Talk:Beta Israel

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Contents

[edit] Position in Israel

This article does not mention alleged discrimination faced by Beta Israel. Nor does it give any account to their integration into Israeli society or where siginificant commnities are. As far as I recall there are substantial communities in certain suburbs of Tel Aviv.

I am adding a section about the current situation of the Ethiopian Jews in Israel. I am still tweeking the section so be kind.--EhavEliyahu 16:42, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beta Israel speak Geez?

I thought they spoke a language called Geez?--Josiah 04:50, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Ge'ez is an archaic, ancient language, that is used as a holy language.Datepalm17 12:00, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Beta Israel? Why not Beit/Beyt (בית ישראל)? Also, here in Israel the "Falash Mura" are called "Flashmura" (פלאשמורה), I think. Dorfl 02:50, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

(Sorry about delayed reply:) “Beta Israel” (or “Beta Esrael”) because this is the name they identify under. “Bet Yisrael” is also a broader term applicable to just about any Jewish/Israelite group and therefore unusable as a specific term for this group. Also, the forms “Beit” and “Beyt” reflect a specific subset of European (mainly Ashkenazi) Jewish pronunciation which would be problematic even if this problem of ambiguity didn’t exist. -- Olve 21:57, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] DNA/genetic evidence?

How credible is the "DNA evidence" mentioned here? I've never heard a compelling case for a "Jewish gene," especially considering that many modern Jews are likely to be either the decendents of converts (such as the Khazars) or the product of centuries of occasional interbreeding with neighboring goyim. --Cholling 23:45, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The evidence is quite credible. A "Jewish gene" is not really a scientific concept, but the genetic relationships within and between different populations can be measured. Ashenazi Jews are closely related to Sephardi Jews, and both are closely related to other Middle Eastern populations (and not to European populations). Beta Israel are closely related to other Ethiopians, and not to any of the other groups. Here's a link to one study: [1]. Jayjg (talk) 23:59, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
In my opinion, really think it is not a good idea to use the word "gene" if you are not talking about scientific concept. Its also hard to get a definative result using the DNA for such a large group of people, but then again i may be seeing too many detective movies. Anyway, there is a story here of Israel doubling Falash Mura immigration. [2]
The question I have on the DNA testing done is in terms of whether the numbers of Ethiopian Jews, constitutes that the entirity of Ethiopian are devoid of the DNA markers found in the Sepharadi, Teimani, Ashkenazi, Lemba, Samaritan, etc. populations that were tested. I stress the last part, because some of the data I have seen seems to suggest that the people who were tested had the connection, but that some didn't. For example one report I read seemed, and I stress seemd, to suggest more Ashkenazi Levites, had similar DNA to non-Jewish Slavic people and that fewer Sepharadi Levites had similar DNA to the local population in their region. [3] None of the evidence I have seen so far suggest that all Sephardim, Mizrakhim, Teimainim, Ashkenazim, etc. are conclusively related by the DNA. Most of the information I have seen seems to be on-going in nature. [4]
What I mean is the following: most of the DNA research I have seen on the matter shows that 38, 19, etc. Ethiopian Jews were tested. We know that thousands of Ethiopian Jews, and non-Jews immagrated to Israel during Operation Moses and Operation Solomon. We also know that untold numbers of Ethiopian Jews died trying to make their way to Israel and the Sudan. That being said, it would seem that the data at this point points to a number of Ethiopian Jews having no genetic connection to the before listed Jewish communities. I.e. that the men tested do not descend from Ancient Israelites. According to one study I read there seems to have been a connection between certain Yemenite Jewish men that were tested and Ethiopians.[5] I state all this to wonder if the wording in this article should be worded to take this into account. The possibility could still remain that the majority of Ethiopian Jews descend from Gerim, which halakhically still makes them descendent of Jews since Gerim who go through a Beith Din are Jews, converted by a minority group of Jews from Yemen or Egypt. That is to say that there could still be a minority with similar Yemenite or Egyptian Jewish genes that simply haven't been tested. I think this is important to recognize or at least look into given that most of the interest in the Beta Israel has been to either disprove they are Jewish or to make them seem inferior to other Jewish communities. I am not saying that this is the case with this article in its current state, but I am wondering if there is a way to word it so that the facts as we currently have them can be more crystal. Regardless, if the Rabbinate recognizes them as Jews then they are Jews. Just some thoughts. I can come up with some wording later tonight and see if it is acceptable. --EhavEliyahu 21:22, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ancient Felasha?

Several seemingly trustworthy websites refer to "Felasha" in the tenth century, such as this one: "The Felasha (Jewish) queen Yodit, daughter of the quasi-legendary Gideon, led a destructive expedition against Axum around 980." Since the Falasha, according to this article, weren't even around in this period, is this just a blatant mistake on their part? - BanyanTree 17:26, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)

From the Ethiopians Gentiles' point of view, "falasha", as a Semitic word root, also means "intruder, foreigner" (פ-ל-ש) which is already close to the meaning of the name.--Bo Basil 12:46, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

There's plenty of legend around masquerading as history. Jayjg (talk) 18:32, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Gudit is a semi-legendary personage, whose facts are as mixed with legend as is the case with King Arthur. (Unlike the case with Arthur, we have a contemporary document that mentions her, so we can be assured she existed.) Experts are divided over whether she was Jewish, pagan, Agaw, or a queen of the Kingdom of Damot in the south of Ethiopia. But the reference to "Falasha" is anachronistic: I just found a passage today in my research that shows that "Falasha" was not used to refer to these Agaw Jews until the reign of Zara Yaqob. -- llywrch 21:51, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Rabbonim

There is no need to have a long list of Rabbonim who rule one way or another on this article. It suffices to list the most well known and respected posek ruling each way, and to state which view is held by the majority.--Josiah 19:03, Feb 7, 2005 (UTC)

Four of the most respected Rabbis of the late 20th century? I think each of their names should be included. There are many more who have ruled that way, I've restricted myself to just four. As it is, the claim "most" is unclear, unless you included some of the names. Jayjg (talk) 19:43, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Josiah, each one deserves to be mentioned. Off the top of my head I cannot state the fine details of each psak, but if one posek is mentioned, that does not mean others hold that way. The fact that Rav Waldenberg allows abortion of a known Tay-Sachs fetus does not mean this is followed in practice. Typically, the "majority view" is decided when several poskim arrive at the same conclusion, as has been mentioned on this page. This is more encyclopedic than "most poskim" (which is imprecise). JFW | T@lk 21:13, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

In fact, Rav Waldenberg used to be in my list, it was 5 poskim, but I took out one as a compromise. Should I put him back? Jayjg (talk) 21:28, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Yes. -- Olve 18:13, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article

An article highly relevant to this page is in Haartez at [6] and also in Forward at [7] (needs free registration). --Zero 02:59, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Population figures

For years I've been reading much higher figures than those listed in the article. I've changed the figures in accordance with this article, from http://www.shavei.org/ which, while the organization has a vested interested in this community (and others), is also in a pretty good position to have accurate figures. Tomer TALK 19:44, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ethiopian Judaism & Ewostatewos

Is the following an accurate paraphrase of Harold Marcus' POV?

Marcus pinpoints their origins to the persecutions of the sabbatarian movement of Abba Ewostatewos (c. 1273–1352), the remnants of which he believes grew into the Beta Israel of today.

I ask this because the followers of Ewostatewos (who did argue for the observance of a Sabbath on both Saturday & Sunday) were persecuted for a time, but eventually their beliefs were adopted by the Ethiopian Church at a synod in 1450, & are now accepted as mainstream within that belief. (References include Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527, and Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People.) I'd like to think that Marcus is being misunderstood, rather than that he betrayed such a major misunderstanding about the history of Ethiopia.

(FWIW, Paul Henze, in his Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia also accepts this hypothesis that the Beta Israel originated from an archaizing movement within Ethiopian Christianity, & refers to James Quirin's work.) -- llywrch 18:27, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

Update. I've found this assertion in Marcus' book (A History of Ethiopia [Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994], p. 23). I'll be gentle here, & state that his argument is based on an oversight in his research. The dates above for Ewostatewos' life are close to what Taddesse Tamrat provides in his book: the earliest mention of the Beta Israel I have found is in the Glorious Victories which reports events in the year 1332 (or 1329, if we follow G.W.B. Huntingford's arguments). For a professed Christian to embrace the Old Testament so violently that he inspires non-members to be even more radical than he (i.e., claim to be Jews) strains one's credulity; maybe if this had been a change that could be shown to have been simmering for a generation or so, this would be plausible.
Add to this chronological fact the following:
  • One of Ewostatewos' followers settled amongst this group with the intent of missionizing them;
  • Ewostatewos (who was a very controversial figure during his lifetime) was never accused of Judaizing the faith (which would have been a powerful tool to have refuted his followers);
  • Ewostatewos had little or nothing to do personally with the regions where the Jews are known in the 14th century to have lived;
and Marcus needs to develop a far more detailed argument than what he has written in his History to believe his argument.
This is not to say that this theory is untentable: only Marcus' specific argument is. As a result, I've replaced the text mentioning him with a quotation from Paul B. Henze, who puts forward a similar argument -- but IMHO better -- argument. -- llywrch 22:16, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origins of the Beta Israel

There is a serious problem with the interpretation of the Lucotte article and its import into the present context. Luccote performed Y chromosome analysis comparing ethiopian jews to non-jewish ethiopians. What this methodology fails to take into account is the traditions of the ethiopians themselves that holds that the entire population of northern ethiopia was jewish before the arival of christianinity. For a review of this issue see (http://www.13suns.com/EJUDAISM.HTM) The Beta Israel see themselves as the last remaining followers of an ancient faith. Thus any comparison between "jewish" ethiopians and "non-jewish" ethiopians has to be tempered by that fact. The non-jews are seen as ancient jews who adopted christianinity, and Islam. The fact is that the issue is confused by the uncertainties and misinterpretation involved. For example the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities are not isolates. They have had a very intense and continuous interaction with one another. The same goes for most other jewish communities that follow modern Rabbinical judaism. The reality is that any commonalties found among them might, probably did, arise post-exile. The fact the the Beta Israel do not have the exact same profile as Sephardi, Ahkenazi, or Cochin jews for that matters means nothing as there was significant gene flow between these communities even cotinuing to this day. Given the Beta Israel's isolation divergence should be expected. Most revealing in the Lucotte article is where he explains that An important point to consider is the result concerning haplotype VIll, the ancestral haplotype in Jews (Lucotte et al. 1996); this haplotype is present at a frequency of 23.1% in non-Falasha Ethiopians. In fact, the Jewish haplotypes VII and VIII occurred at similarly high frequencies in samples of Lebanese (Santachiara-Benerecetti et al. 1993) and Palestinians (Lucotte, unpublished data, 1997); so it seems more practical, as proposed by Spurdle and Jenkins (1996), to consider that elevated frequencies of these 2 haplotypes may represent most of the Semitic groups. (http://www.ethioguide.com/aa-ethioguide/ethioguide/News_Archive/1299/origin%20of%20falasha_jews122399.htm) It's not hard to realise that this data only supports the thesis that ealy on there was an influx of immigrants from the syria-palestine region to northern ethiopia bringing with them judaism. The day=ta finds that HVIII, known as the ancestral Jewish Haplotype is found at the level of 23% in "non-jewish ethiopians." This is as high as found among lebanese and palestinians. How could these high rates be explained? In the end the problem with the entire section on the analysis of genetics of the ethiopians jews is really one conceptual road block. The general perception of a jewish population is an that of isolated pockets of groups seperate from the major population. Such a picture fails in the enthiopian context, where the ancient kingdon in northern ethiopia experienced a large influx of jews, who left their cultural mark on the entire population in the region, and who progressively melded with the local population over a very long time period indeed (800BC). In the Kaplan book cited, he mentions that ethiopian priests claimed that half the population was of jewish extraction during the ancient period. He calls this an "exageration" yet how can we be sure. He also mentions a large number of hebrew and aramaic loan words in the Geez language. How can we explain this. The bible also indicates that "beyond the rivers of ethiopia" there were jews living in acient times. In short eveidence that jewish ethiopians look like, or are similar to non-jewish ethiopians, is not evidence of local origin for ethiopian jews at all. Not in any way shape or form! The only evidence would be that northern ethiopians in general do not show evidence of genetic imput from the near east. In fact the Luccote article shows just the opposite, with ethiopians shown to have the jewish haplotype at high rates indeed. In fact just as high as Lebanese and Palestinians who actually live in the area known to have been the center of ancient jewish kingdoms. In general I fault the entire article for not mentioning the theory, for which there is ample evidence, that the entire population of northern Ethiopia adopted the mosaic faith in ancient times prior to christianity. This is something looked at in the Kaplan book, and in others. Although conclusions might be drawn that the numbers of isrealites living in the area during ancient times was small while others might claim it was larger. Given the scant historical data, and often conflicted information this cannot be kown with certainty. What is known, and agreed to by most scholars is that it was there, i ancient times there was judaism in ethiopia. It had an effect on the ethiopiancoptic church in that this churc is closer to the kosaic faith than any other curch in the world. It is possible that these ancient jews just vanished, and then centuries latters a new, completely different group of jews calling themselves the Beta Israel emerged suddenly. Or it is possible that the Beta Israel are the only in northern ethiopia to remain faithful to the ancient ethiopian/hebrew tradition. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216979 (talk • contribs) 20:18, 1 October 2005.

From my understanding there is no evidence for any cultural continuity between those judaised groups in Ethiopia (lake Tana area) and the group that later emerged as the beita israel. In fact all the evidence is to the contrary since all the texts, liturgy etc of the beita israel appear to date no earlier than the 14th century and originate from the ethiopian church. It is also slightly after this that we first begin to hear the term 'Falasha' ( probably meaning 'without land'). This is not to say that the group emerged 'suddenly'. The Falasha probably do have origins from previous judaised groups, however not all these groups emerged as Falashas and not all Falashas emerged from these groups.
Perhaps there could be something about the biblical references to Beta Israel? Isaiah 11:11 was mentioned shortly, but Acts. 8:27 should be mentioned too. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.249.236.122 (talk • contribs) 00:37, 17 January 2006.

[edit] Beta Ysrael and Ethiopian History

The deletion from my sections on the "western discovery" od Beta Ysrael, and the role Beta Ysrael plaid in Ethiopian history, I feel considerably lessens the worth of this article.

The claims made about copywrite are not true. The article is based on a compilation of sources drawn from a number of scholarly works prepared for an article on Ancient Biblical History in 2004.

Regards

John D. Croft 22:20, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

I see wording basically equivalent to that of the Virtual Jewish Library (whose copywright status I do not know).
For instance, from [this section http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ejtime.html] of the VJL, I see these copywrite problems. Croft's writing italicized, the VJL's bolded.
1769 — Scottish explorer James Bruce awakens the western world to the existence of the Ethiopian Jews in his travels to discover the source of the Nile. He estimates the Jewish population at 100,000.
Daniel Ben Hamdya, an Ethiopian Jew, in 1855 independently traveled to Jerusalem to meet with rabbis
1855 — Daniel Ben Hamdya, an Ethiopian Jew, independently travels to Jerusalem to meet with rabbis.
followed in 1864 by Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, the Rabbi of Eisenstadt, Germany, publishing a manifesto in the Jewish press calling for the spiritual rescue of Ethiopian Jewry. Three years later Professor Joseph Halevy is the first European Jew to visit the Beta Yisrael, subsequently becoming an advocate for the community.
1864 — Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer, the Rabbi of Eisenstadt, Germany, publishes a manifesto in the Jewish press calling for the spiritual rescue of Ethiopian Jewry.
1867 — Professor Joseph Halevy is the first European Jew to visit the Beta Israel, subsequently becoming an advocate for the community. (the next sentence is downright wrong, claiming there are only 35,000 Beta Israel)
From [elsewhere http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ejhist.html] on the site:
Little additional contact was made with the community, but in 1935 their stability was greatly threatened as the Italian army marched into Ethiopia. Ethiopia's ruler, Emperor Haile Selassie fled his country and actually took refuge in Jerusalem for a short time. Selassie returned to power in 1941, but the situation for the Beta Israel improved little.
Little additional contact was made with the community, but in 1935 their stability was greatly threatened as the Italian army marched into Ethiopia. Ethiopia's ruler, Emperor Haile Selassie fled his country and actually took refuge in Jerusalem for a short time. Selassie returned to power in 1941, but the situation for the Beta Israel improved little.
In 1956, Ethiopia and Israel established consular relations, which were improved in 1961 when the two countries established full diplomatic ties. Positive relations between Israel and Ethiopia existed until 1973 when, in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Ethiopia (and 28 African nations) broke diplomatic relations with Israel under the threat of an Arab oil embargo.
In 1956, Ethiopia and Israel established consular relations, which were improved in 1961 when the two countries established full diplomatic ties. Positive relations between Israel and Ethiopia existed until 1973, when, in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Ethiopia (and 28 African nations) broke diplomatic relations with Israel under the threat of an Arab oil embargo.
Months later, Emperor Selassie's regime ended in a coup d'etat. Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, whose Marxist-Leninist dictatorship increased the threat to the Beta Israel, replaced Selassie. During the weeks surrounding Mariam's coup, an estimated 2,500 Jews were killed and 7,000 became homeless.
Months later, Emperor Selassie's regime ended in a coup d'etat. Selassie was replaced by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, whose Marxist-Leninist dictatorship increased the threat to the Beta Israel. During the weeks surrounding Mariam's coup, an estimated 2,500 Jews were killed and 7,000 became homeless.
Soon Mariam instituted a policy of "villagization": relocating millions of peasant farmers onto state-run cooperatives. This policy greatly harmed the Beta Israel by forcing them to "share" their villages (even though they were denied the right to own the land) with non-Jewish farmers, resulting in increased levels of anti-Semitism throughout the Gondar Province. According to the Ethiopian government, over 30% of the population had been moved from privately owned farms to cooperatives as of 1989.
Soon Mariam instituted a policy of “villagization,” relocating millions of peasant farmers onto state-run cooperatives which greatly harmed the Beta Israel by forcing them to “share” their villages—though they were denied the right to own the land—with non-Jewish farmers, resulting in increased levels of anti-Semitism throughout the Gondar Province. According to the Ethiopian government, over 30% of the population had been moved from privately owned farms to cooperatives as of 1989.
After taking office in 1977, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was eager to facilitate the rescue of Ethiopia's Jews, and so Israel entered into a period of selling arms to the Mariam government in hopes that Ethiopia would allow Jews to leave for Israel. In 1977, Begin asked President Mengistu to allow 200 Ethiopian Jews to leave for Israel aboard an Israeli military jet that had emptied its military cargo and was returning to Israel. Mariam agreed, and that may have been the precursor to the mass exodus of Operation Moses began.
After taking office in 1977, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was eager to facilitate the rescue of Ethiopia's Jews, and so Israel entered into a period of selling arms to the Mariam government in hopes that Ethiopia would allow Jews to leave for Israel. In 1977, Begin asked President Mengistu to allow 200 Ethiopian Jews to leave for Israel aboard an Israeli military jet that had emptied its military cargo and was returning to Israel. Mariam agreed, and that may have been the precursor to the mass exodus of Operation Moses began.
In the early 1980's, Ethiopia forbade the practice of Judaism and the teaching of Hebrew. Numerous members of the Beta Israel were imprisoned on fabricated charges of being "Zionist spies," and Jewish religious leaders, Kesim,(sing. Kes) were harassed and monitored by the government.
In the early 1980's, Ethiopia forbade the practice of Judaism and the teaching of Hebrew. Numerous members of the Beta Israel were imprisoned on fabricated charges of being “Zionist spies,” and Jewish religious leaders, Kesim,(sing. Kes) were harassed and monitored by the government.
The situation remained exceedingly bleak through the early 1980's. Forced conscription at age 12 took many Jewish boys away from their parents, some never to be heard from again. Additionally, with the constant threat of war, famine, and horrendous health conditions (Ethiopia has one of the world's worst infant mortality rates and doctor to patient ratios), the Beta Israel's position became more precarious as time progressed.
The situation remained exceedingly bleak through the early 1980's. Forced conscription at age 12 took many Jewish boys away from their parents, some never to be heard from again. Additionally, with the constant threat of war, famine, and horrendous health conditions (Ethiopia has one of the world's worst infant mortality rates and doctor to patient ratios), the Beta Israel's position became more precarious as time progressed.
The government began to slightly soften its treatment of the Jews, however, during the mid-1980's when terrible famines wreaked havoc on the economy. Ethiopia was forced to ask Western nations for famine relief, including the United States of America and Israel, allowing them both to exert a modicum of pressure for the release of the Beta Israel.
The government began to slightly soften its treatment of the Jews, however, during the mid-1980's when terrible famines wreaked havoc on the economy. Ethiopia was forced to ask Western nations for famine relief, including the United States of America and Israel, allowing them both to exert a modicum of pressure for the release of the Beta Israel.
Over 8,000 Beta Israel came to Israel between 1977 and 1984. But these efforts pale in comparison with the modern exodus that took place during 1984's Operation Moses.
Over 8,000 Beta Israel came to Israel between 1977 and 1984. But these efforts pale in comparison with the modern exodus that took place during 1984's Operation Moses.
There are 5 principle theories of their origins, not all of them mutually exclusive.
1) They may be descendants of Menelik I, son of King Solomon and Queen Sheba.
2) The Beita Yisrael may be the lost Israelite tribe of Dan.
3) They may be descendants of Ethiopian Christians and pagans who converted to Judaism centuries ago.
4) They may be descendants of Jews who fled Israel for Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and eventually settled in Ethiopia. (Number 5. is his own doing)
Because much of the Beta Israel's history is passed orally from generation to generation, we may never truly know their origins. Four main theories exist concerning the beginnings of the Beta Israel community:
1) The Beta Israel may be the lost Israelite tribe of Dan.
2) They may be descendants of Menelik I, son of King Solomon and Queen Sheba.
3) They may be descendants of Ethiopian Christians and pagans who converted to Judaism centuries ago.
4) They may be descendants of Jews who fled Israel for Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and eventually settled in Ethiopia.
(Excerpted from “Reunify Ethiopian Jewry,” World Union of Jewish Students)
Now here's some stuff from [this http://www.falasha-recordings.co.uk/teachings/ras.html] website (and many others, including The History Channel, with the exact same info and wording, with minor changes).
Some scholars place the date of their origin before the 2d century BC, largely because the Beita Yisrael are unfamiliar with either the Babylonian or Palestinian Talmud. The religion of the Beita Yisrael is a modified form of Mosaic Judaism unaffected generally by post-biblical developments. The Beita Yisrael retain animal sacrifice. They celebrate scriptural and nonscriptural feast days, although the latter are not the same as those celebrated by other Jews. One of the Falasha nonscriptural feast days, for example, is the Commemoration of Abraham. Their Sabbath regulations are stringent. They observe biblical dietary laws, but not the postbiblical rabbinic regulations concerning distinctions between meat and dairy foods. Marriage outside the religious community is forbidden. Monogamy is practiced, marriage at a very early age is rare, and high moral standards are maintained.
The center of Beita Yisrael religious life is the masjid, or synagogue. The chief functionary in each village is the high priest, who is assisted by lower priests. Falasha monks live alone or in monasteries, isolated from other Beita Yisrael . Rabbis do not exist among the Beita Yisrael.
Falashas, native Jewish sect of Ethiopia.The origin of the Falashas is unknown. One Falasha tradition claims to trace their ancestry to Menelik, son of King Solomon of Israel and the queen of Sheba. Some scholars place the date of their origin before the 2d century bc, largely because the Falashas are unfamiliar with either the Babylonian or Palestinian Talmud. The Bible of the Falashas is written in an archaic Semitic dialect, known as Gecez, and the Hebrew Scriptures are unknown to them. The name Falasha is Amharic for "exiles" or "landless ones"; the Falashas themselves refer to their sect as Beta Esrael ("House of Israel").
The religion of the Falashas is a modified form of Mosaic Judaism unaffected generally by postbiblical developments. The Falashas retain animal sacrifice. They celebrate scriptural and nonscriptural feast days, although the latter are not the same as those celebrated by other Jewish groups. One of the Falasha nonscriptural feast days, for example, is the Commemoration of Abraham. The Sabbath regulations of the Falashas are stringent. They observe biblical dietary laws, but not the postbiblical rabbinic regulations concerning distinctions between meat and dairy foods. Marriage outside the religious community is forbidden. Monogamy is practiced, marriage at a very early age is rare, and high moral standards are maintained.
The center of Falasha religious life is the masjid, or synagogue. The chief functionary in each village is the high priest, who is assisted by lower priests. Falasha monks live alone or in monasteries, isolated from other Falashas. Rabbis do not exist among the Falashas.
From a ton of sites, again:
Other Researchers think some of the defeated Yemenite Jews from the Abu Duwas Jewish Kingdom came to Ethiopia.


The following is taken from [here http://wwwa.britannica.com/eb/article-9033614], the Encyclopedia Britannica.
From 1980 to 1992 some 45,000 Falasha fled drought- and war-stricken Ethiopia and emigrated to Israel. The number of Falasha remaining in Ethiopia was uncertain, but estimates ranged to only a few thousand. The ongoing absorption of the Falasha community into Israeli society was a source of controversy and ethnic tension in subsequent years.


I don't have time to find copywrites for the rest of the material, but you can see that much, if not most of it is word for word for other (copywrited) texts.

[edit] Get rid of the DNA material

There is too much material on DNA here. First of all, it isn't important. DNA does not determine whether or not somebody is Jewish. Would an encyclopedia entry on the Irish be devoted to analyzing their Y-Chromosomes and mitochodria, to determine the relative importance of their Norse, Pict, and Celtic bloodlines?

I am very interested in this kind of study, but there is too much of this material on this island. Can we move this DNA material to another page? How about a separate page on Ethiopian Jewish genetic studies, referenced from here?

Many of the people who are devotees of these genetic and quasi-racial studies don't realize how preliminary and sketchy the work they admire is. Responsible human geneticists understand that studies with 38 or 11 individuals who are not randomly selected cannot be interpreted so strongly. However, the average user of this encyclopedia does not know that.

Haplotype analysis, the basis of such ethnic studies, is a cummulative body of knowledge. It depends on identification of sufficient genetic markers to organize individuals into an inverted tree. With such a tiny sample, how did they even know what genetic markers to test for? In these studies, there was insufficient data to create such a tree. A study based on such a tiny number of individuals, either in the Ethiopian Jewish population or in other populations to which they are being compared, is very preliminary. Not until much more data is known can we make such inferences. The comparable studies done with Ashkenazi Jews look at hundreds of individuals, and yet they still have not identified many of the haplotypes.

I have some pictures of Ethiopian Jews in Israel to share here, but there is no place to put them here right now. The Ethiopian Jews are not frozen in time. This article needs material about the modern Ethiopian community in Israel, and the issues that have arisen as they have adjusted to living in a modern, western society? In Israel, young Ethiopian Jews have now grown up speaking Hebrew, and some have graduated from universities and earned advanced degrees. --Metzenberg 11:09, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

DNA information is important in this article for the simple reason that some people felt that this group of Ethiopians were in fact not a lost jewish tribe, but were just trying to get into Israel by pretending to be jews. Remember, unlike being a christian or muslim, one can't just make the claim that one is now of the jewish faith by just saying so (or with a fairly simple baptism type ceremony). So if the Falashah's claim to be jewish wasn't true, what would be their reason for emigrating? DNA is at least one possible way of determining the truths of their story. I'm not opining here, just stating why I think this section of the article is important.Odysseybookshop 17:41, 28 June 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Somewhat insulting

Much of this article seems to push an anti-Beta Israel view. Some specific problems I have are with the Rabbinical views (no Rabbis since the Radbaz are shown supporting the fact that Beta Israel are Jews and yet further up it is indicated that Ovadia Yosef acknowledged there Jewishness. Can he be the only Rabbi with this position? Also, all the Rabbis quoted are ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazis. I'm no expert on halakhic authorities, but wouldn't it be better to have a wider range of Rabbis with a wider range of positions?) Also, I don't see the usefulness of the comparisons in the Henze quotation. Both those examples stayed quite definitely Christian and would never be mistaken for non-Christians. Typically, Christian groups that absorbed enough Jewish elements to be confused with Judaism haven't lasted long (the only other example I can think of is the Skhariya example, and I don't think that lasted more than 30 years.) If, as this article seems to state the Beta Israel stem from rebellious Christians, shouldn't it be explained why they lasted longer than any other such group? Also why is the possibility of Judaism in pre-Christian Ethiopia rejected despite the fact that the Tewahedo Church follows many more seemingly Jewish laws than other well-established Christian group (and how can such conclusions be reached when the historical record of Ethiopia before 1300 is has gaps)? I know it is hard to get answers to these questions (I hope I have time to research some of them this month), but I think it would make a more balanced article. As it is, it is incomprehensible that attacks on the Judaism of the Beta Israel should take up so much of the article, when articles on some groups of Indian Jews whose claim to Judaism is more tenuous have much less space devoted to such attacks.--Lastexpofan 08:59, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Expo Fan. I couldn't agree more. Sephardic rabbinical authorities have been more supportive of the Ethiopian Jews and Beta Israel, perhaps because they knew that the Ethiopian Jews would be likely to reward them with political support in the long run once they all became Israeli voters. All of which illustrates how so-called rabbinical and religious opinion is sometimes merely political posturing. --Metzenberg 12:55, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

There's one sentence on Rabbis who suspect their Jewishness, vs. an entire section on the supporting view. I hardly think that's unbalanced. The Ovadia Yosef reference used to be in there, but it was deleted by an anonymous IP editor. I've restored it. As for the rest, Wikipedia quotes reliable sources on subjects, we don't do our own original research. Jayjg (talk) 21:49, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
What I intend to do is not what is described in the original research article. I read a recent book on the subject that has a different POV from much of the article. I just don't feel like citing it without checking its sources, since some of it was a bit shaky, so therefore I need time to research, especially since there aren't a whole lot of readily accessible Ethiopian history books.--Lastexpofan 07:13, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
Maybe the best way to please all sides in this is to provide more information about the traditions and history of the Beta Israel from their own sources and perspectives. I do agree that this article seems to be bogged down with information trying to prove or disprove the Jewishness of the Beta Israel. One way to balence this is to simply add more information about their community structure and religious life when they were Ethiopia and now that they are in Israel. --EhavEliyahu 15:27, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
Agreed. Encyclopedic coverage of the community can discuss the views of various authorities, but the article should, in the main, discuss the community itself, not outside views regarding the legitimacy of its claims to Jewishness. Tomertalk 04:31, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
I think some of the information I have added in the Religous practices and Ethiopian Jews in Israel today should now satify those who feel to much of the article was about their origins. I will look for some more info about the current situation in Israel.--EhavEliyahu 21:41, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

I just did a major rewrite of the history section involving a lot of trimming but also addition of information. The anon who added the information is clearly relatively well-versed in Beta Israel history, but also a bit confused. The Zagwe dynasty for instance was certainly Christian, for instance. The Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are a clear testament to that, especially Beta Giyorgis (not to mention that basically all of the rulers are celebrated as Saints and Priest-Kings by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church). I also removed a lot of dubious information regarding early origins. It's generally believed now that Judaism didn't exist in Ethiopia until Medieval times (certainly by the 13th/14th century, possibly in early medieval times as well). Jacqueline Pirenne's views (certainly not the foremost scholar on the Sabaeans) on the possibility of ancient migrations of Jews involving Saba' are unlikely and generally not accepted, especially considering that Epigraphic South Arabian is a descendent of Proto-Sinaitic but not Proto-Canaanite or Phoenician like Hebrew. I left some of the theories that sounded more plausible that I didn't know much about wrt their veracity, but added citation tags. I also very much doubt the accuracy of "one million" Jews in Ethiopia in the 17th century. Though certainly present in full-force in Gonder, the capital (itself the 2nd largest city in the world at the time) and surrounding areas, the majority of Ethiopia wasn't home to many Beta Israel, and the population of Ethiopia at the time would have probably been less than 10 million, making the 1 million figure a bit suspect. I would also like to caution against the use of "Jewish," as a general term for the Beta Israel, as there are other Agew groups that have Jewish traditions. I'll be adding more on later history tomorrow. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 08:44, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I am the "anon" contributor whose comments were so tendentiously edited out or recast by the above "editor." Much of what he/she says seems to present a pretty strong POV. In effect, any other point of view is rubbished, either removed from the site or rephrased in such a way as to nullify it. The editing is consistent. For example, I wrote in my contribution the following: "According to probably the leading scholar on the Sabeans, Jacqueline Pirenne, the spread of Sabeans across the Red Sea to Ethiopia began in the 8th or 7th centuries BCE when considerable numbers of Sabeans crossed over to Ethiopia to escape the Assyrians who had already devastated the kingdoms of Israel and Judea, and were extending their raids further south. Jacqueline Pirenne summarizes 30 years of research (cf. Munro-Hay, Aksum, 65) into the Sabeans by adding that a second major wave of Sabeans crossed over in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE to escape Nebuchadnezzar; this wave included Jews fleeing from the Babylonian takeover of Judah too. These Jews and pagans constituted a kind of aristocracy ruling the kingdom of Da’amat in the Tigray area of Ethiopia ( in the northwest near the Red Sea), with their capital at Aksum. She also suggests that some or almost all of these Sabeans and Jews returned to southern Arabia in the succeeding centuries, leaving elements of their civilization firmly imbedded in Ethiopia and maintained by native Ethiopians. This Aksumite culture established itself as the “high culture” of Ethiopia, with a written literature and trade and cultural contacts with the wider world, creating stone buildings, palaces and temples, making it admired by and quite superior to the mostly illiterate pagan tribal cultures around it who had only wood and thatch buildings. These cultural contacts brought constantly renewed encounter with Jews elsewhere in Judah and north and south Arabia, and the literacy and literature of the Jews ended up permeating and changing Sabean and Aksumite cultures and peoples. We have to do with a gradual but effective and widespread conversion of the local peoples to Judaism, around perhaps a core of Jews from abroad. In this way, says Pirenne, we can understand the Jewish influence on Ethiopian culture, and the persistence of the Black Jews in Ethiopia."
Most of this contribution has been eliminated, and the editor declares ex cathedra that Pirenne is not such an authority on the Aksumite and Sabean cultures as claimed. However, I am not the source of that claim; I merely reproduce what Munro-Hay himself says on this. What this really means is that our editor is of the coterie of revisionist scholars centering at Hebrew University, which has entirely bought into the Quirin thesis about Beta Israel history and origins. No other respectable historical viewpoint therefore can be recognized. This is not the sort of scholarly neutrality we expect from encyclopedia articles, and does not follow Wikipedia guidelines. Pirenne and Munro-Hay and the many other scholars taking a more positive view of the depth and antiquity of Judaism in Ethiopia should be given a respectful hearing. They are not a small weird group of dissenters. Actually, it is the other way around; the Quirin-Kaplan group are the dissenters, who wish to take over the entire discourse by a forced reading of the whole of Beta Israel history.
Pirenne was not at all the leading scholar on Sabaeans and Ethiopia. There are a number of leading scholars (Anfray, AJ Drewes, Fattovich, Schneider, etc.), but Pirenne's theory is not at all widespread. It was first proposed in the 1970s I believe, and hasn't gained much support since then. There's absolutely no evidence of Jewish traits in the Kingdom of D`mt, though there are some gods from the Sabaean pantheon worshipped. Current dating, moreover, no longer fits with Pirenne's dating. Whereas she would have the first Sabaeans in Yemen beginning around the 6th and 5th century BC, the earliest inscriptions in Yemen are from the 8th century BC (Norbert Nebes, "Epigraphic South Arabian" in von Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. Encylopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. Weissbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG, 2005 p.333). The first in Ethiopia are from the 9th century BC, so a migration from Assyria to Ethiopia wouldn't work since the first deportation of Jews was under Tiglath-Pileser III, who ruled in the second half of the 8th century BC. It also doesn't fit with the fact that the Jews were using an alphabet completely different from South Semitic scripts. Moreover, that there were only "wood and thatched buildings" before D`mt is not at all correct. I direct you to Fattovich's "The development of urbanism in the northern Horn of Africa in ancient and medieval times," which identifies a number of preceding urban complex cultures in the region. Note that Munro-Hay is not an authority on the Beta Israel by any means. His book on Aksum is certainly a masterpiece, but the reviews I've read of his work usually point out the unlikelyness of Pirenne's theories. Furthermore, I am not of the "coterie of revisionist scholars centering at Hebrew University" as you assume, just an informed Ethiopian. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 05:41, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
For example, another section of my contribution that was simply eliminated related to the Ethiopian Christian persecution of Beta Israel down through the ages. It is a part of the Catholic scholar Quirin's case that Jews were not significantly persecuted by the mostly benevolent Ethiopian Christians, and there was nothing like the antisemitism or Judeophobia characteristic of other lands. So the following comment by me was just wiped from the article: "Some of the worst massacres, attacks and forced conversions of the Christian kingdom occurred in the 1400s, for example, under the King Yacob Zara. (He even added the title “Exterminator of the Jews” to his name, and his subjects were required to tie a strip of parchment to their foreheads bearning an inscription expressing their commitment to the Christian faith.)"
That section was never removed. I couldn't find a source for "King Yacob Zara [sic]" ever claiming that title, nor for the "worst massacres, attacks and forced conversions...occurr[ing] in the 1400s," so I put a citation needed tag on it. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 05:41, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Another portion of the original contribution related to the Jewishness of the Zagwe dynasty. However, our editor assures us that this dynasty was not Jewish at all, and I am just "confused" about it. In that case, so were both Christian and Muslim testimonies of the Middle Ages. Naturally, it has always been in the Christian interest to devalue or dismiss any deep Jewish claim to Ethiopian antiquity. Quirin certainly shows this. Our editor says that a proof of Christian Zagwe rule is the excavated church ruins from that period. But he/she ignores that I did not deny the existence and even flourishing of Christianity during the Zagwe dynasty, since it appears that this Jewish dynasty was quite tolerant not only of Christianity but also of paganism. The founding queen was called Gudit, Judit, and even Esato (Esther), according to the Kebra Negast. These are all clearly Jewish names. However, it is not entirely clear from the Christian chronicles whether she actually was Jewish or pagan (naturally they would try to discredit her Biblical legitimacy, as they would all Jewish resistance), and later scholars have interpreted her in both ways. The names would certainly seem to be Jewish and even to underline her Jewishness. Nevertheless, a decisive proof of her Jewishness, in my view, is the fact that the Zagwe dynasty that stemmed from her kin legitimated itself, and sought to better the claims of Aksumite kings, by claiming to be descended directly from Moses and his Ethiopian wife, even according to the Kebra Negast itself. This geneaological claim indicates her Jewishness. It cannot be mere coincidence that this claim is the same as that we hear from Eldad the Danite in the 9th century, before she existed, and from Beta Israel of more recent date, long after she and her Jewish dynasty have disappeared. Arab historians explicitly affirm that she was a Jewish queen. It is hard to know how much more evidence one needs that she was. Of course, there are modern scholars that still reject these attributions and insist that she was an anti-Christian pagan, or even “Jewish/pagan,” whatever that means (cf. Munro-Hay, Aksum, p. 15; Ullendorf, History of Ethiopia, 61), simply because of the vagueness of the Christian royal chronicles, the Kebra Negast. It is quite possible that some of these sceptical scholars are inclined by their Catholicism (in the case of Jean Doresse and Quirin) or other motives. Tradition says that 11 rulers of the Zagwe dynasty followed after Judith, in the course of some 330 years. According to traditions reported both by Arabs and by early modern European travellors in Ethiopia (e.g., James Bruce, in his 1773 account) some of these rulers were Jews, some were pagans and some were Christian, so the Zagwe dynasty inaugurated by Queen Judith was remarkably tolerant and ecumenical, fitting the Jewish Biblical view that non-Jews can know God too. By the way, Manuel de Almeida wrote in the 1640s regarding this, "There were Jews in Ethiopia from the first. Some of them were converted to the law of Christ Our Lord; others persisted in their blindness and formerly possessed many wide territories, almost the whole Kingdom of Dambea and the provinces of Ogara and Seman. This was when the [Christian] empire was much larger, but since the [pagan and Muslim] Gallas have been pressing in upon them [from the east and south], the Emperors have pressed in upon them [i.e., the Jews to the west?] much more and took Dambea and Ogara from them by force of arms many years ago." In regard to the downfall of the Zagwe dynasty, which I repeat was by all indications a chiefly Jewish dynasty, at least in origin, Christians bitter at the shared rule with infidels nursed dreams of revenge, which were fulfilled when in 1270 the “true Solomonic rule” was “restored” by King Yekuno Amlak. Again according to Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (1991), however, King Amlak was actually a warlord who could not have been of the direct line of the old Aksumite kings. One further point. I recall when doing research on these questions some twenty years ago at the Truman Center at Hebrew University that I read a scholarly article (no longer remember the author or journal; could have been Pe'amim) on the names of the Zagwe rulers, which argued that these names showed a regular pattern of Jewish, Christian and pagan kings sharing the rule between them. The Zagwe dynasty was truly extraordinarily tolerant, entirely unlike the "Solomonic dynasty" that followed it, and which was dedicated from the start to wiping out Jewish sovereignty and power, and giving no quarter to paganism.
What "Christian and Muslim testimonies of the Middle Ages" are you referring to that claim the Jewishness of the Zagwe dynasty? There are no such testimonies as far as I am aware. I have no reason to deny any Jewishness of Ethiopia in antiquity; indeed, I used to think it true before I knew much about the matter, but the evidence simply doesn't support such a view. Note that the "excavated church ruins [sic]" (the churches were not excavated, they have been in continuous use and are not at all ruins) are not the only thing that supports the view that the Zagwe were Christian. Most of the kings are worshipped as Saints in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and no sources of the medieval period call the Zagwe Jews. Not being "Israelites" is not the same thing as being Jews. Note that "Gudit" is not a Jewish name, but from an Ethio-Semitic word gud meaning "freak, monster, strange, wonderful" and the name is a "symbolic term connoting masculine powers as well as unsual characteristics (according to Taddesse Tamrat, cited - Knud Tage Andersen, "The Queen of Habasha in Ethiopian History, Tradition and Chronology," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 63, No. 1 (2000), p.20.). Note also that "Esato" (better transliterated "Isato") is not the name "Esther" (that is "Aster," a common name in Ethiopia for Christians, I'm not sure as to its popularity among the Beta Israel), but rather connected to the Ethiosemitic word "Isat," meaning "fire," and is connected to the tradition that she burned down Aksum and Aksum Tsiyon. "Yodit" does mean "Judith," but it's a name used for Christians in Ethiopia as well, so characterizing her name as "Jewish" is not accurate. A Zagwe claim from Moses makes them no more Jewish than does "Solomonic" Emperors' claims of descent from the Jewish King Solomon. The religion of Gudit is uncertain. Tradition credits her as being Jewish, the account of the interaction of the Church with its counterpart in Egypt indicates that she may have been pagan, but that section is possibly a later addition, and it's even possible that she was originally seen as a legitimate inheritor of the ruling Aksumite dynasty, as Anbessa Widim, a late Aksumite King remembered as such, was ruling ca. 1125-50 (from a contemporary note in a colophon of a Bible by the Patriarch of the time in Ethiopia), yet by this time the Zagwe dynasty must have already been established. I'm not well-versed in Eldad Ha-Dani's claims, but apparently (according to Steve Kaplan, whom you of course dismiss, seemingly categorically) his works don't show much knowledge of the area (Ethiopia) from which he purported to have come, and his writing shows absolutely no Ethio-Semitic or Cushitic influence (see also Ullendorf-Beckingham 1982; Morag 1997). What traditions by Arabs are you speaking of that say that some Zagwe were Jewish, and to what era do they date. Can you give me a page number or chapter for Bruce's claim? I've never heard such a claim, but such a late tradition conflicts with earlier, more contemporary data on the dynasty and is more useful in analyzing Ethiopian perceptions of Kings and dynasties than reconstructing Zagwe history. It's obvious that the Solomonic dynasty probably wasn't at all an accurate designation (but not necessarily that they were related to the Aksumite dynasty), and the existence of Jewish communities in Wogera/Wegera, Semien, and Dembiya isn't at all in doubt. What would be defined as a "Jewish name," Tim Tam? The longer list of eleven rulers are as follows: Mara Takla Haymanot, Tatadim, Jan Siyum, Germa Siyum, Yemrehana Krestos, Qiddus Harbe/Harbay, Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, Na'akweto La'ab, and Yetbarak. All of these names are either Cushitic or Ethiopian Semitic in origin — i.e., there are no biblical names among them. It's true, however, that much of the Christianization and expansion of Monastic communities occured during the early Solomonic dynasty (esp. under Amde Tsiyon, e.g.).
One portion after another of my contribution, however, wherever it seemed to indicate justification for a perspective other than the Quirin-Kaplan one, was simply eliminated from the article. I again register my complaint at this high-handed procedure. As other contributors to this discussion page have said over the years, an anti-Beta Israel agenda seems to be guiding the editors of this article. But I am too busy to pursue the matter further. I am quite confident that as a new generation of Beta Israel in Israel itself matures and enters the scholarly study of their own history, the rather blatant and strange partisanship presently dominating the Hebrew University account of Ethiopian Jewry will be overthrown and the revisionism, stemming in the first instance from Christian apologetics, and no doubt furthered by the rather far-left Peace Now ideology I noticed dominating the Truman Institute itself and its regular cultural events and presentations, will be discarded. Let me add that I have no doubt at all of the sincere good will and the scholarly standing of Kaplan and the others of his coterie at Hebrew University. I am sure that they believe themselves right. But they do need to give a little more space to other views. Those other views do exist in the scholarly world, are of serious weight and authority, and should not just be dismissed out of hand. Tim Tam 02:13, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
I have no anti-Beta Israel agenda, and I do not see why having an indigenous origin as opposed to being foreigners mixed with the local population can be construed as such. As you can see above, there are legitimate problems with your view. I may have mentioned this earlier, but, as one example, Gudi/Yodit/Isato was never referred to by contemporary accounts as being Jewish. Ibn Hawqal's reference to her, and the (probably later addition) mention in the History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church do not refer to her as Jewish (Ibn Hawqal calls her the "Queen of the Habasha"), though there is no conclusive evidence either way. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 05:41, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Assessment Criteria for Ethnic Groups articles

Hello,

WikiProject Ethnic groups has added new assessment criteria for Ethnic Groups articles.

I rated the Beta Israel article: B-Class, with the following comments (see link to ratings summary page in the Ethnic groups template atop this talk page):

  • Extremely thorough coverage of topic.
  • The History section is unusually long. It would probably be beneficial to break this into subtopics, to aid reader comprehension.
  • A very good start on using inline links, Harvard referencing or Cite.php footnotes. However, long stretches of text are not cited. This is a meaningful flaw.

You can give this article (and any other article within the WikiProject) a rating, as described below.

-->How to assess articles

Revisions of assessment ratings can be made by assigning an appropriate value via the class parameter in the WikiProject Ethnic groups project banner {{Ethnic groups}} that is currently placed at the top of Ethnic groups articles' talk pages. Quality assessment guidelines are at the Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team's assessment system page. After rating the article, please provide a short summary to explain your ratings and/or identify the strengths and weaknesses. To add the summary, please edit this article's ratings summary page. A link to this page can be found in the {{Ethnic groups}} template on the article's talk page.

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Thanks!
-- --Ling.Nut 04:19, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is it undisputed that Falasha are Jews ?

It is stated in the first sentence that the Falasha "are Jews of Ethiopian origin". The Israeli regime and orthodox Jews and Zionists may believe this, but what about the other 99.9% of the world? It seems that 0.1% rules Wikipedia. The Falasha do not have language or culture or religion in common with Jews (but Jews do not have language or culture or religion in common with each other). So why are they "Jewish"? Except for their racial heritage, which some advocates of their "Jewishness" deny is a factor.

To answer your question. The Beta Israel are recognized as Jews by themselves and also by a majority of the other Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The issue that they had faced was in terms of their differences in certain legal matters as it pertained to marriages and divorce law. The questions about their heritage mainly began because of the fact that they did not have extensive direct contact with other Jewish communities until about the 1400's CE. Essentially, because there is documentation of them practicing Judaism for more than 600 years as a group they are accepted as Jews. The issues that you see are mainly about their origin prior to that 600 year period. This debate falls into the following categories.
  • The Ethiopian Jews descend from the tribe of Dan, and came to Ethiopia during the 1st Commonwealth of Israel.
  • The Ethiopian Jews are descendents of Habbani Jews (Southern Yemen) who came to the region and married into or converted members of the local population.
  • The Ethiopian Jews are descendents of Christians who took on a more Judaic perspective either through direct or indirect contact with Jews of Southern Egypt or Yemen.

Most of the debates about their pre-600 history revolve around the above points. So they are accepted as being Jewish due to their known and documented history of practicing Judaism. They are recognized by Sephardic sources due to the word of Sephardic rabbis going back to the 1400's. They are recognized by most Ashknenazi authories based on the ruling of the Cheif Ashkenazi Rabbis. Yet, because of the issues as they pertain to differences in areas of Jewish law like divorce. There are a number of Ethiopian Jews who had to under a "Symbollic Conversion" in order for them to not be seperated from other Jewish communities. This is a bit of an over simplication of the issues, but the article has to cover all these issues.--EhavEliyahu 17:18, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

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