The Crisis of Religious Identity Among Ethiopian Immigrants in Author(s): David S. Ribner and Ruben Schindler Source: Journal of Black Studies , Sep., 1996, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Sep., 1996), pp. 104-117 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2784774

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This content downloaded from 103.238.195.150 on Wed, 12 May 2021 22:42:51 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE CRISIS OF RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AMONG ETHIOPIAN IMMIGRANTS IN ISRAEL

DAVID S. RIBNER RUBEN SCHINDLER Bar-Ilan University, Israel

We the Ethiopian Jews have secluded ourselves from gentiles and gentile customs far more than any other Jewish community to avoid dilution of our Jewishness. We have struggled against all odds to preserve our faith and carry out the Torah to the extent of sacrificing our lives. And until reunification with world Jewry, we thought we were the only remaining Jews in the world, yet we continued to be diligent in our observance of the Torah. We demand fairness and equality: one is either a Jew or not a Jew. This humiliation must stop once and for all. Ethiopian Jews deserve to be respected as Jews returning to their homeland like any other Jewish community.

-An Ethiopian immigrant, as quoted by Parfitt, 1985, p. 130

The origins of the Ethiopian Jewish or community have long been the subject of scholarly debate. The absence of any indigenous written history and firmly documented contact with other Jewish communities have called into question the traditional contentions that ancestry dates back to the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba or to the ancient or to a group of preexilic Egyptian Jews (Kaplan, 1992). From the standpoint of the themselves, this disputa- tion has had negative implications as to their identities as Jews and as , and it has contributed to the creation of a range of detrimental self-perceptions (Wagaw, 1985). In this article, we will examine the history and development of'this question of

JOURNAL OF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 27 No. 1, September 1996 104-117 C 1996 Sage Publications, Inc.

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This content downloaded from 103.238.195.150 on Wed, 12 May 2021 22:42:51 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Ribner, Schindler / RELIGIOUS IDENTITY 105 religious recognition and its ramifications for absorption and com- munal acceptance. This work is part of a larger study focused on the traumatic aspects of the Ethiopian immigration experience. The original data for this article were interviews with 42 Ethiopian heads of house- holds, whose responses, in part, are presented further in the article.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

On July 5, 1950, Israel's parliament, the , passed the , which guaranteed that "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh (immigrant)." Thus, in the eyes of the State of Israel, Jewishness and citizenship are inextricably bound. Although the law itself does not define the term Jew, subsequent court decisions and the practices of the Interior Ministry have mandated the criteria of either matrilineal descent or conversion. For the Beta Israel in , the possibility that Jews elsewhere may not accept their ancestral identity, may even question their Jewishness, did not at all occur to them. In fact, reported Kessler (1982), "When the Falashas were first visited by European Jews in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries they were surprised to find that they were not the only Jews left in the world" (p. 15). The issue of Ethiopian religious identity has been the subject of Jewish legal discourse for more than a thousand years. In the ninth century, Eldad Hadani wrote of his sojourn in eastern Africa and of the religious practices of a group of Jews there known as Falashas. Contemporary scholars of the halacha (Jewish law) were divided over the reliability of this supposed firsthand report, but as there was no direct contact between this community and the world's major Jewish communities, the matter was dealt with solely from a theoretical perspective (Bleich, 1977). The absence of relevant halachic literature over the subsequent centuries probably reflects the virtually total isolation of the Ethio- pian community beyond the ranges surrounding the African plains. As much a function of the European Dark Ages as of geographic circumstances, this cessation of international contact affected both

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the Beta Israel and their host population (Kessler, 1982). In the 16th century, however, the then chief of Egypt, Rabbi David ibn Zimra (Radbaz), wrote of two cases presented to him for adjudica- tion involving Jews from Kush, as Ethiopia was referred to in rabbinic discourse (see, e.g., Isaiah II, 11, for a source of this usage). Bleich (1977) summarized one of the cases as follows:

Radbaz ... was presented with an halakhic question which not only called for a clarification of the religious status of the Falashas but also describes the adversities which they suffered. A Falasha town or settlement was attacked, the males slaughtered and the women and children taken captive. One woman, whose husband was pre- sumably among the slaughtered, was purchased as a slave by a Jew who subsequently entered into a sexual liaison with her which resulted in the birth of a son. Later, the son sought to marry a young lady of Jewish parentage and Radbaz was asked for a ruling with regard to the permissibility of the forthcoming marriage. (p. 299)

In issuing his decisions on both this and a second case, Radbaz declared in no uncertain terms that the Falashas were "of the seed of Israel, of the tribe of Dan." The fact of their being cut off from mainstream Jewish tradition did, however, raise serious complica- tions. If they are indeed Jews, said Radbaz, then they are subject to all the biblical and Talmudic strictures with regard to marriage and divorce, violation of which could result in illegal unions and illegiti- mate offspring. That they were unintentionally ignorant of Talmudic law may not be sufficient to prevent or undo genealogical damage. From the days of Radbaz and through to our own times, these two factors-lineage and ignorance of the law-form the pivotal issues on which the question of Ethiopian religious identity re- volves. Although Radbaz's stature as a legal scholar precludes total rejection of his findings, subsequent experts questioned the accu- racy of data available to him as well as the applicability of his rulings to 20th-century conditions (Bleich, 1977; Wolpin, 1985). Contemporary halachic scholars have generallytiken one of two approaches to this question. As epitomized by the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, recognized during his lifetime as the generation's pre- eminent adjudicator, one group of scholars has maintained that

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considerable doubt exists as to the Beta Israel identity. The lack of historical documentation, the possibility of widespread intermar- riage, and the substantive discrepancies between Ethiopian reli- gious practices and those of mainstream Judaism all combine to prevent full and immediate acceptance of Ethiopians into the Jewish community. The only solution is conversion as mandated by Jewish law. However, added Rabbi Feinstein, "Even if they are not legally Jews, since they believe themselves to be Jews, and have risked their lives for their Jewishness, it is incumbent upon us to save them (from persecution)" (Corinaldi, 1988, p. 255). The second group, led since 1973 by at that time Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, has declared forthrightly that these immi- grants are to be considered Jews in the full sense of the term. Doubts as to the ancestry of any specific member of the community should be dealt with on an individual basis by the appropriate authorities at the time of registration for marriage (Seeman, 1990; Waldman, 1989). Within this group of scholars, some felt that to remove all doubt, new Ethiopian immigrants should undergo one aspect of the conversion process, ritual immersion, not as conversion per se but as a "renewal of the covenant" (Corinaldi, 1988; Rapoport, 1986; Rosen, 1986; Waldman, 1989). The issue of Ethiopian religious identity had implications even beyond the borders of Israel or Ethiopia. In his doctoral disser- tation on several Ethiopian religious documents, Gaguine (1965) stated that nothing in these manuscripts "lends credibility to the view that the Falashas trace their descent directly from the main body of Israel" (p. 46) and that in these testaments "traditional Jewish religious and historical allusions are ... conspicuously ab- sent" (p. 47). On the basis of this and other evidence, he concludes that Ethiopians are probably not Jews. In a footnote, he relates the following:

It may be of interest here to record that I had occasion to test the halachic validity of this view in 1961, when a Falasha appeared in my synagogue and claimed recognition as a Jew. The rabbinical authori- ties of the Sephardim of England ruled against such recognition on the following grounds . . . [here Gaguine lists some religious

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discrepancies such as the continued performance of animal sacri- fices, nontraditional divorce procedures, and the lack of Hebrew usage for ritual or education]. It was felt that these and other Falasha practices suggested that the creed could not conceivably have evolved from an authentic Jewish source. (p. 46)

ASPECTS OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

No scholar or researcher has taken issue with the proposition that the Beta Israel have always seen themselves as ritually observant members of the Jewish community, and even those questioning their ethnic identity have acknowledged the Ethiopian commitment to religiosity. It is the nature and source of these practices that have come under critical investigation. The following description of some of the Ethiopian religious traditions is taken primarily from the research of Wurmbrand (1974), Kessler (1982), Nahmoud (1985), Shloush (1988), Ben-Dor (1990), and Seeman (1990). The 24 books of the Jewish Bible have formed the basis for the religious activities of the scattered Jewish communities throughout the centuries. For most of these communities, these practices have been modified by several centuries of rabbinic legislative discus- sions and rulings collected in the tractates of the Talmud and attendant documents. Traditionally observant Jews have used these two primary sources, the Bible and the Talmud, as the touchstones of all religious practice. The Beta Israel differ substantially from other Jewish commu- nities by virtue of their lack of contact with the Talmudic tradition. The geographic isolation that so characterizes Ethiopian history virtually precluded any intercommunication with the developmen- tal processes of Jewish law and custom. Thus any differences between Ethiopian religious practices and the practices of the rest of world Jewry must be interpreted in the context of this historic reality. It should be noted, however, that many elemients of Ethio- pian Judaism are also found in Ethiopian Christianity. In addition to the 24 canonized books of the Bible, the Ethiopian Jews held as sacred a number of texts generally associated with

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Apocryphal literature-the Wisdom of Solomon; the Wisdom of Ben Sira; and the Books of Maccabees, Baruch, Enoch, Tobit, Judith, and Jubilees. The latter formed the basis for an Ethiopian document called Te'ezaza Sanbat (the laws of the Sabbath), which became particularly influential regarding ritual matters and the yearly calendar. The task of preserving and transmitting the tradition rested in the hands of the kes, the Ethiopian clergymen. Those filling this role conducted all religious services and ceremonies, usually in Ge'ez, a language used primarily for religious purposes and sacred documents. The kesoq (pl.) also adjudicated all religious questions and provided advice and counsel to members of the community. Currently, the kesoq do not have official sanction to perform marriages or divorces in Israel, and many immigrants who came as children or adolescents no longer see the kesoq as either the carriers of tradition or sources of wisdom (Keinon, 199 1a, 199 1b). The examples that follow underscore the differences between Ethiopian religious practices and those of most of the world's traditional Jewish communities:

Sabbath-Normative Halacha requires that the Sabbath, its attendant practices, and the prohibitions associated with work commence at sundown on Friday and last for a period of 25 hours. For the Ethi- opians, the work prohibition began at noon on Friday. No fires or lights, even those lit before start of the Sabbath, were permitted during the Sabbath itself. Thus no Sabbath candles were lit and no hot food was served, practices that highlight Sabbath observance around the world. Kashrut-Jewish law forbids the cooking or eating of any meat and milk together, on the basis of the biblical injuction that "you should not cook a young goat in its mother's milk" (Exodus, XXIII, 19). The Ethiopians permitted cooking cow's milk with goat meat be- cause one could not have been the mother of the other. On the other hand, they had the unique stricture of not permitting the eating of an otherwise kosher animal that had been bitten by a nonkosher animal. Holidays-The Ethiopian tradition does not include the festivals of Purim and Chanuka, nor do they sound the shofar on Rosh Hashana. The major festival of Sukkot is religated to a minor role, without the

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rituals of sukkah or lulav. Meals on holidays and on the Sabbath are communal, as opposed to familial, and are often accompanied by singing and dancing. Ritualpurity-For Jews around the world and throughout the centuries, the mikveh or ritual bath has been used to convey physical ritual cleanliness. For Ethiopians this ritual state was achieved through ablution in rivers and streams, not constructed bath houses, which they associated with Christian baptism. Seged-One nationwide religious festival unique to the Beta Israel has been transported and maintained in their new home. The day, combining aspects of pilgrimage, fast and festival, commemmorates the prophecies of a return to Zion and a renewal of the covenant. Although still an exclusively Ethiopian celebration, the seged has gained legitimacy in the eyes of some Israeli religious officials.

THE POLITICS OF RELIGION

From the perspective of the Ethiopians themselves, this discus- sion of identity was at best demeaning and at worst dangerous. In one recent anthropological study, the author commented on how impressed he was with "the strength of the assertion by many Ethio- pians that their own tradition was identical with that of [i.e., normative Orthodox Judaism], even if they later admit- ted divergence on this or that individual point" (Seeman, 1990, p. 25). Rapoport (1986) told of an Ethiopian representative ex- claiming to onetime prime minister that his people had left the thousands of years ago carrying the Bible and that they returned still carrying it. And a social scientist on the scene observed, "It is a disgrace that a people who have suffered persecution in countless forms for generations should have to undergo what they consider a humiliating procedure in order to become what they think they already are" (Parfitt, 1985, p. 129). The risk that all this entailed involved a simplezequation: If the Ethiopians were not Jews, then the Law of Return did not apply to them, and if it did not, the Israeli government had no responsibility for them. And in fact, until 1975, official policy declared that the State of Israel "is not enthusiastic about the-prospect of Falasha

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immigration" (Zohar, 1973). Waldman (1989) reported on a 1973 Absorption Ministry internal memo, authored by Joseph Litvak. The memo emphasized that "from a national-cultural perspective, the Falashas are complete strangers to the people of Israel. They never had any liik at all to the Jewish people" (p. 274). Conse- quently, Litvak concluded,

It appears that activities whose intention is to strengthen the link between Falashas and Israel . .. should not be encouraged. Cer- tainly for the good of the Falashas themselves and for the good of Israel, any plans for their to Israel should be ignored com- pletely. (p. 275)

This policy changed after Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's 1973 positive ruling concerning Ethiopian Jewish identity (Corinaldi, 1988), leading to a 1975 Israeli government intermin- isterial committee decision that recognized the Beta Israel as Jews and citizens under the Law of Return (Rapoport, 1980). The political struggle for religious identity still had several rounds to go. Prior to , any Ethiopian who emigrated to Israel had been required to undergo ritual conversion if he wished to be fully accepted as a member of the Jewish community. This despite the ruling of some religious authorities that although there may be questions as to the status of individual Ethiopians, the Beta Israel as a group were undoubtedly Jewish. This policy caused considerable discontent among the Ethiopians, but it was adhered to for the most part. Within several months after the termination of Operation Moses, this issue of religious identity had taken on political overtones and had spawned activists, protests, and national debate. Some Ethio- pians who had already been living in Israel for several years began to encourage their newly arrived brethren to refuse any kind of conversion process, specifically citing ritual immersion as akin to the forced baptism that had periodically been the fate of the Beta Israel in their native country. Efforts to reach some kind of compromise foundered on the shoals of mistrust, and the situation sadly escalated with charges of racism and heated parliamentary and media disputation. Further

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complicating the situation was the fact that all Ethiopian immi- grants received the full rights and privileges of citizenship, despite the still unresolved religious controversy. Rosen (1986) described the subsequent sequence of events:

During the spring and early summer of 1985, the Ethiopian com- munity staged protest marches through the streets of . They attempted a march to Ben-Gurion airport, meant to symbolize their preference for a return to Ethiopia rather than the humiliation of conversion in Israel. The leaders also threatened mass suicide and possible attacks on both Ethiopians and Israelis who actively sup- ported the Rabbinate's demands. A mass demonstration, held in Jerusalem across from the Chief Rabbinate headquarters, escalated into a general strike. Ethiopians left their absorption centers throughout the country and made their way to Jerusalem to camp out in a small park in front of the Plaza Hotel. 500 to 1,000 Ethiopians remained their for more than a month and became a tourist attraction during the busy fall holiday period. (p. 80)

Most are not ritually observant and the involvement of the religious establishment in issues such as the determination of Jewish identity has long rankled segments of the population who advocate a full church-state division. For them and for others concerned with civil rights, the issue of Ethiopian religious identity became the latest example of religious coercion in a supposedly democratic country. For their part, the rabbinate contended that existing governmen- tal practice necessitated their involvement in this area of public policy, and once involved, they were religiously mandated to uphold the integrity of the halacha. Corinaldi (1988), however, pointed out that, in fact, the position of the chief rabbinate represented a middle position, accepting the need for some aspects of the formal conver- sion process. Nevertheless, he also noted that even without this process, the Ethiopians were responsible for fulfilling all the reli- gious commandments. The 1984 pronouncementof the chief rab- binate stated, in part:

The chief of Israel call on the entire Jewish people to do whatever they possibly can to open the gates--of absorption before

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brothers who have come to join with us. As it is known, the Ethiopian olim, with dedication and self sacrifice, observed and fulfilled those commandments of the Torah which were known to them. We are all, therefore,. obligated to bring them closer to the Torah and to help them, with love and affection, to strike roots among us. (Waldman, 1989, p. 283)

By the start of 1986, the situation had settled into something of a mutually tolerable status quo. The chief rabbinate continued to require ritual immersion prior to marriage, but otherwise held the Ethiopians to be fully recognized as Jews (Keinon, 199 ib). For those Ethiopians who refused to be bound by this decision, two options existed. Several of the kesoq, the indigenous Ethiopian religious leaders, continued to perform marriages, although these ceremo- nies were not recognized by governmental authorities as legal. And at least one recognized religious leader, Rabbi David Shloush, the chief rabbi of the city of , performed legal marriages for Ethiopian couples without the requirement of ritual conversion.

THE IMPACT OF DOUBT

The religious and political leaders who struggled with the weighty issue of Ethiopian identity did so at the level of precedent-setting national policy. However, the ultimate decisions and the process by which they were reached had an impact on each individual member of this newly immigrant population. To gauge this impact, the Ethiopians who participated in this study were asked to respond to the following questions dealing with issues of religious identity and acceptance:

1. Prior to your coming to Israel, did you expect to encounter any problem regarding your status as a Jew? 2. Have you or members of your family encountered any specific religious problems? 3. Have these problems been resolved? How and by whom? 4. In the event that any of them still exist, to what extent do they effect you and your family members?

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5. Who is helping to resolve these issues? 6. Have (non-Ethiopian) rabbis from your neighborhood tried to help? Note: the Ministry of Religious Affairs appoints rabbis to serve most geographic areas, in addition to any other rabbis who may live or work in them. 7. Has anyone from outside your neighborhood tried to help with these issues? 8. Has any government agency tried to help with these issues? How? 9. Have these problems and concerns influenced you in any way?

Responses to some of these items were unanimous or close to it:

* No one anticipated that his or her religious identity would be in doubt when they finally reached Israel. * All felt that, with two exceptions, the Israeli rabbis had done little to assist the Ethiopian community with the problem of clarifying religious identity, other than to push for conversion. As indicated above, Rabbi David Shloush, the chief rabbi of Netanya, supported the position that these new immigrants were fully Jews, echoing a similar but less all-encompassing legal opinion issued by Rabbi Ovadiah Yoseph in 1973. * Those who felt that help had been forthcoming from individuals or institutions listed primarily the Israel high court; Dr. Michael Corinaldi, an attorney who championed the Ethiopian cause; and as one respondent put it, "all those private individuals who loved justice." Also mentioned were the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Absorption. * If any specific problem was anticipated or experienced, it was the problem of marriage eligibility. Whether with regard to widowed or divorced parents, or as yet unmarried young people, respondents expressed anger and trepidation regarding the possible conse- quences of the religious identity dilemma.

It was, however, the ninth question that elicited the most bitter and poignant responses. Below are representative excerpts:

Sometimes I ask myself, was it for such an "honor" as this that I experienced all the torments? Is this the reward that I am to receive? How can a small group [the Orthodox religious establishment]

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dictate to us how to be Jews? ... There is no end to my suffering. (Male, age 44) Listen, we suffered many hardships in order to reach Israel, many sacrifices, family losses, hunger, thirst, illness, and the like. With great pain we arrived here. Yet instead of welcoming us with flowers, we wele asked by a small group of people to undergo conversion. I am not angry with them, I am angry with the govern- ment and Knesset of Israel, which allow people like these to maltreat an entire community. It is as if there are no laws, no country, no authority, no order. A horrible catastrophe, only the Holy One, blessed be He, can see and give justice. (Male, age 35) For 7 years I was imprisoned, confined to my village and not permitted to go to other Jewish villages, for fear that I may run away. I suffered many trials in order to come to Israel and to rest here in the land of the forefathers. If they do not want us, then why did we struggle so to come here? (Female, age 60) I came to Israel after many troubles and much suffering. I had not yet begun to cope with the trauma when suddenly they said to me, "Just a minute, who are you? Do you belong to us or did you come here just like that?" Very frustrating. (Male, age 29) In Sudan I buried my dear wife and three of the most beautiful children in the world. With the one daughter left me, I came to Israel in much pain. After 2 years, I wanted to remarry and start a new family and I was then asked to undergo conversion. In addition to that, my fiancee was a divorcee and no one would consent to perform the wedding. So I live with pain and bitterness because my Jewishness has been called into question. (Male, age 37) As a widow who must raise big and small children alone, the one certainty was my religion with complete faith. If they take that away from me, what will I have left? (Female, age 62) For almost 25 years, I worked in a government office in Ethiopia. Not once did I ever join my associates at a party, for fear that I would be asked to eat nonkosher food. Can there be any suffering worse than this, that there I always hid my Jewish identity, and now all of a sudden, here they question my status as a Jew. This has had a significant negative influence on me and it is a very serious matter for Ethiopian Jewry. (Male, age 53) After much trauma, difficulties, and culture shock, we arrived in the land of our forefathers, only to discover that we are not Jewish; they have to make us Jews all over again. (Male, age 45) For the Jews of Ethiopia, our greatest source of satisfaction was our religion. If they take that away from us, what will we have left? This is very humiliating and lowers our honor. If there is no solution soon, the Ethiopian community will suffer greatly. (Male, age 45)

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Listen, my son, how could this situation not have influence on me? I arrived in Israel at the age of 85 as a religious Jew according to the tradition of Ethiopian Judaism. Who, then, has the right to tell me to take down my pants to examine whether or not I have been circumcised as a Jew? (Male, age 92)

As a postscript to this article, it should be noted that early in 1992, Rabbi Shloush announced that the press of other responsi- bilities would not allow him the time to officiate at the weddings of Ethiopian immigrants who did not live in his community.

REFERENCES

Ben-Dor, S. (1990). The religious background of Beta Israel. In V. Netzer and H. Polani (Eds.), Saga of Aliyah (pp. 24-38). Jerusalem: the Ministry of Education and Culture, Division of Adult Education. Bleich, J. (1977). Contemporary halakhic problems. New York: Ktav. Corinaldi, M. (1988). Ethiopian Jewry: Identity and tradition. Jerusalem: Rubin Mass. Gaguine, M. (1965). The Falasha version of the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Manchester, England. Kaplan, S. (1992). The Beta Israel (Falasha) in Ethiopia. New York: New York University Press. Keinon, H. (1991a, February 15). Their way is quiet, their role diminished. The Jerusalem Post, p. 9. Keinon, H. (1991b, June 28). Ethiopian anguish. The Jerusalem Post, p. 9. Kessler, D. (1982). The Falashas: The forgotten Jews of Ethiopia. London: Allen & Unwin. Nahmoud, N. (1985, April 16-19). Where Falasha is a naughty word. The Jewish Observer, pp. 16-19. Parfitt, T. (1985). Operation Moses. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Rapoport, L. (1980). The lost Jews. New York: Stein & Day. Rapoport, L. (1986). Redemption song: The story of Operation Moses. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Rosen, C. (1986). Ethiopian Jews in Israel. In The Jews of Ethiopia: A people in transition (pp. 74-84). : Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldman Museum of the , and New York: The Jewish Museum. Seeman, D. (1990). Images of continuity: Religion and social identityamong Ethiopian Jews. Unpublished bachelor's thesis, Harvard University, Department of Anthropology, Cam- bridge, MA. Shloush, D. (1988). Nidchay Yisrael Yichanes [He gathers together the outcasts of Israel]. Jerusalem: Achvah. Wagaw, T. (1985). A brief report of a visit to Israel: July 7-27, 1985. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the School of Education.

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Waldman, M. (1989). Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. Israel: Ministry of Defense. Wolpin, N. (1985, April 8-13). The Ethiopian aliya. The Jewish Observer, pp. 8-15. Wurmbrand, M. (1974). Falashas. In Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Keter. Zohar, D. (1973). Letter. Sh'ma, 3/47, 54-55.

David S. Ribner is a lecturer at the School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University. He is formerly the director of the social work program at the College of Judea and Samaria.

Ruben Schindler is a professor and former dean of the School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University.

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