List of Israeli Ethiopian Jews

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This is a list of notable Israeli Ethiopian Jews, including both original immigrants who obtained Israeli citizenship and their Israeli descendants.

Although traditionally the term "Ethiopian Jews" was used as an all encompassing term referring to the Jews descended from the Jewish communities of Ethiopia, due to the melting pot affect of the Israeli society, the term "Ethiopian Jews" gradually becomes more vague as many of the Israeli descendants of the Beta Israel immigrants gradually adopt the characteristics of the Israeli culture and as more decedents intermarry with descendants of other Jewish communities.

The list is ordered by category of human endeavor. Persons with significant contributions in two fields are listed in both of the pertinent categories, to facilitate easy lookup.

Contents 1 Religious figures 1.1 Kessim 1.2 Rabbis 2 Athletes 2.1 Association Football 3 Knesset Members 4 Activists 5 Military officers 6 Cultural figures 6.1 Actors 6.2 Musicians 6.3 Authors and writers 6.4 Journalism 6.5 Fashion models 7 Other notables 8 See also 9 References

Religious figures

Kessim

• Kes Raphael Hadane - the Liqa Kahnat (High priest) of Beta Israel. Born in Seqelt and studied with the Qessim as a child. During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, he had moved to Ambober where he worked as a farmer. He studied Hebrew briefly in 1955 when an Israeli rabbi taught in Asmara. In 1985 Qes Adana immigrated to Israel along with his wife and eleven children.^[1]
• Kes Menashe Zemro (1905-1998). ^[2]

Rabbis

• Rabbi Yosef Hadane - the Ethiopian Chief Rabbi.^[3]
• Rabbi Sharon Shalom - a lecturer in Jewish ritual and tradition at Bar Ilan University in Israel. Is the rabbi of Ashkenazi synagogue in the town of Kiryat Gat.^[4]
• Rabbi Yefet Alemu (b. 1961) - In 1980, he left his small village in Ethiopia to go to Israel. He was arrested in Addis Ababa and escaped from prison. He arrived in the Gondar region and then set out walking to Sudan. There he met a Jewish Red Cross director who arranged for him to fly on one of the Israeli-organized secret flights to Israel. In Israel he studied and became a nurse. While continuing to be a believing Jew, Yefet became disillusioned with organized Judaism and the Israeli religious establishment's insistence on a conversion ceremony for all Ethiopian Jews. Yefet helped organize an Ethiopian protest vigil opposite the Chief Rabbinate building in Jerusalem. At the vigil, he met students from the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies who were studying to be Conservative rabbis. He was confused and surprised to see that they were without beards and without long black coats. The students replied that there was more than one type of rabbi, more than one way of being Jewish. Yefet excitedly embraced this pluralistic approach to Judaism. He was accepted by the Schechter Institute and after 6 years of hard work, he received a BA, MA, and his rabbinical ordination.^[5]

Athletes

• Seteng Ayele (born April 11, 1955) - marathon runner.
• Asaf Bimro (born January 1, 1969) - marathon runner.
• Asher Iyasu - golfer.
• Zohar Zemiro (born 1977) - marathon runner
• Wodage Zvadya - (born September 7, 1973) - marathon runner.

Association Football

• Shai Biruk (born February 15, 1984) - soccer player.
• Ziv Caveda (born December 10, 1978) - soccer player.
• The brothers Baruch (born March 26, 1981) and Messay Dego (born February 15, 1986) - both are Israeli soccer player.
• Amiya Taga (born February 1, 1985) - soccer player.
• Yehiel Tzagai (born January 27, 1983) - soccer player.
• Kfir Zokol (born July 31, 1982) - soccer player.

Knesset Members

• Adisu Massala (born 16 June 1961) – an Israeli politician of the Labour party and later One Nation. Massala was the first Ethiopian-Israeli to serve in the Knesset.
• Shlomo Molla (born 21 November 1965) – an Israeli politician of the Kadima party.
• Mazor Bahaina (born 12 September 1973) – rabbi from Beersheba and member of the Shas party, studied at Yeshivat Porat Yosef, one of the most prestigious Sephardi yeshivot in Israel. He did not win a seat in the Knesset, yet entered when a colleague resigned.

Activists

• Taamrat Emmanuel (1888-1963) - intellectual. ^[6]
• Yona Bogale (1908–1987) - on of the leaders of the Beta Israel community in Israel. In the 1920s, Yona Bogale was sponsored by Jacques Faitlovitch to study abroad. He spent two years in British Mandate Palestine, four in Germany, one in Switzerland, and one in France. After returning to Addis Ababa around 1930, he taught in the Faitlovitch school there. During the Italian occupation, he went into hiding and worked as a farmer in Wolleka. After the war Yona Bogale worked for the Ethiopian Ministry of Education for twelve years and then for the Jewish Agency. Yona Bogale was fluent in Hebrew, English, and German, as well as Amharic. He was author of an early Hebrew-Amharic dictionary. He left Ethiopia in late 1979 and immigrated to Israel. Yona was an early proponent of Ethiopian Jews' praying in Hebrew instead of Ge'ez. He believed the latter language was no longer appropriate for those seeking to be part of the modern Jewish world. He felt that Ethiopian Jews should set Hebrew prayers to the traditional Jewish melodies.^[7]
• Fareda Aklum (1949-2009) - an Aliyah activist.
• Baruch Tegegne - a prodigy of Bogale, was a leader in protests on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Avraham Negussie - one of Israel's most prominent Ethiopian Activists and a member of the South Wing to Zion. His struggle, with the support of many other Ethiopian-Israelis has resulted in the Israeli government continuing to bring the last 23,000 Ethiopian Jews from Ethiopia; though the Israeli government has set a quota of 300 Jews per month, half of what they agreed to under pressure from Negussie, NACOEJ and the United Jewish Communities.
• Gadi Yavarkan - an activist, publicist and political figure in the Likud party.
• Daniel Uria - a political figure in the Kadima party and activist.

Military officers

• Issachar Makonnen - became the first Ethiopian-Israeli officer in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Hebrew: סגן-אלוף‎).^[8]
• Tzion Shenkor - Ethiopian-Israeli officer in the Israel Defence Forces in 2009 when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Hebrew: סגן-אלוף‎) and became the first IDF battalion commander of Ethiopian descent.^[9][10]
• Avraham Yitzhak - the first Isresli-Ethiopian physician and a Major (Hebrew: רב סרן‎) in the IDF.^[11]
• Hadas Malada-Mitzri - First Lieutenant (Hebrew: סגן‎) in the IDF. The first woman from the Ethiopian community to serve as a physician. ^[12]

Cultural figures

Actors

• Meskie Shibru-Sivan (born September 29, 1967) - an Israeli actress and vocalist, well known in Israel and beyond for acting on theater stages, in television programs, movies as well as being an accomplished singer.
• Tehila Yeshayahu-Adgeh - a theatre actress and playwright.
• Shmuel Beru (born October 15, 1975) - Israeli actor, comedian and film director.
• Shai Fredo (July 22, 1975) - Israeli actor.
• Yossi Wasa - Israeli actor, comedian and playwright.
• Esther Rada (born 1984) - Israeli actress and singer.
• Sirak M. Sabahat (born December 5, 1981) - actor.

Musicians

• Abatte Barihun (born 1967) - an Israeli jazz saxophonist and composer.
• Kabra Kasai (born August 3, 1982) - Israeli singer.
• The sisters Ayala (born August 21, 1978) and Malka Ingedashet (born 1984) - both are Israeli singers.
• Hagit Yaso (born 1990) Israeli singer, winner of Kochav Nolad 9
• Teddy Aklilu (1977-2005) - an Israeli Amharic language singer. ^[13]

Authors and writers

• Omri Teg'Amlak Avera (born 1977) - Israeli Writer. Named "the first Ethiopian Writer" for is book "אסתרי" ("Asterai").^[14]
• Abraham Adgeh - Israeli Writer. His books "המסע אל החלום" ("The journey to the dream"), "עם הפנים קדימה" ("Facing forward") and the futuring novel "אלמז" ("Almaz" - Amharic for "Diamond").
• Asefu Baro - Israeli female writer, poetess and academic.

Journalism

• Zaga Malko - a radio personality, Amharic language newscaster on Channel 33 and the director of Reshet Aleph radio station.
• Fasil legesse - one of the founders of the Amharic-language broadcast at Israel Radio and the director of Israeli-Ethiopian television channel (IETV).^[15]
• Berhanu Tegegne - a news reporter in israeli News Company.
• Ayanawo Fareda Senbatu - a journalist in Channel 1.
• Pnina Tamano Sahta - a lawyer, journalist in Channel 1 and the first Ethiopian-Israeli presenter.
• Abraham Yerday - activist and Tigrinya language newscaster in Rekha radio.
• Danny Adino Ababa (born 1976) - an Israeli journalist and publicist.
• Germaw Mengistu - a journalist and the editor of Yedioth Nagt newspaper.

Fashion models

• Esti Mamo (born January 29, 1983) - an Israeli model. She is one of the first Ethiopian-Israelis to make it into the entertainment industry and is a budding actress
• Mazal Pikado - Ethiopian-Israeli model.
• Israela Abtau - Ethiopian-Israeli model.
• Shani Mashsha - Ethiopian-Israeli model.
• Esti Elias - Ethiopian-Israeli model.
• Mimi Taddesse - Ethiopian-Israeli model.
• Fanta Prada - Ethiopian-Israeli model.

Other notables

• David Mihret - the Director of the Steering Center For Ethiopian Immigrants in the Education System.
• Shalom Domrani (born in 1975) - born to Yemeni Jewish father and Ethiopian Jewish mother. He is well known Israeli felon and head of a criminal organization.^[16]
• Avi Yitzhak - fashion designer. ^[17]

See also

• Israelis
• List of notable Israelis
• List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa

References