Ethiopia 28, The falasha village

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ETHIOPIA
28
The Last Jews of Ethiopia
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Wolleka
Gondar is a town founded in 1636 by the great
Emperor Fassiladas, serving as the royal capital
of Ethiopia for over 230 years. Around 6km north
of Gondar several Star of David and Falasha
Village signs point the way to what would be
better described as the former Falasha village of
Wolleka. Once the homes to a thriving population
of Falashas or Ethiopian Jews, most were
airlifted to Israel between 1985 and 1991 and
today only couples remain. Sadly, the pottery for
which they were once famous has degenerated into
clumsy, half-hearted art.
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After the adoption of Christianity as the state
religion, Falashas had their land confiscated for
refusing to convert. To survive, many became
skilled craftsmen. Recent research suggests
Falashas may have provided the labour for the
castles construction and decoration. The
highlight of a trip here is to grab a glimpse of
highland village life rather than Jewish
monuments or culture
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Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews are the
names of Jewish communities located in the area
of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires (Habesha or
Abyssinia), currently divided between Amhara and
Tigray regions. Beta Israel lived in North and
North-Western Ethiopia, in more than 500 small
villages spread over a wide territory, among
populations that were Muslim and predominantly
Christian
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Most of them were concentrated in the area around
Lake Tana and north of it. The Beta Israel made
renewed contacts with other Jewish communities in
the later 20th century. After Halakhic and
constitutional discussions, Israeli officials
decided on March 14, 1977 that the Israeli Law of
Return applied to the Beta Israel
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The Israeli and American governments mounted
aliyah operations to transport the people to
Israel. These activities included Operation
Brothers in Sudan between 1979 and 1990 (this
includes the major operations Moses and Joshua),
and in the 1990s from Addis Ababa (which includes
Operation Solomon)
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It is a small village until recently inhabited by
a Jewish population that remained from ancient
times in the region. These Ethiopian Jews, who
lived isolated for centuries, were welcomed into
the 80s by Israel where moved mostly-the same
thing happened with the Yemenite Jews. Wolleka
Today, few remember these ceramic tallercitos
Jewish roots with black figures of King Solomon,
the Queen of Sheba or Stars of David.
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As one moves down the road, the people who are on
the road are clearly poorer than they have been
in the flat in the region of Lake Tana and around
Gondar and probably reflect greater isolation
suffered region
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This may be same village of the Bet Israel that
Samuel Gobat visited in 1830 although he does
not name the village, from his account the
village he visited was clearly close enough to
Gondar for him to travel there, speak to several
of its inhabitants, then return to Gondar all in
the same day
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Simien Mountains
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Text Internet Pictures Paola Barbuti
Daniel Scradeanu Jean
Moldovan Sanda Foisoreanu
Sanda Negrutiu Alin
Samochis Internet Copyright All
the images belong to their authors Presentation
Sanda Foisoreanu
2014
Sound Taem - Ethiopian instrumental
music