Ethiopians Who Traced Jewish Roots via Israel, Spain & USA

 

Ethiopian Patriots' Victory Day

It is Ethiopian Patriots' Victory Day (also known as Arbegnoch Qen or Liberation Day).
From 1993-1994, a span of about 18 months or so, I traveled back and forth to Tel Aviv, Israel, working at Bezeq, an Israeli communications company. It is there that I met and befriended my Ethiopian friends who lived on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and frequented the large market (my Israeli playground). My living accommodations faced the Mediterranean sea, where I enjoyed the beach, but I played in the dusty city market, learning foods, history, customs, and a few vital words in Hebrew, which I’ve long since forgotten. 

Ethiopian Jews are primarily known as Beta Israel (House of Israel). They are an ancient Jewish community from Ethiopia's Amhara and Tigray regions who practiced a traditional form of Judaism for centuries before immigrating to Israel in large numbers beginning in the late 1970s. Historically, they were sometimes called Falasha, a term now considered derogatory.

Although I loved the Israeli dishes, especially the spicy ones with a touch of Northern African influence, I also fell in love with Ethiopian food in Israel. The Beta Israel community (they all seemed to live together in 1993-1994) didn’t appear to really blend into the Israeli culture; many did not have much more of a working knowledge of Hebrew than I. But with the help of young ones translating into English, I would sit at their communal gathering, following customs, and falling in love with berbere, the use of turmeric, the feel of injera, and homemade Tej (a honey wine, but milder than that found in the American-Ethiopian restaurants). 

A recent homemade (KBrandt) dinner

I often make Ethiopian dishes, but I never learned how to make injera. I buy it at the local Ethiopian market/restaurants. But still, I give tribute to the "Ethiopian Jews" whom I met over thirty years ago.

My experience with the Ethiopian Jews became vital in some genealogical research of a few Mediterranean-tanned friends who discovered their Ethiopian roots. In America, they claimed to be Sephardic Jews. But family folklore and history confirmed them to be a distinct group of Jewish persons. 

There are records of generational names (similar to Genesis, who begat whom), and the elders could recite them without referring to the written word. The last few generations, however, only recognized it as family folklore, for they were born in the USA and had embraced all that is American. It appears their ancestors, who had left Ethiopia many generations before, also left their generational customs behind as they traveled through northern Africa and Europe, finally landing in the USA on working boats or through some form of trade, intermarrying with other cultures, slowly sending for family members to join them. These American-born, mostly claiming to be descendants of Moors from southern Spain, did not quite believe in the folklore until they uncovered genealogical data given to them by a dying elder.

As I was asked to verify the accuracy and probability and to extinguish some of their doubts, I printed off historical information for them to read. a3Genealogy reviewed their DNA results.

Last I heard, they continued to claim Judeo-Españoles (Jewish Spaniards), but they sprinkled Ethiopian artifacts throughout their home to remind them of their ancestry, and are dedicated to passing the family stories to their children. They were also looking for relatives amongst the Israeli-resident Ethiopian Jews who were airlifted between 1980 and 1990, those who were part of "Operation Solomon," including the ones I met in 1993. Photo: (Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ehtiopian Jews, book). However, according to recent data, some Ethiopian Jews were forced to convert to Christianity in Ethiopia but quietly continued their Jewish customs and remained in Ethiopia while awaiting permission to enter Israel.

Maybe if they searched a bit more, they would not only find their Israeli relatives in Ethiopia and/or Israel, but also a link to their family claim on Spanish or Moorish heritage.

In the meantime, I need to get back to the kitchen and make some Doro Wat for today's Ethiopian meal.

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