[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Question…there was (and I think continues to be?) a significant immigration of Ethiopian Jews into Israel (beginning with the airlifts of Menachim Begin in the mid-70’s, if I recall the history correctly).
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Correct.
For those that don’t know, a Jewish population sprang up Ethiopia since really the time of David (trade route), but really got going during the Roman conquest of Judea and the Diaspora, when large numbers of Jews fled in all directions (even China, India, etc). Some went south.
Over the course of time, they heavily intermixed with the native population and are the least “genetically Jewish” but still identifiably Jewish group.
There was some controversy regarding this, but it is undisputed that they followed the Law of Moses (in their fashion – it’s like a cross between Rabbinical Judaism and Karatite), so, even if (assuming for argument) they were not “born Jewish people,” they basically self-converted to Judaism 1,000+ years ago, so it’s a non-issue.
They’ve had a rough go of it, being surrounded by hostile Christian and Muslim populations.
WWII and Italy’s capture of Ethiopia was really rough.
Starting in the 1970s in a series of airlifts (84 and 91), we started to bring our Ethipian-born brothers and sisters home, en masse. (There are more in Sudan, and we’re coming for them, next.)
The toal population in Israel is probably 150,000.
The biggest two problem has been: (1) language (they literally speak “Cush” — how’s that for a blast from ancient history) and (2) moving from a subsitance farming economy to a modern one.
Of the two, #2 is the biggest issue. That said, these guys know small farms, and we certainly have those.
The kids do fine. In one generation, you can’t tell the diffence between any of them, chiefly because of the IDF and the draft, which is a great equalizer, IMHO.
They have some “odd” beliefs – like they like to personally slaughter their meat because they don’t trust anyone else to keep it kosher, even other Jewish people — but no animist or pagan stuff. They were surrounded by that crap and stood firm for 1500 years.
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