The story of the Ethiopian Jewish community, called Beta Israel, and their journey to the Holy Land is fascinating. The ancestry of this group is unclear; theories range that they descend from the lost tribe of Dan, which settled in Egypt during the period of the Divided Kingdom; from the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, though no mention of a marriage or sexual relations between them appears in the biblical text; from a community who settled in Egypt following the destruction of the First Temple; or from Ethiopian non-Jews who converted. Despite this uncertain lineage, the Beta Israel have been living in Ethiopia for centuries, unheard of in the outside world, and not knowing themselves that other Jewish communities existed.

A ninth century traveler, known as "Eldad HaDani," was one of the first documented Ethiopian Jews, describing the Beta Israel group in his writings and claiming they were descendants from Dan. A 16th century rabbi, Rabbi David ben Zimra, was the first rabbinical authority to rule this way as well.... Read more

Today, there are about 130,000 Ethiopians living in Israel, of which more than 38,000 are Israeli-born. In the following we shall briefly outline the origins of these communities, their journeys to Israel and their status within contemporary Israeli society.

Origin and History of the Beta Israel

A variety of narratives exists, which outlines the origin of the Beta Israel (Hebrew: "House of Israel"), the Jewish communities of Ethiopia. According to one version the Beta migrated to Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. The community remained in Egyptian exile until the defeat of Cleopatra by Augustus Caesar, which threatened the well being of the minority group and led them to the decision flee once again. On different routes, it is said, they migrated and ended up in today's Ethiopia.... Read more.

THE ETHIOPIAN JEWS: BACKGROUND

The Ethiopian Jews, men and women alike, were known as Falashas in Ethiopia, although in the last decade they have eschewed this appellation with its stigmatic connotation of “stranger”, implying low, outsider status. In Israel, they tend to be called Ethiopian Jews, whilst in Ethiopia they often referred to themselves—and are referred to in the academic literature—as Beta Israel (Weil, 1997a). The Beta Israel hail from villages in Gondar province, Woggera, the Simien mountains, Walkait and the Shire region of Tigray. They are divided into two distinct linguistic entities speaking Amharic and Tigrinya respectively.

The origins of this ethnic minority in Ethiopia are obscure. Almost all researchers, including those who maintain that the Ethiopian Jews did not exist in Ethiopia until the Middle Ages, at the earliest, admit that Jews have lived in Ethiopia from early times (Kaplan 1992). Some say that they are descended from the union of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba; other theories refer to them variously as descendants of Yemenite Jews, Agaus, Jews who went down to Egypt and wandered south, or even an outgrowth of Jews who inhabited the garrison at Elephantine (Kessler, 1982). Some academic research suggests that they formed as a group under the influence of Ethiopian Christian monasticism in the fourteenth century (Kaplan 1992; Shelemay, 1986)... Read more.