The Ethiopian Jewish community discovered by Scottish explorer

Nairobi, October 15, 2007 - There are currently 13.1 million Jews in the world, including in Israel. This constitutes an increase of less than half a million, or only 4%, since 1970. The largest drop in Jewish population in the Diaspora occurred in the FSU countries and Eastern Europe, from where some one million Jews immigrated to Israel. The Jewish population in these countries stands at 450,000: 221,000 in Russia and 79,000 in the Ukraine. There has also been a significant drop in the number of Jews residing in Africa, where there are currently only 5,000 compared to 83,000 in 1970.

It was not the distance measured in miles that will linger in the minds of four members of the local Jewish community who recently traveled to Ethiopia. It was the distance they traveled in time.

"It was like we entered a time machine," said Mark Fuerstein of Highland Park, of the trip to a tiny village in Ethiopia, to help escort 86 men, women and children who trace their roots to ancient Judaism to new lives in modern Israel.

"They were shanty towns, huts with no running water, no electricity. Their means of survival were from Biblical times," said Susan Antman of East Brunswick, recalling how farmland was turned over using oxen and a tree trunk for a plow.

"You know there's poverty in the world, but until you see it you don't think it's real. It's poverty you can't imagine," said Mitch Frumkin of Kendall Park.

"They have no electricity, no running water. They have each other. That's all they know," said Sandy Langer of East Brunswick.

The four members of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County joined a group from the United Jewish Communities in Operation Promise. They went first to Israel, flew to Ethiopia to meet the Ethiopian Jews in their East African environment, and then returned with them to Israel.

Before their exodus the 86 migrating Jews were given Western-style clothing, and the kids were given Barbie and Batman backpacks. They were shown how a stove works, how a toilet works, what a light switch does, how to brush their teeth.

What fascinated the children, who had never seen themselves in a mirror, was being able to see their images on pictures the Americans had taken with their digital cameras.

What they lacked in knowledge of the ways of the modern world, however, they made up in other ways. "The children were the most respectful and happiest children I ever met," said Langer.

Antman recalled being invited into a thatched hut, and sitting on a piece of burlap on the dirt floor. "We were treated like royality. It was very humbling," she said.

The West learned of the Ethiopian Jewish community in 1769 when Scottish explorer James Bruce discovered their presence while seeking the source of the Nile River.

In the 1970s their exodus to Israel began. The largest group came in 1991, when 14,500 arrived in Israel in Operation Solomon. By October 2008 about 110,000 Ethiopian Jews will have made the trip, though there will always be more Ethiopians seeking to make the trip, doing what they can to prove their Jewish lineage.

Though their roots in Africa remain a mystery, the consensus among Jewish scholars who have studied them is that the Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, are authentic Jews, who worshiped according to the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

Assimilation into modern Israel society has not been easy, especially for adult males, who were unquestioned heads of household in their native African culture. While women are able to get hired to do domestic work, the skills men learned in Ethiopia do not translate well into jobs in modern Israel.

The 86 who were escorted to Israel this summer belong to a group known as the Falash Mura, a group whose members were forced to convert to Christianity in the 19th century. Following a debate over whether they qualified under the Law of Return, the Israeli government gave their approval.

Under the Law of Return, Jews from the United States, the old Soviet Union, Ethiopia and elsewhere are granted immediate citizenship when they return to Israel, the Biblical home of Jews.

The Americans from Central New Jersey were torn by the thought they were not doing the right thing, taking people from fertile ground, surrounded by trees and mountains that looked like a scene from National Geographic, into a modern nation with the hustle and danger of a country that is very much part of the 21st century, and a political tinderbox.

For Antman, the question was answered when she met a 26-year-old Ethiopian Jew who had gone to Israel 10 years ago, and returned to Ethiopia to help escort the 86 Jews to Israel.

Once back in her native continent the 26-year-old woman recognized someone she had grown up — a woman who had already given birth to seven children, in a country where women often begin having children as young as 13.

Antman said she had a hard time believing the two women were of the same age. "I thought for sure the woman (with seven children) was in her 50s," said Antman.

Frumkin recalled a story about the father of the 26-year-old woman, who has also gone to Israel. At one time he thought he had made a big mistake, bringing his family from Africa.

"He told his daughter, "Your hair is changing. Your dress is changing. You married a (white) Israeli soldier. You're losing your ethnic identity,' " said Frumkin.

Then at 80, when the father was near death, the daughter obtained his blessing. He no longer thought it a mistake that he allowed his daughter to leave Africa for Israel. "He smiled and said, " Israel is our home,' " according to the story told to Frumkin.

Fuerstein, who called the trip "an adventure of the heart," recalled how he found kinship with the Ethiopians. "I have brothers and sisters from another part of the world, whose faith says, "Go to Jerusalem.'"

"Their goal is to go to the Promise Land, for a better life for their children," said Frumkin.

What impressed Frumkin were how Westerners were doing humanitarian work amid the poverty of Ethiopia. "It makes you appreciate the value of what they do, and the need for these (humanitarian) organizations — what they do and what they give up in the States," he said.

It also gave Frumkin an appreciation of being born where he was. "When you're born in the United States, you won the lottery," he explained.

A year ago Langer participated in another mission trip, going to Odessa in Ukraine, serving the needs of elderly Jews. "It is an opportunity to give back. I am fortunate in my life to be able to go on these trips. But I find I'm getting more than giving," said Langer, a registered nurse.

During the trip a little girl attached herself to Antman — though the two were unable cross the language barrier. When she was given a pink dress to wear, Antman took her picture.

When she returned to New Jersey her mother, Betty Ratchick of Manalapan, had an emotional reaction to the picture. Ratchick was born a Jew in Poland, and most of her family died in the Holocaust. Ratchick was saved when a Christian family hid her in their house.

When World War II ended and Ratchick was liberated, she was given a pink dress to wear into freedom.

"When my mother saw the picture of the girl in the pink dress it reminded her of when she was liberated," said Antman, who has contacted the agency which aids Ethiopian Jews, to learn the identity of the girl in the pink dress, so she and her mother can send her gifts.

KRick Malwitz, STAFF WRITER, rmalwitz@thnt.com

Diplomatic Note: Madonna and her Hollywood friends may be inspiring a great deal of interest in Judaism and Kabbalah, but it appears that the number of Jews in the Diaspora is in fact on the decrease. According to the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI), established by the Jewish Agency, the number of Diaspora Jews has dropped by 2.3 million in the past 37 years, and currently stands at only 7.76 million.
There are currently 13.1 million Jews in the world, including in Israel. This constitutes an increase of less than half a million, or only 4%, since 1970. The largest drop in Jewish population in the Diaspora occurred in the FSU countries and Eastern Europe, from where some one million Jews immigrated to Israel. The Jewish population in these countries stands at 450,000: 221,000 in Russia and 79,000 in the Ukraine.

Another significant drop of 24% occurred in South America, where there are currently only 393,000 Jews: 189,000 in Argentina, 96,000 in Brazil and 40,000 in Mexico. There has also been a significant drop in the number of Jews residing in North Africa, where there are currently only 5,000 compared to 83,000 in 1970. Whereas some 100,000 Jews lived in Asian countries in 1970, today there are only 20,000, the vast majority of which reside in Iran. There are some 300 Jews living in Yemen, 10 in Syria, and one Jew only remaining in Afghanistan.

The number of Jews residing in North America has not undergone any significant change, despite the large waves of Jewish immigration to the USA from Eastern Europe, and today numbers 5.6 million. In Western Europe the Jewish population has dropped by some 5% and today numbers slightly more than one million: 490,000 in France, 295,000 in England and 120,000 in Germany. It is only in Australia and New Zealand that Jewish population has grown, and numbers 111,000 compared to 70,000 in 1970.

In contrast to the drop in the number of Jews in the Diaspora, the Jewish population in Israel has doubled since 1970, and today stands at 5.4 million, comprising 40% of world Jewry

One of the main reasons for the drop in the number of Jews in the Diaspora is of course immigration. However, the other reason, which is no less significant, is assimilation. Assimilation rates are estimated at 50% in North America, 70% in Russia and around 45% in Western Europe. The Jewish birthrate is another determining factor related to the drop in the number of Jews in the world. Whereas is Israel the birthrate is 2.75 children per Jewish family, in the West it stands at 1.5 children. In the FSU countries, the number is even lower and stands at one child per family.

According to JPPPI Director Avinoam Bar Yosef, the best way to solve the intermarriage issue is to encourage immigration to Israel, and that toward this purpose conversion laws should be made more flexible before any rash changes are made to the Law of Return. “The Jewish People suffered enough blows in the last century,” Bar Yosef added.

Sources: HAN News Agency in Nairobi

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