..„

sraers Ethiopian-born U.S. consul for the Midwest
makes a whirlwind tour to the Detroit area.

TANA LIEBERMAN

aff Writer

elaynesh Zevadia, Israeli consul to the
Midwest, is ready for people who react
with disbelief when they learn she is an
Israeli diplomat.
"I'm black, I'm Jewish, I'm a woman," Zevadia says.
She is also consul for academic and minority
airs for Israel's consulate in Chicago — the first
thiopian-born Israeli diplomat.
Last week, Zevadia spoke at three sites in south-
st Michigan — the University of Michigan in Ann
bor, Marygrove College in Detroit and
,ongregation Shir Tikvah in Troy. Her presentations

elated story: page 119

)uched not only on the state of Israel, but also on
er experiences as an Ethiopian Jew in a time of
lass exodus from her homeland.
Born in Gondar, Ethiopia, in 1968, Zevadia was
e youngest of nine children of a highly esteemed
bbi. The oldest child, Yosef, studied in Israel in the
to 1960s, returning to teach Hebrew in Ethiopia.
r this, he was arrested.
The family, descended from a line of rabbis, was
ry devout.
Ethiopian Jews practice Judaism as ordained by
e Torah only, she said. As a result, until the late
50s, when they began to learn more about the
tside world, they did not celebrate Chanuka or
rim, which are not in the Torah.
Zevadia's life as an Israeli began in 1984, when,
a 16-year-old high school graduate, she was
fered a scholarship to Hebrew University in
rusalem. She was honing her Hebrew skills in
/pan (a Hebrew study center for newcomers)
hen Operation Moses began, airlifting about
15,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudanese refugee
imps. Operation Moses, and the later Operation
olomon, both were international efforts headed
the Jewish Agency for Israel.
In anticipation of an airlift to Israel, people had
alked as far as 700 miles on foot from an Ethiopia
rn by civil war to get to the Sudan, she said. But,
ce they arrived in refugee camps, the Sudanese
vernment withdrew its support.
"The American Jewish community worked very
rd to help them," she said. "But it couldn't hap-
n in one day. American aircraft had to come in
cretly. It took about four months to complete."
Zevadia delayed her college education to help
ith the new refugees, returning to school to earn a

Nana Lieberman can be reached at (248) 354 - 6060,
247, or by e - mail at dlieberm@thejewishnews.com

bachelor's degree in international relations and a
master's degree in African studies.
The remainder of her family gradually made aliya,
ending with her brothers, who came with Operation
Solomon in 1991.
Now Israel's Ethiopian population numbers about
80,000. They live in every part of the country, work-
ing in every profession, including doctors and lawyers.
Nursing and social work are especially popular among
the Israeli Ethiopians, Zevadia said.
"But also we have Ethiopians who have problems.
This is not unusual," she added, "It is not easy for
immigrants from any country."
Religious problems have diminished since the mass
exodus began, she said. At first, Ethiopian Jews, whose
families had never-been anything but Jewish, were
asked to undergo a brit mila (ritual circumcision.) And,
for five years, Israel's Rabbinic Authority authorized
only one rabbi to perform weddings and divorces.
"If you lived in Eilat, you had to go to Netanya,
where the rabbi was," she said.
Now the Rabbinic Authority recognizes circumci-
sions performed in Ethiopia and has authorized 10
Ethiopian rabbis to perform life-cycle events.
When asked what the Ethiopian Jews had con-
tributed to the mosaic of Israeli life, Zevadia grinned
and answered, "Politeness."
Other questions at the Shir Tikvah talk concerned the
most recent negotiations for peace in the Middle East.
FOREIGN MINISTER on page 16

Resettlement Price

Israel says it needs $50 million
for the Falash Mura.

Tsrael is seeking $50 million from American
Jewry to resettle thousands of Ethiopians
seeking to immigrate to the Jewish state.
Tension over the handling of Ethiopia's so-
called Falash Mura has escalated between
American Jewish leaders and Israelis in recent
months, as an estimated 18,000 people wait in
difficult conditions in Addis Ababa and Gondar,
hoping they will be allowed to immigrate to Israel.
Falash Mura are descendants of Jews who
converted to Christianity.
While some have embraced Judaism, all say
they want to be reunited with relatives in Israel.
Those in Addis Ababa and Gondar have left
their homes and sources of income in smaller
villages because they believe it is the only way
their applications to immigrate to Israel will be
processed.
Tension increased a notch last week when
Israel's minister of absorption, Yuli Tamir, said
there would be no effort to speed up what his
critics have called a slow immigration process
without the financial commitment from U.S.
Jewry.
For their part, officials of Jewish organiza-
tions say there is support for aiding the
Ethiopian immigrants, but they first want Israel -
to commit to speeding up the process.
In a sign of the increased concern among
Americans, the Israel and Overseas Pillar of the

PRICE on page 16

0

O

Israeli Consul Belaynesh Zevadia, center, speaking at Marygrove College in Detroit, gets acquainted with Kathleen
Straus, left, president of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and Marygrove President Glenda Price.

JN

4/7

2000

15

