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raels;” they follow the Jewish
religion.
It is known from the Ethio
pian Chronciles that the Fala-
sha dwelled for centuries in
this country, that they were
strong and independent people;
that at times they had their
own kings and were powerful
enough to wage war against
the Christian population and
the Christian Ttirigs. At one
time there were as many as
400,000.
Though the religion of the
Falasha is definitely different
from, all others in Ethiopia and
is specifically Jewish, still it is
greatly influenced by Ethio
pian Christianity, Islamism and
paganism. All the laws, cus
toms, rites, and rituals are
clearly based on the Penta
teuch besides the Book of
Joshua, the Book Ttf Judges,
the Book of Ruth and the Book
of Henoch. The religious and
holy language of the Falasha
is Geez, as it is for the Chris
tians. They have no knowledge
of Hebrew. All post-Biblical
scriptures like Mishna and Tal
mud are unknown to them.
The same is true of post-exilic
feasts such as Purim of Hanu-
ka which they do not observe.
The Orthodox rabbinate re
gards the Falasha religion as
being of ancient Hebraic char
acter but do not consider it to
be one of the Jewish sects like
the well-known Samaritans or
Karaites.
The Falasha are therefore
not accepted as Jews, either in
religion or as part of the
Jewish nation.
The question of how, from
where and when the Jewish
religion was introduced into
Ethiopia has excited the curi
osity of innumerable scholars,
missionaries, and laymen since
their discovery by a French
Orientalist toward the end of
the last century.
There are several theories:
1) Ethiopian Christians, ac
cording to legend, believe their
first king, Menelik I, was the
son of the Biblical Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba. Fur
thermore they believe that the
Falasha are the descendants of
those Jews from Solomon’s
kingdom who came as artisans,
handworkers and handicraft
workers to Ethiopia. It is said
that the Queen of Sheba was
so impressed by the wealth
and affluence of Solomon’s
court that she asked him to
send skilled people to her own
country. Even today, the
Falasha are known for being
good handworkers. In ancient
times, this was often a reason
for deporting people from their
homeland to other provinces,
there to be kept in slavery in
order to work for their mas
ters. Most of these Falasha
sooner or later had to accept
Christianity. Others lost their
The Southern Israelite
identity through intermar
riage.
2) A less legendary and more
scientific approach is the ex
planation that prior to the in
troduction of Christianity in
the 4th century A.D., a large
portion of the population in
the northern regions of Ethi
opia adhered to a form of Ju-
daic-Hebraic religion based on
the Old Testament. Therefore,
the Falasha are said to be rem
nants of those Ethiopians who
for various reasons resisted
conversion to Christianity.
This idea is supported . by
the fact that the monophysite
Abyssinian Church shows a
great amount of Hebraic-
Semitic traits and customs not
found elsewhere in Christian
ity and which together with
other influences forms its dis
tinct character. It seems clear
that this strong attachment to
Judaism must have preceded
the introduction of Christian
ity into Ethiopia in 330 A. D.
As the historian Ullendorf
says: “It would be inconceiv
able that a people recently con
verted to Christianity should
thereafter have begun to boast
of Jewish descent and to insist
on Israelite connections, cus
toms, and institutions.’’
3) One of the stories told by
the Falasha themselves is that
they are descendants of those
Jews who fled with Jeremiah
to Egypt at the time of the de
struction of he Temple (587
B.C.) and who, after long per
secutions. finally arrived in
Ethiopia, having migrated
along the Nile river.
There is little evidence to
support this. It seems, from a
geographical point of view,
rather impossible that mi
grants could have penetrated
the deep gorgese of the Upper
Nile into the mountain plateau
where the Falasha live. The
Nile valley is impassable in
many parts until this very day;
on the other hand, no other
route is possible due to the
enormous difference in alti
tude between the lowlands
and the highlands.
Again the Falasha have often
been mentioned in connection
with the Jews of Elephantine,
an island in the Nile at the
border of ancient Nubia and
Egypt. Jewish warriors lived
on this island for certain
length of time. Archaeological
findings prove that the Ele
phantine Jews sacrificed ani
mals as prescribed by the Law
of Moses. The Falasha practice
the same ritual. No other Dia
spora Jews have ever done
this, since it was strictly for
bidden to sacrifice outside the
Temple in Jerusalem.
4) Another Falasha tradition
claims that at the time of the
Exodus from Egypt a great
number of IsraeUtes separated
from Moses before they
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