As Christians standing alongside Israel, we support the immigration of Jews from all over the world to Israel. At the beginning of November, a team of staff members from the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany traveled to Ethiopia to gain firsthand insight into the situation of the Jewish community there. Thousands have been waiting for more than 20 years for the chance to finally immigrate to Israel.
Israel, Beer Sheva
“It feels like only half of me is here in Israel, like I’m only half alive – without my sister.” Salina fights back tears as she tells us her story. Fifteen years ago, she came to Israel from Ethiopia with her husband and sister, Gonda. Since then, she has been waiting for her mother, brother, and sister and their families to be allowed to join them. In her small, simple, and very clean apartment in a multi-story building in Be'er Sheva, Salina warmly welcomes our international team of Christians Standing with Israel . On the low living room table are freshly baked dabo, the traditional Ethiopian Shabbat bread, cakes, fresh fruit, and roasted nuts and seeds.
Salina and her husband have settled in well in Israel. They work hard to give their three daughters a good life. Salina is a cleaner at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. Her husband works for a drip irrigation company. He works shifts so that there's a little more on his paycheck at the end of the month. Every month they send money to their family in Ethiopia to alleviate their hardship. They feel obligated to do so, like most Ethiopian Jews in Israel. "We have a roof over our heads here, enough to eat, electricity, running water, our children go to school. We feel guilty that we're here and others aren't," says Salina, adding, "I work a lot because I want to send money to my family in Ethiopia. But it's simply not enough. I know that sometimes they don't have enough to eat, and I can't send them any more; that's very difficult."
Salina's greatest fear is that her mother will die before she can see her again. "Life in Ethiopia was hard, but not having my mother with me here is very difficult for me." Over the past few years, Salina has repeatedly traveled to Jerusalem, trying to speak with the immigration authorities and advocate for her family in Ethiopia. For years, she was given the runaround. But now, the time is almost here; the exit papers for her relatives in Ethiopia are nearly complete. In a few months, they should be allowed to come to Israel.
We tell Salina that we are traveling to Gondar, Ethiopia, the next day to visit her sister. We ask if she would like to send us a message. “I just want them to come here. There are eight of them, and they don’t even have beds; they sleep on the floor. I want you to bring them here,” Salina says through tears. And then she adds, “Tell her that I pray they will come with God’s help. There’s nothing more I can do here, but with God’s help, they will come soon.” We hand Salina a card, in which she writes a greeting for her sister. Salina is grateful and hugs us warmly as we say goodbye: “I am so happy about this visit, that you listened to my longings, to my heart. Thank you for coming.”
Ethiopia, Gondar
After a night flight and 2,100 kilometers further south, our team arrives in Gondar the next day. Surrounded by mountains, the ancient imperial city lies at an altitude of over 2,000 meters in the north of the country, not far from the Tigray region, where civil war is still raging. With our guide and translator, Tariku, we set off to visit Salina's sister. As the former capital of Ethiopia, Gondar has much to offer, boasting numerous castles, churches, monasteries, and well-preserved buildings. However, the closer we get to Salina's sister Ageriy's house, the poorer the area becomes. We leave the busy main road and walk uphill along a narrow, unpaved path. At the top, we find a cluster of simple mud houses with corrugated iron roofs. Ageriy, her husband Teshome, their six children, and her brother are waiting for us at one of them. The family welcomes us warmly and invites us inside.
"There is a lot of envy towards the Jews."
The room, no more than 20 square meters, is dark and cramped, but eventually everyone finds a place to sit. The family moved from the countryside to the city just six months ago. They wanted to be close to the Jewish community. Around 10,000 Jews are waiting here in Gondar for permission to emigrate to Israel, some for more than 20 years. The family can't afford a proper apartment or a larger room. Teshome earns just enough from odd jobs to get by. Our tour guide, Tariku, explains that Jews in Gondar are charged exorbitant rents for tiny spaces: "There's a lot of envy of the Jews because they're allowed to go to Israel and receive support from there. Ethiopia is a poor country; many want to emigrate, so landlords are charging exorbitant prices."
We tell Salina about our visit and hand her brother the card she wrote. He begins to read: “For my brother and sister. I miss you so much. I hope that the God of Israel will send you and that we will see each other again soon.” Then he bursts into tears. But in the end, hope prevails that the waiting might soon be over in two or three months.
Preparing for the high-tech nation of Israel
Our visit with Ageriy and her family vividly illustrates the importance of the Jewish Agency's work: These Jewish families live in extreme poverty and, in some cases, still live very traditionally, cooking over open fires, and many electrical appliances are unfamiliar to them. It will be a long road before they are fully integrated into the modern, high-tech state of Israel. The Jewish Agency strives to prepare the Jews of Gondar for life in Israel as best it can. To this end, it supports the city's Jewish Community Center. Here, children receive supplementary instruction in addition to attending state schools. Children and adults have the opportunity to learn Hebrew and gain essential knowledge about Judaism and the State of Israel through various courses. Our team visits the synagogue at the center. Jews come here not only on Shabbat but every morning. Readings from the Torah scrolls are given in Hebrew and Amharic. The center also runs a nutrition program for breastfeeding and expectant mothers, children, and the elderly. Five times a week, those in need can pick up two meals a day. More than 1200 Jews are being cared for in this way. Children under five and senior citizens over 50 also receive free medical treatment.
Besides Salina and Ageriy, we visited other families in Israel and Ethiopia who share a similar fate. Their stories deeply affected us. At the same time, we see the challenges facing the Jewish state: How can it be proven who is truly Jewish and has the right to Israeli citizenship? How can those who pretend to be Jewish to escape poverty be exposed? When the Jews in Ethiopia were discovered, they lived in isolation in close-knit communities. There was persecution and discrimination by Christians; Jews had fewer rights than other citizens. The situation was fairly clear when Israel brought Ethiopian Jews home in 1984 with the secret Operation Moses and in 1991 with Operation Solomon. After that, things became complicated, and immigration was halted for the time being. Families remained separated for decades. Israeli rabbis have been involved in the process from the very beginning. They are trying to establish criteria for immigration, to verify who has Jewish ancestry. Over the past 20 years, the Aliyah has been slowly restarted and then repeatedly interrupted. She was also sometimes hindered by Ethiopian authorities. For those who already have first-degree relatives in Israel, the chances are quite good, Adana Tadele of the Jewish Agency explains.
The waiting is the worst thing for the Jews in Ethiopia, says our tour guide Tariku. They live practically between two worlds. "They don't build a life for themselves in Ethiopia, they don't develop further, they spend their lives waiting for Aliyah."
The families we visited will likely have to wait a few more weeks before their immigration to Israel. But for two families and a single young woman, the wait is over: they are finally allowed to enter Israel, and we are delighted to accompany them on their flight. At Tel Aviv airport, the new immigrants are greeted by staff from the Jewish Agency. They receive everything they need for their first few days in Israel, such as money and phone cards. Everything is already prepared for them at an integration center in Ashkelon. But first, the new immigrants are welcomed at the airport by their relatives in Israel with cheers and shouts, and showered with sweets and confetti. They have arrived at their longed-for destination, Jerusalem, and many tears of joy and relief are shed. But their journey doesn't end here. Now begins a long and, for many, challenging integration process
background
The history of Jews in Ethiopia is traced back to the biblical encounter between the Queen of Sheba and the Israelite King Solomon. The Queen had heard of Solomon's wisdom and traveled to his court to see for herself. According to various traditions, she gave birth to Solomon's son, King Menelik I, upon her return. After he visited his father in Jerusalem, thousands of Jews are said to have accompanied him on his return. Jews also entered the region through trade. Even after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews throughout the world, Jews settled in the area of present-day Ethiopia. They call themselves "Beita Israel" (House of Israel) and consider themselves descendants of the tribe of Dan. As such, they have been officially recognized by the Israeli government
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 131. You can order the newspaper free of charge here: https://csi-aktuell.de/israelaktuell. We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
