#Beta Israel

[adiradirim]

"Ethiopian Jewish woman wearing chai necklace" (1985) & "Ethiopian Jewish girl with star of David necklace and crown," photos courtesy of the AAEJ Archives

[applesauce42069]

People claim to care so much about the Beta Israel women who were given birth control shots for years without informed consent, beginning in transit camps. People claim to care about these women, yet they also gleefully use this horrific crime to mock Beta Israel Israelis in the Instagram comments on videos of them dancing

Fucking disgusting behaviour.

[hero-israel]

Hey man. Sorry about this, but I am arguing with one of my friends about Israel. I know you had some good posts on the arguments about the sterilization of the Beta Israel and the Nakba, but I'm struggling to find them. (I am looking for other sources, but your stuff was striking the first time I read it.) Do you know what you tagged those with? Alternatively, what sources do you recommend? Thank you!

Here are some posts I'm rather proud of, and hope you will find helpful. Tags are below.

There were no sterilizations.

What caused the Nakba?

Why the abandonment of the Jews made Zionism necessary.

There was no "peaceful coexistence before 1948".

Ottoman Muslim settler-colonialism in 1800s Palestine.

"Israeli apartheid" is a bad-faith lie.

"Palestine is a climate / environment issue" is an even bigger lie.

Was Nazism wrong, or just wrong when white people did it?

Killing Jews is not - and can never be - "liberation"

What did famous civil rights activists think of Jews and Israel?

How often did the media lie about conditions in Gaza?

BDS is the abstinence-only sex education of the Left

Palestine is the Confederate Lost Cause of the Left

[gay-jewish-bucky]

I'm tired of goyishe westerners weaponizing the very real struggles of Ethiopian Jews to virtue signal. It's very clear they don't actually care about pushing for meaningful change for the community or addressing the very real intracommunity issues of racism and colourism, they're just a pawn in their morality play they can use to shut down other conversations.

[judaismandsuch]

A bit about Minhagim (particularly in relation to the terms Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Yemmeni, Mizrahi, Beta Yisrael, etc.)

I saw this post, and I realized that what I take for granted knowledge wise may not be so, and people rarely talk about the intricacies of Minhagim.

(btw, what I am saying applies to all the different groups but for the rest of the post I'll be mainly using the Sephardic and Ashkenazi b.c. I am lazy)

We use the terms "Ashkenazi" and "Sefardic" (etc.) to refer to where our ancestors came from (or more likely lived in 1500s or so), which is fine! But that not 100% accurate. Or at least it would be more accurate to say that that is a secondary meaning that is used a lot, but there is a primary meaning which can get confusing.

The primary meaning of these terms is "Which bundle of Minhagim do you follow?"

Now seeing as minhagim are traditions that carry the weight of a law, usually it is your ancestry, but not always!

We will take 2 obvious cases first, then talk about some other ones:

First Someone who converted. Now obviously since they converted they have no (halachically) relevant Jewish traditions. So what do they take? One might be tempted to say "whatever area their ancestors were from" but honestly that makes no sense. They don't have a tradition from those people, just geographical happenstance.

Rather they are to take on the traditions of the community/location where they converted. So a Polish person might become Sephardic, or a Italian person Ashkenazi.

The Second is marriage. When people get married (with some exceptions) the wife is supposed to take on the husbands traditions (don't @ me, we can discuss gender in Judaism another year). So, a Ashkenazi woman who marries a Sephardic man is now Sephardic (though they would usually say that they follow Sephardic customs to avoid confusion).

And it is worth noting that many people keep their exes traditions even after getting divorced.

Now to some more interesting ones:

A Jew who was raised not religious in any way has no tradition! So if they become religious later in life, they can take on any minhag they desire. Usually they do end up taking their ancestral one, or the one of the community they live in, but there is no need! (lpt for those becoming religious: 1 hour between meat and milk is a valid minhag that you can take!)

And finally: Moving. If a Ashkanzi Jew moves to a purely Sephardi area, they are obligated to take on Sephardic customs! This is actually the big one, all the others kinda fall from it, but on the other hand it is basically not applicable anymore.

Way back when, when travel was a big deal, you would probably be the only Sephardi in Poland, so you couldn't really keep it.

Nowadays that basically everywhere is uber multicultural that ruling isn't applicable, but still interesting!

N.B. Not my best write up, I may redo it completely later

[gliklofhameln]

A Jewish Ethiopian woman’s attire, mid-20th century

The white colour and narrow embroidered band characterise Ethiopian dress, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. The wearer’s social status, occupation, and even mood are conveyed by the way she wears the shama, a cloth draped over the main garment in Ethiopia. Following  their exposure to the rest of world Jewry in the early 20th century, Ethiopian Jews chose to emphasise their identity by adding new motifs such as the Star of David and the menorah to the embroidery on their garments.

[koenji]

Happy Tu B'Av / ט"ו באב שמח ! ♥️

A Jewish wedding ceremony under the chuppah. Courtesy of the American Association of Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ Archives Online). via Jewish Women's Archive x

[psychologeek]

Official Memorial Day for Sudan Casualties

(Ethiopian Jews who perished on their way to Israel, via Sudan).

Tonight+tomorrow day (כ"ח אייר, Iyar 28th) is Jerusalem Day.

It is also the official memorial day to those who died during the journey from Ethiopia to Israel.

The date wasn't choose randomly. It came to represent the ancient connection, and the place they were yearning for.

This date is a memory of 4,000 People.

4,000 men, women and children that tried to reach Eret Yisrael and Yerushalayim (Yerusalem).

4,000 who didn't make it - but their families and friends did.

The official ceremony/service is in Har (mt.) Hertzel, in the official memorial, in Jerusalem.

Their bodies didn't make it, but their memories did.

I'm in my home, and I hear the ceremony in the local school.

And I'm sad.

But I'm also happy -

(We remember you)

There's something really powerful in hearing 600 kids (all kids in school) and their families singing.

"Oh, our brothers, all the people of Yisrael/

Who are in trouble, or in captivity, either in the sea or on land/

May G-d have mercy on them and deliver them from troubles to wealth.

And from darkness to light, and from enslavement to salvation,

Hashta Ba'agala Uvizman Kariv (Aramic: now, soon, in our time.)

Songs about the journey

NagashBeatz - Masa Shalem (full journey)

Gili Yalo - Salem

Shva Choir and Shlomo Gronich:

The Journey (to Eretz Yisrael) - video

Better quality

Hasida (stork)

Ba'Karavan

(I lived in one until I was 11, and everytime I talk about it, I automatically say it in a sing-song.)

Other songs

U-da - Ante Abate (you're my father)

Cafe Shachor Chazak - Yihiye Beseder (We'll be ok)

Climbing Up

Hanny Masele - Lambadina (light)

And obviously - The Project (of Idan Raichel)

Cabra Casay - Milim Yafot Me'ele (prettier words)

Im Telech (If you'll go) - despite not being sang by an Ethiopian singer, I do add it due to the background Amharic and the video.

Links for reading more:

Ethiopian Jewry heritage center:

Association of Ethiopian Jews:

(on guidestar)

They've been working for over 30 years, doing SUPER IMPORTANT JOB in multiple aspects, including (but not limited to): fighting racism, fighting over-crimilising of Black people, encouraging and increasing the number of Ethiopian jews in governmental and ministry positions. Help with immigration, housing, more.

[screamingfromuz]

Can we talk about how a lot of extremely antisemitic opinions are coming from black people (like that tiktok about Osama Bin Laden’s letter to America) or is that forbidden? I’m tired of the left dancing around calling out antisemitism when it comes from anyone who isn’t white.

this is a conversation, I do believe it is a conversation to be done, and I have a lot to say about it and the way oppressive powers use Jews as a way to deflect, the privileges of being perceived as oppressed, and the whole "Black Hebrew Israelites" movement. but I honestly would much rather let Black Jews to talk about it, because they have far more interesting perspective then mine and have been tokenised to hell and back for years.

So, any black Jews who wants to use this post to have a conversation, go ahead!

[kitsuneheartreviews]

Picture book: "Workitu's Passover" by Zahava Goshen & Ben Hagai (2024-03-30)

Ethiopia has one of the longest continuously practicing Jewish communities in the world, dating back to the 4th century CE. Being so old and so distant from other major Jewish communities, Ethiopian Jews have their own particular traditions, and one is explored here.

The day before Passover, Workitu and her sister must smash all of their family's crockery, including Workitu's favorite cup. Workitu is distraught over her loss, until she learns that all the clay is softened and worked into the plates, cups, and other tools that will be used for the following year, allowing her to keep her cup, but in a new form.

This story is less about religion, and more about emotions, family, and tradition. It is a celebration of unique heritage, and one that we really don't see much in picture books.

Oh, but why, oh why, is this book being released in the US on the LAST DAY of Passover!? I want to read this to my nephews! But our big family Seder is on night 2! I can only hope that someone manages to push through an early ebook publication, but it looks grim.

If you're going to have final-night seder with your family (or if you're in the UK, where this book already released), pick this up, definitely. And I shall envy you.

[magnetothemagnificent]

መልካም  የስግድ በዓል

Melkam Sigd Bahal

[id in alt text]

[svartikotturinn]

መልካም ምህላ

סיגד שמח

Happy Sigd

[applesauce42069]

very cool video about the beta israel community still in ethiopia. so amazing to see what the community looks like.

[microwave-gremlin]

You know the drill, reblog for a bigger sample size!

(I'm making versions of this poll for different Jewish diasporas, and I might do a denomination version, too!)

#jupi gets jewish#jumblr#jews#jew#jewish#judaism#polls#tumblr polls#poll#jews of tumblr#mixed jews#mixed#mixed race

[eretzyisrael]

[hero-israel]

It's very telling that when antizionists talk about Israel's apparently rampant racism and colorism, the community of black Jews they trot out as tokens are not called by their preferred name, Beta Israel... oh no, that won't do, that legitimizes Israel as a nation state for some reason... no they must be called by a derogatory slur that was used to incite violence against them in Ethiopia. Great allyship white goyim! You're doing so good!

There has never - EVER - been a good-faith concern or complaint from antizionists regarding black Beta Israel Jews. Every last one of them wants those black Jews to be harassed, BDSed, missile-hit, and ethnically cleansed right alongside the Ashkenazim. And you will grow old and die before you read an acknowledgment from a "Palestinian ally" of the monolithic racism within Palestinian society, where Beta Israel are routinely described as "African animals the Jews bring here to attack us."

Beta Israel Jews know they are much better off facing the tawdry racism of Israeli bureaucrats and cops - marching for their rights and slowly, steadily improving - than they would be dying from starvation and civil war in the Horn of Africa or being murdered on sight as soon as they set foot in any of Israel's enemy states. Time and time again, goyim force Jews into a choice of "Israel or death," then take it personally when those Jews, of any color, go with Israel.

There is no shortage of examples of manipulative, contemptuous anti-blackness from Palestiners.