Falasha

Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires (Habesh or Abyssinia), nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray Regions.

Name: Beta Israel

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Monday, May 9, 2011

History

The Beta Israel which means the house of Israel Falasha meaning exile,
strangers in own land.

They are originally from Northern Ethiopia and many have moved to Israel
after their rescue in the 80’s.

The story goes like this…in the late 10^th century B.C. During
King Solomon’s reign the Queen Sheba of Ethiopia decided to visit him she ended
up sleeping with him and they had their son Menelik I. He grew to be prince and
decided to look for his father in Israel. After leaving Israel he took with him
the Ark of the Covenant. As he returned to Axum they quickly concealed it and
they believe to this day it still remains in Axum.

After the queens death Menelik became emperor and Judaism was what they
practiced until King Ezna of Axum became converted to Christianity in 327 A.D.
It took over Ethiopia however the Falsasha people continuing to hold on to the
Judaism and became persecuted in their own country.

In 1624 the Beta Israel fought against Portuguese backed Ethiopians who were
trying to convert them to Christianity.

Falasha men and women fought to the death from the steep heights of their
fortress... they threw themselves over the precipice or cut each other's
throats rather than be taken prisoner—it was a Falasha Masada. [The rebel
leaders] burned all of the Falasha's written history and all of their religious
books, it was an attempt to eradicate forever the Judaic memory of Ethiopia” (RighteousJews
Honored by Falasha Supporters, AAEJ Press Release, 1981).

Those Jews
captured alive were sold into slavery, forced to be baptized, and denied the
right to own land. The independence of the Beta Israel was torn from them just
as it was from their Israeli brethren at Masada centuries before. They were
even isolated from other Jewish communities.

The 1^st contact with them again was in 1769 after Scottish
explorer James Bruce was looking for the
source of the nile river. He observed the population to be 100,000.

Little Contact had been made with them during that time thereafter; however
in 1935 an Italian army had came into Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s ruler, Emperor Haile
Selassie had fled his country and took refuge in Jerusalem for a little bit.
Six years later in 1941 he returned to power, however little changed for the
Falasha people.

In 1955, the non-governmental Jewish Agency of Israel had started
construction of schools and a teacher’s seminary for the Beta Israel in
Ethiopia.

In 1956, Ethiopia and Israel had
consular relation, which improved in 1961 when they created full diplomatic
ties. The two had a positive relationship until 1973 during the Yom Kippur war
when it was broken when Ethiopia cut ties with Israel over the Arab oil embargo.

Several Months later, Selassie’s reign was replaced with Colonel Mengitsu
Haile Mariam. His dictatorship was a threat to the Beta Israel. During this
short time an estimated 2500 Jews were killed and 7000 were homeless. Mariam
forced a policy called “villagization” this re-located millions of pheasant
farm workers to live on the land that the Beta Israel were not allowed to own
and live with non-Jewish farmers which resulted in larger levels of
anti-Semitism throughout the Gondar Province.

In 1977, after taking office Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was more
than happy to rescue Ethopias Jews so Israel entered into a period of selling
arms to the Mariam government in hopes that Ethopia would allow the Jews to
leave Israel. So later that year Begin asked Mariam to allow 200 Ethiopian Jews
to leave for Israel aboard an Israeli military jet that had dropped its
military cargo and was returning to Israel he agreed and so this was the
precursor to Operation Moses.

In the early 1980’s Ethipoia forbid the practice of Judaism and the teaching
of Hebrew. Many Beta Israel were sent to prison on false charges of being
“Zionist spies”, and the Jewish religious leaders were harassed by the
government. Things remained bad for them throughout the early 1980’s . The
government had started to take Jewish 12 year old boys from hteir families. And
the country was at the constant threat of war and famine.

As the famine started to increase for the worse the government relented on
the Jews and was forced to ask the Western nations for famine relief, this
included the U.S. and Israel. This allowed them to start the release of the
Beta Israel to Israel. A little over 8000 had been moved to Israel between 1977
and 1984.

The real movement came in 1984 during Operation Moses it began on November
18, 1984 and ended January 5, 1985. There were almost 8000 Jews that were
brought to Israel. However, the mission had several problems. There were news
leaks which caused the mission to end prematurely because the Sudan people wanted
them to stop going through Sudan to get to Israel. This left over 15,000 Jews
behind. This consisted of the women, children and sick who were unable to make
the trek to the Sudan where the airlift was stationed.

In 1985, vice president George Bush started follow up to Operation Moses,
Operation Joshua but it only re-located 800 of the Jews.

In 1990, Ethiopia and Israel had reached an agreement that would allow the Ethiopian
Jews to move to Israel for family reunification. However, it soon became clear
that Mengistu was willing to allow the Jews to leave. In November and December
of 1990 increased numbers of Ethiopians were leaving to Israel.

In early 1991, Mengistu forces were attacked by Eritrean and Tigrean rebels.
He fled as rebel armies increased every day. Israel put the Ethiopian Jews as
top priority and they authorized a special permit for the Israelis airline to
fly on the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday may 24^th and continuing
non-stop for 36 hrs they had a total of 34 jumbo jets and Hercules c-130s seats
removed to accommodate the Ethiopians.

Operation Solomon rescued a total of 14,324. There are around 36,000
Ethiopian Jews now living in Israel (rescue efforts are under way to transport
the remaing 2,100 Ethiopians that wish to emigrate to Israel.

Jewish Tradition

Judaism, the first and oldest of the three great
monotheistic faiths, is the religion and way of life of the Jewish people

About Religious Life, much of Jewish religious observance is centered in the home. This
includes daily prayers which are said three times each day - in the morning,
the afternoon, and after sunset. Congregational
prayers usually take place in a synagogue, a Jewish house of prayer and study.
On Mondays, Thursdays, the Sabbath, festivals and High Holy Days, the synagogue
service includes readings in Hebrew from the Torah and the Prophets.

Jewish ethics may be guided by halakhic traditions, by other moral
principles, or by central Jewish virtues. Jewish ethical practice is typically
understood to be marked by values such as justice, truth, peace,
loving-kindness, compassion, humility, and self-respect. Specific Jewish
ethical practices include practices of charity and refraining from negative
speech. Proper ethical practices regarding sexuality and many other issues are
subjects of dispute among Jews.

For clothing, A kippah is a
slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating,
reciting blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by
some Jewish men. The tallit
is worn by Jewish men and some Jewish women during the prayer service. Customs
vary regarding when a Jew begins wearing a tallit. In the Sephardi community,
boys wear a tallit from bar mitzvah age. Tefillin, known in English as phylacteries, are two square
leather boxes containing biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound
around the left arm by leather straps. They are worn during weekday morning
prayer by observant Jewish men and some Jewish women.

A kittel , a white knee-length over garment,
is worn by prayer leaders and some observant traditional Jews on the High Holidays. It is traditional for the head of the
household to wear a kittel at the Passover seder in some communities, and some
grooms wear one under the wedding canopy. Jewish males are buried in a tallit
and sometimes also a kittel which are part of the tachrichim (burial garments).

Falasha (Ethiopic for
"stranger") is the term by which the Jews of Ethiopia are commonly
known: they refer to themselves as Beta Isra'el "House of Israel",
never as aihud "Jews". Most have now left Ethiopia and live in
Israel. Their religious beliefs and practices are in many respects so different
from orthodoxy that their Jewishness was often questioned. They were entirely
ignorant of the Mishnah and Talmud tradition (see above). They had no knowledge
of Hebrew: prayers and readings from scripture were in Ge'ez, which is also the
sacred language of Ethiopian Christians, nor did they observe rabbinic customs
concerning the mezuzah and phylacteries. They did observe ritual and dietary
laws with great zeal, although these did not include the rabbinic prohibition
of eating meat and milk at the same meal. They also kept the sabbath very
strictly. Like the Samaritans, they celebrated the Passover by sacrificing a
lamb on the 14th Nisan. They did not celebrate Purim, however, or (like the
Karaites) the popular festival of Hanukkah.

In common with other religious groups, including Christians, they practised
male and female circumcision on the eighth day after birth: the operation was
performed by a woman. The Falasha synagogue, known as a masjid
("mosque"), had an altar outside the east door, and a woman's court
to the south. Male priests known as kohanim officiated in worship, accompanied
by the rattling of sistra and the burning of incense. The study of the Bible,
especially the Psalms, was led by debteras "scribes". Among original
Falasha works, written in Ge'ez and of unknown date and authorship, are the
Commandments of the Sabbath, the Book of Abba Elijah, the Apocalypse of
Gorgorios, the Apocalypse of Ezra and the Death of Mos.

http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/judaism/falash.html

Kinship, Marriage, and
Family

Kinship. Although not organized in larger entities like
corporative descent groups, lineages, or clans, the Falasha lived in a kinship
universe where the nuclear family (beteseb ) was the basic unit.. They
have extensive knowledge of wider family ties—and
thus of who is a Falasha/Beta Esráel.
There are no fictive-kin relationships among them, although informal
"adoption" is common.

Marriage. The Falasha traditionally showed group endogamy.
Marrying a Christian—although
not an infrequent occurrence—was
actively discouraged because of traditionally strong religious boundaries in
matters of food taboos, ritual purity, and so forth. The Falasha, like the
Amhara, say they do not marry relatives "within the seventh degree."
The marriageable age for girls ranges from 14 to 20, for boys from 18 to 28—another
similarity with the Amhara-Tigray. Great value was attached to virginity:
traditionally, a bride who was not a virgin on her wedding day could be
returned to her parents and might be cast out from the community. Nowadays
these rules have changed. Also, girls have demanded the right to choose their
own partners, instead of following their parents' preference.

Domestic Unit. The basic domestic unit is the nuclear
family (the Falasha being monogamous)—the
unit of production and consumption. Parents or married brothers and sisters may
live in the same village, in separate compounds. There is mutual assistance
between kin-related units, but one cannot speak of extended families in the
accepted sense of the word. Widows or widowers often go to live with the eldest
married son.

Inheritance. As there are few things to inherit—some cattle,
utensils, tools, jewelry—there
are no clearly defined rules of inheritance. If, in the "feudal"
past, a family had rist (land-use) rights, these were transferred to
the oldest son. Cash or personal belongings of the deceased would be divided
among the surviving spouse and children in mutual agreement.

Socialization. In rural Ethiopian society, elder persons
were respected and obeyed. Children are directed by their parents,
grandparents, and village leaders. Agricultural and other skills are learned by
imitation. Children, depending upon their age, are assigned specific tasks,
such as herding animals, fetching wood and water, or guarding crops. Corporal
punishment was an accepted means of disciplining and enforcing obedience.

Religious Beliefs and Practices. They believe in the God of Israel; the Old Testament
commandments are their guidelines. The Falasha celebrate most festivals and
fasts mentioned in the Torah,
observe food taboos, and offer sacrifices, for example, on Easter (Fasika).
Circumcision is carried out on the eighth day after birth, and the sabbath is
closely observed. The Falasha Holy Book is the Ethiopian Bible (in Ge'ez), without
the New Testament
but with some Ethiopian Apocryphals. Their prayer service, prayer texts, and
other religious books appear to be heavily influenced by medieval Ethiopian
Christian sources. There is no clear evidence of a Hebrew tradition and of independent
Jewish influence on the formation of Falasha Judaism. Some religious holidays
of the Falasha are not marked by other Jews, and the Falasha traditionally did
not celebrate post-Exilic festivals such as Hanukkah and Purim. Religious
leadership was provided by "monks" and priests. These monks have
disappeared since the late 1960s, but the priests still function as liturgical
and community leaders. Since the mid-twentieth century, Falasha Judaism has
been much influenced by Talmudic Judaism; religious practices not in accordance
with it have, for the most part, been abandoned. In Israel, the priests are
retrained as spiritual leaders. They learn rabbinical law, but few attain the
status of rabbi. After arrival in Israel, Falasha immigrants are familiarized
with the basics of Talmudic religious law. It is the requirement of a symbolic
"conversion" that has caused the most problems in Falasha social
adaptation in Israel. In addition to their Judaic belief, the Falasha
traditionally shared the common Ethiopian beliefs in supernatural forces and
spirits. They also consult magicians; some Falasha were themselves famous
magicians, who were also revered by Christians.

Death and Afterlife. The Falasha believe, in accordance
with the tenets of the Bible, in life after death, and that the dead will be
resurrected at the end of days. Burial takes place as soon as possible, even
before all relatives may have arrived. Death is the strongest source of ritual
pollution of living persons. Those having touched the corpse must remain in
isolation for several days before rejoining the community. Eulogies on the
deceased are given by various relatives on the day of the funeral or before.
There is no particular veneration of the dead, as there is no clear idea of
"lineage solidarity." Commemorative gatherings in honor of the dead
person are held one week, one month, and one year after the burial

Difference and Similarities

Differences between the Falasha Jews
and Israeli Jews

· The Falasha Jews started in Ethiopia while the Israel Jews started in Israel.

· The Falasha Jews have a more African Culture and traditions. Their food, clothing, and language are African.

· The
Israeli Jews have a more Middle Eastern culture. Their food lean more to the
Middle Eastern food, and the older ladies cover their heads.

· All
the Falasha Jews have a darker skin complexion.

· All
the Israeli Jews have a lighter skin complexion.

· The
population of the Falasha Jews in Ethiopia all together are about 3,188-8700
people.

· The Falasha Jews both have a nick name they are called Beta
Israel which translate into the house of Israel.

· The
population of the Israeli Jews in Israel all together are about 120,000-130,000
people.

· The
meaning of the word Falasha Jews translate into the “Fake Jews”

· The
meaning of the word Israel is the country name but what it means has never
really been known.

· The
Falasha Jews have music with their rituals.

· The
Israeli Jews have a dance as a part of their rituals called the Hora.

· The
Falasha Jews travel to Israel to visit the Al-Aqsa shrine.

· The
Israeli Jews are very close to the Al-Aqsa shrine so they do not travel to far
from their home.

The similarities between the Falasha Jews and the Israeli
Jews

· The Holy book of the Israeli and the Falasha Jews is the same it is called the
Torah even though the Falasha Jews call it Tanakh.

· The Falasha Jews and the Israeli Jews both practice Judaism and the both consider
themselves Jews.

· The
Falasha Jews and the Israeli Jews both believe that there are seventeen
prophets in their religion.

· Both
the Falasha Jews and the Israeli Jews believe that there one God no other. They
both believe that is invisible and the creator of all things, also God is
divine.

· They
both have the same praying technic there has to be a minimum of 10 men in the
prayer and they read out of a prayer book. This book is called the Siddur.

· The
Falasha Jews and the Israeli Jews both have a lot of unwritten stories that
have been passed down orally foe many years.

· The
holy book the Torah is written in the same language for the Israeli and the
Falasha Jews.

· The Falasha migrated to Israel and that is how
the Jewish religion got spread in Israel. The Falasha Jews believe that they
are the founders of Judaism.

Important Dates

4th Century CE — Christianity is introduced into the
Axum dynasty in Ethiopia
7th Century —With the spread of Islam, Ethiopia is isolated from most of the Christian world.
9th Century — The earliest apparent reference to the Beta Israel appears in the diary of Eldad Hadani ( this is a merchant travaler)
13th Century — The Solominic dynasty (which claims decent from Solomon and Sheba) assumes control
16th Century — Rabbi Zimra,confirms that Ethiopian Jews are fully Jewish
1622 — Christians conquer the Ethiopian Jewish Kingdom following 300 years of warfare
1769 — Scottish explorer James Bruce shows the world the Ethiopian Jews
1864 — Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, a german Rabbi publishes a manifesto in the Jewish press calling for the spiritual rescue of Ethiopian Jews
1908 — Rabbis of 44 countries proclaim Ethiopian Jews to be authentic Jews
1935-1941 — The Italian fascist army conquers Ethiopia
1956 — Israel and Ethiopia establish consular 1961 — Ethiopia and Israel begin full diplomatic
relations.
1976 — Approximately 250 Ethiopians Jews are living in
Israel.
1977-1984 — Approximately 8,000 Ethiopian Jews are brought to Israel by covert action.
1980 — Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews is founded in Toronto, Canada.
1984 — The massive airlift known as Operation Moses
begins on November 18^th and ends on January 5^th, 1985.
1984-1988 — With the abrupt halting of Operation
Joshua in 1985, the Ethiopian Jewish community is split in half

Pictures and A Ritual

This video is Ethiopian Jews celebrating their traditional
annual Segid prayer gathering for which they prayed for a return to Jerusalem
and now celebrates their acheivment and hopes for the future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY6gU6jM_Bo&feature=fvwrel

These are Ethiopian Stars of David