The Beta Israel of Ethiopia constitutes the oldest and largest community of Black Jews in the world. In many respects, the rest of the black Jewish diaspora looks to the Beta Israel for inspiration. In the 1920s, Israelites in the United States argued that the term “Ethiopian” should replace the term “Negro,” which was in common use then. These Israelites used the term Ethiopian in its precise meaning. The etymology of the term derives from a Greek compound αἴθω (aíthō, “burn”) + ὤψ (ṓps, “face”); hence the term refers generally to “sunburned people.” In the Homeric text, Ethiopians are first described as a very pure and honorable people. It was in this sense that most Israelite synagogues in the United States had the term “Ethiopian” in the titles of their congregations. By the 1970s many people incorrectly assumed that we were claiming to be from Ethiopia—even though we explained that we were black people who had been scattered all over the world who were now returning to our true heritage and identity as predicted in Deuteronomy 28:15-69.
The Israelite connection to the Beta Israel of Ethiopia stretches back many decades; some of our founders claimed ancestral connections that predate the transatlantic slave trade that brought millions of Africans to the western hemisphere. In 1930, Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford and a contingent of Israelites from the United States immigrated to Ethiopia, established a community there, and formed relationships with the Beta Israel. The State of Israel was not yet created, and immigration to Palestine under the British mandate was not practical. Ethiopia and Liberia were the only two independent countries on the African continent. With the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie, a head-of-state who claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, we saw the fulfillment of the prophecy “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Psalm 68:31. With the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini in 1935 and the start of World War II, our hopes of establishing a Zion in Ethiopia were dashed.
Professor Abraham (Abiyi) Ford, a Fulbright Scholar and member of the faculty at Howard University, continued in the footsteps of his father. He retired to Ethiopia in 2006 and worked tirelessly to establish the Mignon Ford Foundation in Addis Ababa. Rabbi Yirmeyahu Ben Israel led delegations of Israelites to Ethiopia and Uganda in the 1970s. Rabbi Hailu Paris, an Ethiopian born rabbi who was a leader of the Israelite community in the United States, made an epic journey back to Ethiopia to reestablish between both communities.
Chief Rabbi Funnye continued our efforts to connect with the Beta Israel this summer. He was joined by Rabbi Baruch Yehudah of Bnai Adath, Brooklyn, New York; Rabbi Yeshurun Levy, Beth Shalom, Brooklyn, New York, Nasik Zuridan Ben Yisrael, Bnai Adath, Brooklyn, and their Ethiopian sponsor, Mr. Simcha Kebede. Part of their mission was to determine how many Beta Israel were still in Ethiopia. This is a fallacy —often repeated in the media—that “all the Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel.” This is not true! There are still many Beta Israel in Ethiopia. Some choose to stay; others are prevented from joining their relatives in Israel because their Jewishness is being challenged. Chief Rabbi Funnye said, “We met with our brothers and sisters who are still in Ethiopia. We prayed with them in their synagogues. We assured them that they are not forgotten and we promised that we would help them.”