They Are Our Flesh and Blood

Meet Yeshaleka. He’s 15 years old. He and his family are part of the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia. They are the children and grandchildren of Jews who converted to Christianity during a period of severe famine and political hardship. They are waiting to make aliyah under the Law of Return and are studying basic Judaism in preparation for their homecoming. Currently about 70 people from the community are leaving Ethiopia for Israel each week. Yeshaleka’s brother already lives in Israel and Yeshaleka hopes to be reunited with him soon.

There are 22,000 Falash Mura in Ethiopia. Many of them left villages like this to go to Addis Ababa, where they wait for permission to leave. “It has been said by the prophets that we will go to Israel,” says Yeshaleka. “So we hope to soon join our relatives in Israel.”

The Falash Mura live in primitive shanties. The North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) has built compounds in Addis Ababa and Gondar to help ease the people’s suffering. NACOEJ provides food and a Jewish education to more than 17,000 people.

NACOEJ feeds thousands of school-aged children every day. “Often, there is no food at home,” Yeshaleka told us. “The only food we eat all day is what we get at the compound.” The meal in school consists of an egg, a carrot, a potato, a piece of fruit, some beans, and a slice of cheese.

This is Yeshaleka’s friend, Tesfahun. His family came to Addis Ababa four years ago hoping to make aliyah. “If it’s God’s will and I go to Israel,” he says, “I would like to get my education and become a doctor.” Tesfahun has two brothers and five sisters. Three of his sisters live in Israel.

Like all Falash Mura children in the compound, Tesfahun studies Hebrew and Jewish studies. “There was a school in my village that went up to fourth grade,” he explains. “But because my father was a farmer, I was only in the school for one and a half years.” Tesfahun has learned quickly and he is now the sh’liah tzibur (prayer leader) for the morning prayers.