Poverty is rampant among the Hidden Jews,
Moges said, adding, “Most people live hand
to mouth and use what little money they earn
to buy food.
” He says they make about 90%
of Ethiopia’
s crafts — pottery, weaving, black-
smithing and metal work using ancient meth-
ods — and are known as the Bal Ej (crafts
makers). In Ethiopia, these are seen as lowly
professions. Because of superstition, no one
will buy from them directly in the market, so
a broker buys their wares and resells them.
Moges and Tazebku also told Colman of
LOZA
’
s association with the Jambaria gedam,
a small religious community in a river valley
in North Shewa, not far from Debre Brehan, a
city where 10,000 Hidden Jews live. Jambaria
is one of 15 hidden gedams in North Shewa.
Only three welcome visitors.
The gedams are where the Beta Israel go
to experience Judaism, where orphans are
raised, where the elderly go to die and receive
a Jewish burial, and where pre-Talmudic
Judaism (before rabbis) operates in full force.
The LOZA leaders implored Colman to
help them and to share their story in the U.S.
TAKING ACTION
Back home, Colman studied her scribbled
notes from her brief meeting with Tazebku
and Moges. She began what led to months of
research.
“How could what they told me be true?”
she recalled. “I have been obsessed with learn-
ing all I can.
”
She first contacted Malka Shabtay, an
Israeli applied anthropologist who shared
information about the Hidden Jews. Then
Colman relied on guidance from William
Recant, a former JDC executive who played a
major role in the planning and coordination
of Operation Solomon. He had worked with
Ethiopian Jews long before that. Now retired
and a JDC consultant, he told Colman he and
the agency had never heard of the Hidden
Jews in the D
continued from page 15
History of the
Hidden Jews
Origins of the Jews in Ethiopia vary. Are
they descendants of the lost tribe of Dan?
Did they come from Israel to Ethiopia with
Menelik I, son of the Queen of Sheba and
King Solomon? Are they associated with
the Levites, who brought the Ark of the
Covenant to safety in Ethiopia? No theory
can be proven.
Jews, known as Beta Israel (House of
Israel), first settled in Gondar in northern
Ethiopia. About 400 years ago, ancestors
of today’
s Hidden Jews migrated to North
Shewa, south of Gondar.
The Beta Israel were not allowed to
practice Judaism, so they observed
Jewish customs secretly, living publicly as
Christians for centuries. Their teachings
were transmitted orally, with no documents
that might be used against them.
The Beta Israel are known as skilled
craftsmen. They migrated to Addis Ababa
and settled in Kechene, just outside the
city, about 100 years ago when requested
to build the imperial palace.
Today, the population of the Beta Israel
of North Shewa is estimated at 150,000.
They are all ancestral Jews and most stay
hidden by outwardly observing Christianity
and, at the same time, retaining some
Jewish customs. They do not intermarry
with Christians and the Christian communi-
ty does not accept them as real Christians.
Now more than 200 of the Hidden Jews in
Kechene practice Judaism openly.
16 | JUNE 25 • 2020