Beta Israel (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: ביתא ישראל: Beta Israel, "House of Israel"; Ge'ez Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the official language of the Kingdom of Aksum and Ethiopian imperial court: ቤተ እስራኤል Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl) is the historical name of the Jewish The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism, whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos community of Ethiopia, most of whom now live in Israel Israel , officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the. They are also known as Falasha (Ge'ez Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the official language of the Kingdom of Aksum and Ethiopian imperial court for "Exiles" or "Strangers") by non-Jewish Ethiopians, but the Jews consider the term derogatory Pejoratives are words or grammatical forms which denote a negative affect; that is, they express the contempt or distaste of the speaker. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative word and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense. In historical linguistics, this phenomenon is known as melioration, or amelioration, or semantic change [7]. Other terms by which the community have been known include Kayla (an Agaw group and language spoken by some members) and the Hebrew Habashim, associated with the non-Jewish Habesha people.
Nearly all of the Ethiopian Beta Israel community, comprising more than 119,300 people, reside in Israel Israel , officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the under its Law of Return The Law of Return is Israeli legislation, enacted in 1950, that gives Jews, those of Jewish ancestry, and their spouses the right to migrate to and settle in Israel and gain citizenship, which gives Jews and those with Jewish parents or grandparents, and all of their spouses, the right to settle in Israel and obtain citizenship. The Israeli government has mounted rescue operations, most notably during Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991), for their migration when civil war and famine threatened populations within Ethiopia. Some immigration has continued up until the present day. Today 81,000 Ethiopian Israelis were born in Ethiopia, while 38,500 or 32% of the community are native born Israelis. [4]
The related Falasha Mura are the descendants of Beta Israel who converted to Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy (the two split from one another in 1054 A.D.), and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16. Some are returning to the practices of Judaism, living in Falash Mura communities and observing halakha Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions. Beta Israel spiritual leaders, including Chief Kes Raphael Hadane have argued for the acceptance of the Falasha Mura as Jews.[5] This claim has been a matter of controversy within Israeli society.[6][7][8][9]
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Origins
Beta Israel beliefs
The Beta Israel village of Balankab. From H. A. Stern, Wanderings Among the Falashas in Abyssinia London, 1862; reprinted in the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901. It is now a public domain resource, now in the public domain.The Ethiopian legend described in the Kebra Negast, or "Book of the Glory of Kings," relates that Ethiopians are descendants of Israelite tribes who came to Ethiopia Evidence of Naqadan contacts include obsidian from Ethiopia and the Aegean. The first record from ethiopia come from rock art writing.The other records of Ethiopia proper come from Egyptian traders from about 3000 BC, who refer to lands south of Nubia or Cush as Punt and Yam. The Ancient Egyptians were in possession of myrrh as early as the First with Menelik I Menelik I , first Jewish Emperor of Ethiopia, is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, Queen of Sheba and ruled around 950 BC, according to traditional sources. Tradition credits him with bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia, following a visit to Jerusalem to meet his father upon reaching, alleged to be the son of King Solomon Solomon was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a King of Israel. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David. He is also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split; following the split his and the Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba was a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an. She is widely assumed to have been a queen regnant, although there is no historical proof of this; in fact, she may have been a queen consort (or Makeda, in the legend) (see 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12). The legend relates that Menelik, as an adult, returned to his father in Jerusalem, and then resettled in Ethiopia, and that he took with him the Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant is a vessel described in the Bible as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed, along with Aaron's rod and manna. According to the Pentateuch, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:10-16). God was said to have.
In the Bible The Bible refers to collections of sacred scripture of Judaism and Christianity. There is no single version: both the individual books and their order vary. The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books that were rearranged into 39 by Christian denominations, while complete Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to 81 books in the there is no mention that the Queen of Sheba either married or had any sexual relations with King Solomon; rather, the narrative records that she was impressed with his wealth and wisdom, and they exchanged royal gifts, and then she returned to rule her people in Kush The Kingdom of Kush or Cush was an ancient African state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now the Republic of Sudan. It was one of the earliest civilizations to develop in the Nile River Valley. Having also been referred to as Nubia, and as "Ethiopia" in ancient Greek and Greco-Roman. However, the "royal gifts" are interpreted by some as sexual contact. The loss of the Ark is also not mentioned in the Bible.
Those who accept the Kebra Negast believe that the Beta Israel are descended from a battalion of men of Judah that fled southwards down the Arabian coastal lands from Judaea after the breakup of the united Kingdom of Israel The united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, according to the Bible, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BC to c. 930 BC, though there are differences of opinion as to exact dates into two kingdoms in the 10th century BCE (while King Rehoboam reigned over Judah).
Although the Kebra Nagast and some traditional Ethiopian histories have stated that Yodit Gudit is a semi-legendary non-Christian queen (flourished c.960) who laid waste to Axum and its countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling Axumite dynasty. Her deeds are recorded in the oral tradition and mentioned incidentally in various historical accounts (or "Gudit"), a tenth century usurping queen, was Jewish, it's unlikely that this was the case. It is more likely that she was a pagan southerner[10] or a usurping Christian Aksumite Queen.[11]
Most of the Beta Israel consider the Kebra Negast legend to be a fabrication. Instead they believe, based on the ninth century stories of Eldad ha-Dani (the Danite), that the tribe of Dan attempted to avoid the civil war in the Kingdom of Israel The united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom that existed in the Land of Israel, according to the Bible, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy. Historians date the kingdom from c. 1020 BC to c. 930 BC, though there are differences of opinion as to exact dates between Solomon's son Rehoboam According to the Hebrew Bible, Rehoboam was a king of the United Monarchy of Israel and later of the Kingdom of Judah after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel and Jeroboam Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy. He reigned for twenty-two years. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 922 to 901 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele offers the dates 931 to 910 BC the son of Nebat, by resettling in Egypt. From there they moved southwards up the Nile into Ethiopia, and the Beta Israel are descended from these Danites.
Other sources tell of many Jews who were brought as prisoners of war from ancient Israel by Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter I (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, Ptolemaĩos Sōtḗr, i.e. Ptolemy the Savior, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323 BC – 283 BC) and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 305/4 BC he took the title of pharaoh and also settled on the border of his kingdom with Nubia Nubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt. In ancient times it was an independent kingdom (Sudan Sudan (Arabic: السودان Al Sūdān) is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa, and tenth largest in the world by area. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, Kenya and Uganda to the southeast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central). Another tradition handed down in the community from father to son asserts that they arrived either via the old district of Qwara in northwestern Ethiopia, or via the Atbara River, where the Nile The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world tributaries flow into Sudan. Some accounts even specify the route taken by their forefathers on their way upstream from Egypt.[12]
Rabbinical views
Public appeal of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is the supreme Jewish religious governing body in the state of Israel. There are always two active Chief Rabbis in Israel, an Ashkenazi rabbi and a Sephardi rabbi known as the Rishon L'Tzion to save the Jews of Ethiopia, 1921, signed by Chief Rabbis Abraham Isaac Kook and Jacob Meir.The ninth century Jewish traveler Eldad ha-Dani claimed the Beta Israel descended from the tribe of Dan, claiming Jewish kingdoms around or in East Africa existed during this time. His writings may represent the first mention of the Beta Israel, but his accuracy is uncertain; scholars point to Eldad's lack of firsthand knowledge of Ethiopia's geography and any Ethiopian language, although he claimed the area as his homeland.[13]
Rabbi Ovadiah Yare of Bertinoro wrote in letter from Jerusalem in 1488:
I myself saw two of them in Egypt. They are dark-skinned... and one could not tell whether they keep the teaching of the Karaites Karaite Judaism or Karaism (Hebrew: יהדות קראית , Modern Yahadut Qara'it Tiberian Qārāʾîm ; meaning "Readers of the Hebrew Scriptures" or "followers/seekers of Torah/Tanakh-based Judaism") is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme religious authority. It is distinct, or of the Rabbis, for some of their practices resemble the Karaite teaching... but in other things they appear to follow the instruction of the Rabbis; and they say they are related to the tribe of Dan.[14]
Some Jewish Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed legal Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions authorities have also asserted that the Beta Israel are the descendants of the tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel, one of the Ten Lost Tribes The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to the tribes of ancient Israel that formed the Kingdom of Israel and disappeared from the Biblical account after the kingdom was destroyed in about 720 BCE by ancient Assyria. Many groups have traditions concerning the continued hidden existence or future public return of these tribes. In their view, these people established a Jewish kingdom that lasted for hundreds of years. With the rise of Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy (the two split from one another in 1054 A.D.), and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16 and later Islam Islam (Arabic: الإسلام al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (which is called the Sunnah in Arabic, and, schisms arose and three kingdoms competed. Eventually, the Christian A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of and Muslim A Muslim or Moslem is an adherent of the religion of Islam. Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. All Muslims observe Sunnah, but differences in the definition of what is and what is not Sunnah has led to the emergence of sectarian movements.[ Ethiopian kingdoms reduced the Jewish kingdom to a small impoverished section. The earliest authority to rule this way was the Radbaz (Rabbi David ben Zimra, 1479– 1573). Radbaz explains in a responsum concerning the status of a Beta Israel slave:
But those Jews who come from the land of Cush are without doubt from the tribe of Dan, and since they did not have in their midst sages who were masters of the tradition, they clung to the simple meaning of the Scriptures. If they had been taught, however, they would not be irreverent towards the words of our sages, so their status is comparable to a Jewish infant taken captive by non-Jews … And even if you say that the matter is in doubt, it is a commandment to redeem them.[15]
In 1973 Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (born Abdullah Youssef on September 23 1920, Basra, Iraq and now living in Jerusalem) is a Mizrahi Haredi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakhic authority. He is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, although he himself is Iraqi, not Sephardi. Yosef is also the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party, then the Chief Sephardic Rabbi, based on the Radbaz and other accounts, ruled that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel. He was later joined by a number of other authorities who made similar rulings, including the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Shlomo Goren.[16]
Other notable poskim Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive, from non-Zionist Ashkenazi Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions circles, placed a halakhic Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions safek (doubt) over the Jewishness of the Beta Israel. Such dissenting voices include rabbis Elazar Shach, Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and Moshe Feinstein Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, scholar and posek (an authoritative adjudicator of questions related to Jewish law), who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America. In the Orthodox world he is widely referred to simply as &.[17][18] Similar doubts were raised within the same circles towards Bene Israel The Bene Israel are a group of Jews who migrated in the nineteenth century from west to the nearby Indian cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmedabad, and Karachi (Karachi later became a part of Pakistan). Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's Jewish Jews,[19], and Russian immigrants to Israel in the 1990s.
In the 1970s and early 80s the Beta Israel were forced to undergo a modified conversion ceremony involving immersion in a ritual bath Mikveh (Hebrew: מִקְוָה or מקווה , Modern Miqva Tiberian Miqwāh ; plural: mikva'ot or mikves Hebrew: מִקְוֶוֹת or מִקְוָאות) is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism. The word "mikveh", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" – generally, a collection of, a declaration accepting Rabbinic law, and, for men, a "symbolic recircumcision".[20] Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira Avraham Elkanah Kahana Shapira was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a member and the head of the Supreme Rabbinic Court. He served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993. Shapira was the rosh yeshiva of Mercaz haRav in Jerusalem, a position later waived the "symbolic recircumcision" demand, which is only required when the halakhic doubt is significant.[21] More recently Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Rabbi Uziel, Israel has had two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi Shlomo Amar has ruled that descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forced to convert Anusim , plural for anús Hebrew: אָנוּס, means "forced ones." Originally, the word could refer to a person forced to any kind of act against his or her will. In Jewish Law, this is the legal term applied to a Jew who was forced to abandon Judaism against his or her will, but does whatever is in his or her power to continue to Christianity are "unquestionably Jews in every respect".[22] With the consent of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (born Abdullah Youssef on September 23 1920, Basra, Iraq and now living in Jerusalem) is a Mizrahi Haredi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakhic authority. He is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, although he himself is Iraqi, not Sephardi. Yosef is also the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party, Rabbi Amar ruled that it is forbidden to question the Jewishness of this community, pejoratively called Falashmura.[23]
At present, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel requires ritual immersion prior to marriage, from Jews of Ethiopian or any other ancestry alike.[24][25]
