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