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