continued from page 17
Ethiopia. The U.S. participants paid
their own costs. Israeli Ambassador to
Ethiopia Raphael Morav also accom-
panied them. A videographer docu-
mented the mission for educational
purposes.
In Kechene, the delegation celebrat-
ed Shabbat at the LOZA synagogue,
beginning with candle lighting beside
a central pole known as “Jerusalem.
”
Most prayers were in Amharic (the
native language), with a few recog-
nizable Hebrew words, like eloheinu
(“our God”). Men wore kippot. Rabbis
Bennett and Ruskin taught the con-
gregation to sing a traditional Shabbat
prayer in Hebrew.
This was followed by questions
about Western Jewish traditions and a
discussion about community needs.
The delegation learned some of
the 200 Jews practicing openly keep
kosher, bless their children, have
menorahs, recite the Shema, say
HaMotzi over their version of Shabbat
challah, make Kiddush over grain beer
instead of wine, refrain from work on
Shabbat, circumcise baby boys at 8
days old and celebrate Jewish holidays.
Men and women also sit separately.
Before Shabbat, they had traveled to
the Jambaria gedam. They drove on
rugged roads for several hours, then
completed a treacherous descent to the
river valley below on foot to reach the
hidden gedam, where secrecy is a mat-
ter of survival because their Christian
neighbors fear and distrust them.
In the Beit HaMikdas, the mud
prayer house, they were greeted by
spiritual leader Aba Minas. Aba is
Hebrew for father. The nearby river is
used as a mikvah, and menstruating
women separate themselves for seven
days, according to pre-Talmudic tradi-
tion. Crafts also are produced here for
market.
Poverty and poor nutrition are
evident, but the will to live Jewishly is
strong.
“MAKING HISTORY”
Any lingering doubts about whether
the LOZA members they met are truly
Jewish were dispelled by the trip.
“When you attend a Shabbat service,
the question goes away pretty quick-
ly,
” David Goldberg said. “There’
s no
question in my mind. I tell some of my
Ashkenazi friends, ‘
They are probably
a lot more Jewish than you.
’
”
Bennett said, “The most important
question is why are we doing this?
Because taking care of Jews, kol Yisrael
aravim zeh l’
zeh, is an important
mandate of being a part of a Jewish
community.
“They are asking us to help them be
Jews. As a Reform rabbi, this organi-
zation, this movement, is to try to help
gain access to Judaism for people who
are asking to be Jews.
“When you have a Miki Moges say,
‘
I’
d like to learn Hebrew; I’
d like to
Political Quagmire
In January 2019, the U.S.-based Friends of the Beta
Israel of North Shewa spent $15,000 to send a del-
egation of four Israeli Ethiopian religious leaders to
Ethiopia to determine if the Hidden Jews are truly
Jewish. The leaders did not issue a report. The Friends
team believes Israeli politics are the reason.
After relocating several waves of Beta Israel from
Gondar (northern Ethiopia) to Israel since 1984,
the Israeli government declared it had rescued all
Ethiopian Jews. Yet thousands more emerged and
await religious determination in displaced persons
camps in Ethiopia so they can make aliyah. Some
have waited 20 years, and most have first-degree
relatives in Israel.
Members of the Lovers of Zion Association (LOZA)
in Kechene, outside of Addis Ababa, would like to
make aliyah, but realize it’
s not possible now. So, they
are focused on building community. LOZA leaders
were told they cannot receive help from major Jewish
agencies affiliated with the Israeli government until
the issue of the encamped Gondar Jews is resolved.
“It is not our goal to get [the LOZA group] recog-
nition as Jews so they can go to Israel,” said Rabbi
Joshua Bennett of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, a
Friends group leader. “Our goal is to get them recog-
nition as a community so they can live successfully in
Ethiopia.
“We’
ve had conversations with the American Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency
for Israel (JAFI) and the Jewish Federations of North
America, and they’
ve all landed on deaf ears and dead
ends. We are trying to get them some authenticity so
eventually they will be strong enough and organized
enough to gain the attention of those organizations.”
“With Jewish communities in Ethiopia, the terms
‘
Jewish’
and ‘
who is a Jew?’
are very complicated,”
said William Recant, a former JDC executive and an
expert on Ethiopian Jews. “Four different groups over
25 years have come forward. Israel struggled with
how many and when they come … Suzi and her
group are doing an admirable job in bringing forth
who this community is and what the community is
looking for.”
David Goldberg, a 20-year JDC board member, adds
his perspective. “We see a lack of caring by the orga-
nized Jewish world to do much. Because the Israeli
government has not encouraged this kind of work,
they have been standoffish.
“But,” he said, “it’
s changing … the Israeli ambas-
sador is sympathetic, and we are now working to
get discussions on a positive level with the JDC, the
Jewish Agency and local federations … This is too big
of a job for just Suzi and David and Josh. We’
re not
trying to save or change the world. We’
re just trying to
wake up the Jewish world.”
18 | JUNE 25 • 2020
The Friends group funded six sewing
machines to be used to make masks
in Kechene to fight COVID-19. Masks
will be distributed to the community,
donated to front line workers and sold
to others to help bring in income.
Jews in the D