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GRAND
OPENING
May 1 - May 31
Racquets, Strings,
& Things
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‘Shoes & apparel
2148 Johnson Ferry Rd.
Atlanta, Ga. 30319
Phone 468-7759
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ONE PER
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Offer good thru May 15
Is open
for the Falasha Jews
Falasha Jews still live in isolation.
by Sybil Zimmerman
The Falasha Jews are entitled
to enter the State of Israel under
the Law of the Return, Minister
of the Interior, Shlomo Hillel,
reaffirmed last month.
One of Israel’s most basic
laws, and cherished principles,
'the Law of the Return
recognizes the right of every Jew
to return to the Holy Land from
which Jews were expelled by the
Romans.
Who are the Falasha Jews?
A group of Black Jews, living
mostly in the regions north of
Lake Tana in Ethiopia, they were
reached in 1870 by a French
scholar, Joseph Halevy, while
studying Amharic dialects there.
Isolation had led them to believe
they were the only Jews left in
the world.
Professor Halevy’s pupil,
Jacques Faitlovitch visited the
group in 1904 and so began a
world awakening to the
Falashas. (Falasha is actually a
Ge’ez word in the classical Ethio-
pian language, meaning
emigrant or wanderer, although
the Falashas call themselves
■Beit Israel, House of Israel.)
Professor Faitlovitch made
the Falashas his life cause by es
tablishing a teacher training
school in Addis Ababa as well as
pro-Falasha committees in
various world Jewish com
munities.
According to Falasha tradi
tion, they are descendants of
Jews brought by King Menelik I,
son of King Solomon and Queen
of Sheba to Ethiopia.
"Historically, We are not sure if
the Falashas are from Solomon
and Sheba,” says Professor
Aryeh Tartakower, the head of
the Falasha Relief Committee in
Israel,“but their history does go
back at least 1,000 years."
Whatever their origins it is
known that from the 13th cen
tury, they suffered wars,
massacres, slavery, land con
fiscation, forced conversions and
degradation, while clinging to
the Jewish religion based on a
literal interpretation of the Bi
ble.
Over the years, the number of
Falashas remaining in Ethiopia
has drastically dwindled. Half a
million lived there in the 16th
and 17th centuries; the most re
cent census shows there are
about 29,000 left, now on the
verge of extinction. The
Falashas are treated as second-
class citizens, very poor, living
on rented land and mainly
engaged in agriculture. They
also are involved in crafts such
as pottery, spinning, weaving,
basketry, gold and silver smith
work.
Since the 1960’s, the Israel
committee has organized various
relief activities in Ethiopia. An
Israeli doctor was sent there to
organize sanitary work, es
tablish a hospital and try to help
the people suffering from
trachoma and malaria. Eighteen
schools, giving both general and
Jewish education, were also es
tablished under the auspices of
the Jewish Agency.
In February 1973, Israel’s
Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Ovadia
Yosef, after careful research and
investigation, declared that the
Falashas were descendants of
the Tribe of Dan and were Jews.
(In the time of the Judges,
Israelite society' was a loose
association of tribes, held
together by a common religion
and common ancestry. Accor
ding to the Bible, the tribal
grouping originated with the
twelve sons of Jacob and the
tribe of Dan was one of these.)
Today, there are about 500
Falashas in Israel who live most
ly in the southern part of the
country, in the towns of Ashdod
and Ashkelon. They all speak
Hebrew fluently and are in
terested both in being together
and in remaining involved in
agricultural work.
The Jewish Agency over the
years has been involved in
attempts to bring Falashas to
Israel. After the Ethiopian
revolution, the new government
decided no one would be allowed
to leave — a measure not
directed against the Falashas
but against all persons living in
Ethiopia.
Since then, efforts continue to
persuade the Ethiopian govern
ment to allow Falashas to leave.
“If Jewish faith and God will
help us,” declares Professor Tar
takower, “we may be able to
bring the Falashas over. The
committee here is responsible
for them and will not tolerate
any discrimination against
them. They will be admitted like
all other Jewish immigrants.”
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