפה שחור חזק) is an Ethiopian-Israeli
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
duo. The duo were a nominee for the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards Best Israeli Act award.


Falash Mura


Terminology

The original term that the Beta Israel gave to the converts was "Faras Muqra" ("horse of the raven") in which the word "horse" refers to the converts and the word "raven" refers to the missionary Martin Flad who used to wear black clothes. Can also be foun
here
and archive
here
This term derived the additional names ''Falas Muqra'', ''Faras Mura'' and ''Falas Mura''. In Hebrew the term "Falash Mura" (or "Falashmura") is probably a result of confusion over the use of the term "Faras Muqra" and its derivatives and on the basis of
false cognate False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds or spelling and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For exampl ...
it was given the Hebrew meaning ''Falashim Mumarim'' ("converted Falashas"). The actual term "Falash Mura" has no clear origin. It is believed that the term may come from the Agaw and means "someone who changes their faith."


History

In 1860,
Henry Aaron Stern Henry Aaron Stern (*11 April 1820, Unterreichenbach near Gelnhausen; † 13 May 1885, Hackney, London) was an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary and priest of Jews, Jewish origin. After converting to Christianity in London in 1840 and studying with ...
, a Jewish convert to Christianity, traveled to Ethiopia in an attempt to convert the Beta Israel community to Christianity.


Conversion to Christianity

For years, Ethiopian Jews were unable to own land and were often persecuted by the Christian majority of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Jews were afraid to touch non-Jews because they believed non-Jews were not pure. They were also ostracized by their Christian neighbors. For this reason, many Ethiopian Jews converted to Christianity to seek a better life in Ethiopia. The Jewish Agency's Ethiopia emissary, Asher Seyum, says the Falash Mura "converted in the 19th and 20th century, when Jewish relations with Christian rulers soured. Regardless, many kept ties with their Jewish brethren and were never fully accepted into the Christian communities. When word spread about the aliyah, many thousands of Falash Mura left their villages for Gondar and Addis Ababa, assuming they counted." In the Achefer
woreda Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas (; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''List of zones of Ethiopia, zones'' and the ''Regions of Ethiopia, regional states''. These districts are f ...
of the
Mirab Gojjam Zone West Gojjam ( Amharic: ምዕራብ ጎጃም) or Mirab Gojjam is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is named after the former province of Gojjam. West Gojjam is bordered on the south by the Abay River which separates it from the Orom ...
, roughly 1,000–2,000 families of Beta Israel were found. There may be other such regions in Ethiopia with significant Jewish enclaves, which would raise the total population to more than 50,000 people.


Return to Judaism

The Falash Mura did not refer to themselves as members of the Beta Israel, the name for the Ethiopian Jewish community, until after the first wave of immigration to Israel. Beta Israel by ancestry, the Falash Mura believe they have just as much of a right to return to Israel as the Beta Israel themselves. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, a major player in the first wave of Beta Israel immigration to Israel, declared in 2002 that the Falash Mura had converted out of fear and persecution and therefore should be considered Jews.


Aliyah to Israel

Today, Falash Mura who move to Israel must undergo conversion on arrival, making it increasingly more difficult for them to get situated into Israeli society. The Beta Israel who immigrated and made Aliyah through Operation Moses and Operation Solomon were not required to undergo conversion because they were accepted as Jews under the Law of Return. On February 16, 2003, the Israeli government applied Resolution 2958 to the Falash Mura, which grants maternal descendants of Beta Israel the right to immigrate to Israel under the Israeli
Law of Return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...
and to obtain citizenship if they convert to
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.


Controversy

Today, both Israeli and Ethiopian groups dispute the Falash Mura's religious and political status. The Israeli government fears that these people are just using Judaism as an excuse to leave Ethiopia in efforts to improve their lives in a new country. Right-wing member of the Israeli Knesset Bezalel Smotrich was quoted saying, "This practice will develop into a demand to bring more and more family members not included in the Law of Return. It will open the door to an endless extension of a family chain from all over the world," he wrote, according to Kan. "How can the state explain in the High Court the distinction it makes between the Falashmura and the rest of the world?" Although the government has threatened to stop all efforts to bring these people to Israel, they have still continued to address the issue. In 2018, the Israeli government allowed 1,000 Falash Mura to immigrate to Israel. However, members of the Ethiopian community say the process for immigration approval is poorly executed and inaccurate, dividing families. At least 80 percent of the tribe members in Ethiopia say they have first-degree relatives living in Israel, and some have been waiting for 20 years to immigrate.


Notable Beta Israelis


Pre-20th century

* Seble Wongel, Queen mother of the Abyssinian Empire * Gudit, Queen of the Kingdom of Semien in the 10th-11th century * Eldad ha-Dani, 9th-century Jewish traveler, and philologist widely believed to be of Ethiopian Jewish ancestry by scholars * Uziel ben Melchiel, King of the Kingdom of Simien (during the time of Eldad ha-Dani; 9th century) * Daniel ben Hanania, traveller who made the first extensive contact with the Ashkenazic Rabbinical court in Ottoman Palestine in 1855 * Abba Mehari,
Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
and Kahen who tried to make
Aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
on foot with the Ethiopian Jews in 1862


20th century – present


Academia

* Ephraim Isaac, Professor at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and scholar


Arts and entertainment

* Hanna Ahroni, American-Israeli singer from the Ethiopian-Yemenite Jewish community in
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea (, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Società di Navigazione Rubattino, Rubattino Shippin ...
* Eden Alene, representative for Israel in
Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was se ...
* Strong Black Coffee, hiphop group * , Israeli actor and writer * Hagit Yaso, winner of the ninth season of Kokhav Nolad


Fashion and modeling

* Yityish Titi Aynaw, Miss Israel (2013) * Esti Mamo, model


Journalism

* Branu Tegene, Israeli journalist


Military and security

*, Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli military and a director at Assuta Medical Center * Ferede Aklum, Mossad agent


Politics

* Mazor Bahaina, politician for
Shas Shas () is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi religious List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardic Jews, Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until ...
and Orthodox rabbi * Mazi Melesa Pilip, US
Legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...
, member of the Nassau County Legislature * Shimon Solomon, politician * Moshe Shlomo, Knesset member * Pnina Tamano-Shata, Minister of Immigration and Absorption in thirty-sixth government of Israel * Gadi Yevarkan, politician


Sports

* Eli Dasa, captain of the
Israel national football team The Israel national football team () represents Israel in men's international Association football, football, and is governed by the Israel Football Association. They have been members of the European Confederation UEFA since 1994. Israel qua ...
2022–present * Maru Teferi, Israeli Olympic marathoner * Zohar Zimro, Israeli Olympic runner


Religion

* Uri Ben Baruch, religious leader and Liqa Kahnat (High Priest) * Raphael Hadane, former Liqa Kahnat of the Beta Israel. * Sharon Shalom, Israeli rabbi, lecturer and writer * Reuven Wabashat - Ethiopian Chief Rabbi of Israel * Menashe Zemro, former Liqa Kahnat of the Jews of Dembiya


Affiliated groups

* Faras Muqra * Maryam Wodet (The Lovers of Mary) * Shamane * Beta Abraham


See also

* Ethiopia–Israel relations * Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites * History of the Jews in Africa *
Jewish religious movements Jewish religious movements, sometimes called " denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Samaritans are also considered ethnic Jews by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, although they a ...
* Jews of Bilad el-Sudan * Qemant people, a small subgroup of the Agaw people from
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, whose members traditionally practiced an early Hebraic religion * Religion in Ethiopia *
Who is a Jew? "Who is a Jew?" (, ), is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, genealogical, and ...


Notes


References


Further reading

General * Michael Corinaldi, ''Jewish identity: the case of Ethiopian Jewry'', Magnes Press, 1998, * Daniel Frieilmann, "The Case of the Falas Mura" in Tudor Parfitt & Emanuela Trevisan Semi (Editors), ''The Beta Israel in Ethiopia and Israel: Studies on Ethiopian Jews'', Routledge, 1999, *Steven Kaplan & Shoshana Ben-Dor (1988). ''Ethiopian Jewry: An Annotated Bibliography''. Ben-Zvi Institute. * Don Seeman, ''One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism'', Rutgers University Press, 2010, Early accounts *
James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who physically confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North and East Africa and in 1770 became the fir ...
(1790). ''Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile''. * Johann Martin Flad, ''The Falashas (Jews) of Abyssinia'', W. Macintosh, 1869 * Samuel Gobat
''Journal of a three years' residence in Abyssinia: in furtherance of the objects of the Church Missionary Society''
Hatchard & Son; and Seeley & Sons, 1834 *
Henry Aaron Stern Henry Aaron Stern (*11 April 1820, Unterreichenbach near Gelnhausen; † 13 May 1885, Hackney, London) was an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary and priest of Jews, Jewish origin. After converting to Christianity in London in 1840 and studying with ...
, ''Wanderings among the Falashas in Abyssinia: Together with Descriptions of the Country and Its Various Inhabitants'', Wertheim, Macintosh, and Hunt, 1862 * Carl Rathjens (1921). ''Die Juden in Abessinien''. W. Gente. History *Abbink, Jon (1990). "The Enigma of Esra'el Ethnogenesis: An Anthro-Historical Study". ''Cahiers d'Etudes africaines'', 120, XXX-4, pp. 393–449. *Avner, Yossi (1986). ''The Jews of Ethiopia: A People in Transition''. Beth Hatefutsoth. * Salo Wittmayer Baron (1983). ''A Social and Religious History of the Jews''. Volume XVIII. * Budge, E. A. Wallis (1932)
''The Queen of Sheba and her only son Menelik''
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Other reading


Construction of Beta Israel IdentityJewish EncyclopediaThe Jews of Ethiopia and their NamesA New Light for Ethiopian Jews at Tel Aviv University


External links


Beta Israel: Society and Culture – Ethiopian JewsYopi – The Ethiopian PortalIsrael Association for Ethiopian JewsChassida Shmella – Ethiopian Jewish Community of North America

Julian Morganstern ''The three calendars of ancient Israel''
Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 13–78
Julian Morganstern ''Additional notes on "the three calendars of ancient Israel''
Hebrew Union College Annual 3 (1926) 77-107 {{Authority control Ethnic groups in Israel History of the Jews in Africa Jewish Ethiopian history Jewish ethnic groups Semitic-speaking peoples Ethnic groups in Ethiopia