Davening with Thousands in Ethiopia

It started with 5 vaccines and anti-malaria pills. Those were the doctor’s orders before embarking on a trip to Ethiopia. I joined a group of 7 rabbis from the US and Israel on a three-day mission to visit the 13,000 Jews split between Gondar (10,000) and Addis Ababa and see first-hand the unbelievable efforts of the Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry (SSEJ).

Yes, there are Jews in Ethiopia. 

Ethiopian Jews, also known as Beta Israel, have lived in Ethiopia for thousands of years. Having initially made extensive contact with other diaspora Jews in the late 19th century, Israeli authorities decided in 1977 to work towards their aliya. These activities included Operation Banyarwanda and Operation Brothers, which evacuated the Beta Israel community in Sudan between 1979 and 1990 - including Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Joshua in 1985, and Operation Solomon in 1991. Over the next 30 years, another 55,000 Jews emigrated to Israel in ebbs and flows. It has taken far too long with insufficient concern for keeping families together or the dire conditions the Jews in Ethiopia face. 

 We landed in Addis Ababa on Tuesday morning (it's a 13-hour flight with a 7-hour time difference), and we immediately flew in a small propeller plane to Gondar. The city is impoverished, and the Jewish community is even poorer. Most of the houses are ramshackle huts made of mud or tin, and the average annual family income is about $600. If it were not for SSEJ providing food, medical, and religious services, the community literally would not survive. 

 

Despite the economic challenges, there is a strong sense of Jewish identity, community, and love of Israel. They have a Shul. They have a Jewish school for grades one through 12. They have Bnei Akiva youth groups. They have a Mikvah. They have adult education classes taught over Zoom coordinated through Bar Ilan University in Israel. They are baking 100,000 pounds of matzah to host the largest Seder in the world for 5,500 people! 

On Tuesday afternoon, 1,000 people showed up for Mincha. And there’s no Kiddush afterwards! We met with representatives of the leadership council. They said their biggest challenges are security (there’s a lot of instability in Ethiopia), poverty (there’s little work and food prices have doubled in the last year), and their desire to make aliya. They alternate between despair and hope but said our visit strengthens that hope. Our group was the first rabbinic delegation in history to visit Ethiopian Jews. 

Over 3,000 men, women, and children showed up Wednesday morning for Shacharit! They filled the synagogue area and overflowed into side rooms and classrooms and the food distribution center. They wanted to be present and show off their Jewish connection to our group. One of the most moving moments was when the group was asked who has relatives in Israel. Hundreds of members held up pictures of their relatives. Some of them were wearing their IDF uniforms. Some had made aliya years ago, and some have since passed on. I had a chance to address the crowd and shared how meaningful it was for me to see their Jewish commitment and love for Israel. It makes my Judaism stronger. 

In the evening, we returned to Addis Ababa and met with the Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, Avraham Neguise. He was born in Ethiopia and made aliya, becoming a leading voice in the Ethiopian Israeli community and serving as a Member of Knesset. He diplomatically addressed why Israel is not doing more for the remaining Ethiopian Jews, but he captured the essence of why we came: “To see your brothers.” 

On Thursday morning, we visited the Jewish community in Addis Ababa. It is smaller, and the Shul felt a little more familiar. Here, too, there is a fully functioning community with Shul, Mikvah, and chesed with hundreds of children fed daily. 

The hope and commitment of the community was poignantly captured in two moments of the service. Since it was Thursday, they read the Torah (quite expertly). After each of the 3 aliyot, the chazan recited a brief “Mishebeirach” prayer for the person called to the Torah. Usually, we only recite this blessing on Shabbat and holidays, so it was unusual to hear it on Thursday. What was truly amazing was that the chazan included the words, “V’yizkeh la’alot l'eretz yisrael - May you merit to move to Israel.” If that wasn’t powerful enough, they ended the service (Asa they do each day) by singing Am Yisrael Chai.  

We open the Seder with the familiar words, “Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol, kol ditzrich yeitei v’yifsach - Let all who are hungry eat, let those in need celebrate Pesach with us.” It’s an unusual invitation once we’re already sitting down at the table. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik also notes the seeming repetitive nature of the expression and explains this is a call to be sympathetic and respond to people’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and religious needs. I can think of no better way to learn this lesson than my brief visit to Ethiopia to meet brothers and sisters who have so many needs and witness how the SSEJ heroically rises to the challenge to help them. We should all join them to help the Jews in Ethiopia, to tell their story, and to be inspired to be better Jews by their perseverance, passion, and power.