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The Beta Israel (I.E Who are the Felash Mura? The Beta Israel (i.e. Jewish) community in Ethiopia faithfully adhered to Judaism for many centuries despite great hardship. Over the past several generations, the Beta Israel community was subjected to extraordinarily severe economic and social pressures, which caused a portion of the community to stray from its religious norms; some may even have converted to Christianity, generally only nominally. This subgroup of the community is known today in Israel as Felash Mura. Ethnically, they regard themselves, and are perceived by others, as Beta Israel, intermarrying relatively infrequently with Christian neighbors. Sixty five percent of the community has first degree relatives in Israel; almost all of the rest have uncles, nieces and nephews, first cousins etc. They are an inseparable part of the Ethiopian Jewish community, and they yearn to be reunited with their families in Israel. What is the nature of their current religious observance? Over the past decade, the Felash Mura community has returned to its Jewish roots. The thousands of community members abandoned their farms, their homes and emigrated to Gondar to be near the Israeli Consulate in tet city. They live as strictly observant Jews. They pray daily, celebrate the Sabbath and Jewish holidays, adhere to Jewish dietary laws, keep the laws of family purity and put on tefillin, daily. Their children attend the NACOEJ Beta Israel Community Primary, where they are taught both secular and Judaic studies; strictly kosher lunches are provided. The school is under the supervision of a representative of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. What is the nature of their living conditions? As internally displaced people in a country suffering the ravages of famine, the community lives under truly horrific living conditions. In one of the poorest countries in the world, many community members are the poorest of the poor. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the institutional relief arm of the American Jewish community, once provided medical assistance, but only to a percentage of the community. Now, the JDC has left the community, entirely. Living conditions in their homes, which we urge you to inspect for yourselves, are insufferable. Experts recommended by US and UN relief agencies found these conditions appalling even by Third World standards. Practically all families live below the World Bank's poverty line. Stunting and wasting are rampant amongst Felash Mura children, due to malnutrition. 1 NACOEJ currently provides a School Lunch program, which offers nutritious meals to school-age children each school day. In the past, NACOEJ had also provided funds for limited food distributions and twice daily meals in community operated food programs for children under 6, nursing mothers and pregnant women. That funding had been directed to NACOEJ from several large city Jewish federations, and through the UJC Operation Promise campaign. That funding ended in June, 2008. NACOEJ also funds community operated adult education programs and other activities. But it is a small organization, without deep pockets. The Jewish Agency does not currently provide assistance to the community; its activities are limited to aliyah. What happens after community members arrive in Israel? Tens of thousands of Felash Mura have arrived in Israel since 1992. Since 1998, most of them have received entry visas under the Law of Return, not as Jews, but as the children or grandchildren of Jews. Israeli Felash Mura send their children to religious schools and continue to lead traditional Jewish lives. What is their current legal and religious status? In 2003, after years of controversy it appeared that all of the legal and religious issues relating to the Felash Mura had finally been resolved. On February 16th, 2003, in a decision captioned, "The Remaining Jews of Ethiopia," the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously to allow the vast majority of the Felash Mura to immigrate to Israel (with no numerical limitation). On the religious front, the current Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar, wrote to then Prime Minister Sharon that the Felash Mura are "absolutely Jewish without any question". Rabbi Amar came to this conclusion after an 18 month investigation of the issue, including an on site inspection trip to Ethiopia. He is an extremely strong advocate on behalf of the Felash Mura. He has ruled that the Felash Mura must undergo “conversion by way of stringency” after arriving in Israel, i.e. to remove any doubt about the Jewishness of the community. All three streams of American Jewry, Orthodox (i.e. the OU and the RCA), Conservative and Reform agree with his conclusion that the community is Jewish. The Beta Israel religious leaders, including the Chief Rabbi of the Ethiopian community in Israel, Rabbi Yosef Hadane, are strongly supportive. So are leading kessim (traditional Ethiopian Jewish spiritual leaders) including Chief Kess Raphael Hadane. Why aren't they all in Israel already? 2 Primarily as a result of the opposition of former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz and former Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni, who prior to that position served as Absorption Minister, the government decision had long been delayed. A quota had been imposed on the number of Felash Mura in Ethiopia who could make aliyah; only 300 people were admitted each month. That quota applied to those who were being examined at that time. Many members of that community had been living as internally displaced refugees for ten years or more. A government decision provided that the quota would be raised to 600 people monthly commencing in June 2005. This never happened. However, at the rate of 300 people per month, the vast majority of the community immigrated by August 2008. The Israeli government then claimed that the aliyah from Ethiopia was “over”. However, that aliyah had been based on only a partial list of those community members who would be eligible for aliyah There are currently 8,700 Felash Mura in Gondar, waiting to make aliyah. They are part of the original community, but have not been examined. Interior Ministry delegates are now in Ethiopia examining 3,000 members of the community, to approve them for immigration. The Israeli government decision to inspect these 3,000 was made on September 14, 2008. There are currently 3 bills pending before the Knesset that would authorize new legislation to bring the balance of the maternally linked 8,700 to Israel and then close aliyah operations. Thereafter, Aliyah would be conducted on the same basis as Aliyah has been conducted in all other nations in the world. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation is considering one of these bills this Sunday. In the last session, two identical bills passed the Knesset by a vote of 43-1 and 44-1. Additionally, continuing discussions are being held at the highest level of the Israeli government that would also authorize inspecting the 8,700 for Jewish maternal lineage – the historical / halachic definition of who is a Jew – which would thereby make passage of bills unnecessary. Bills must first go through a preliminary reading and then three additional readings. The form of such a resolution would essentially be identical to that proposed last year by the former President of Israel’s Supreme Court, Mayer Shamgar. Additionally, the Supreme Court has ordered a hearing on October 2009 on the pending court case relating to Aliyah. The State Comptroller noted as a Knesset meeting held two weeks ago that no steps had been taken to implement the September 2008 decision. Essentially, Minister Mayer Sheetrit illegally refused to 3 implement the government decision (as a former Justice Minister, one would have thought that he would have taken a different position). The current Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, has made implementation of the government decision and passage of legislation or a government resolution authorizing the bringing of the maternally linked 8,700 as contemplated by the original 2003 government decision a high priority. He has the strong support of Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. Is there any problem with the Israeli religious parties? The religious sectors have generally been extremely supportive. Thus, in Israel, the religious parties Shas, the National Religious Party and National Union are among the community's strongest advocates. Bills to ensure the rapid aliyah of the Felash Mura have been introduced into the Knesset by various religious parties. Would the government of Ethiopia object to the emigration of the Felash Mura? Opponents of the Felash Mura have historically claimed that the Ethiopian government would object to the emigration of the remaining Ethiopian Jews at a greater rate. This claim is false. The Ethiopian government would object to a massive airlift like Operation Solomon but has no objection to substantially raising the rate of emigration. Based on recent contacts at the highest levels of the Ethiopian government, and public statements by both Ethiopia's President and Foreign Minister when they were in Israel, it is clear the Ethiopian government would have no objection to 1,000 or even 2,000 Ethiopian Jews leaving monthly. 4.
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