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

