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Hatikvah Synagogue, Gondar, Ethiopia

Description

A HISTORY OF THE ZERA BETA ISRAEL

The Zera Beta Israel are also known as the Falasha or Falasha Mura, a derogatory term that means “landless” or “wanderer.” This name was given to the descendants of the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia who converted to Christianity during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries [1]. Ethiopia remains and has historically been a predominantly Christian and Muslim nation, and Jews faced much hardship and persecution throughout the millennia that they remained in Ethiopia. The  Ethiopian Jewish kingdom of the early twelfth century (858–1270) often waged war against its Christian neighbors and, once under Christian rule, Jews were sold into slavery or denied land ownership if they refused to convert[9]. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, Israel began assisting Ethiopian Jews attempting to make aliyah to Israel, however, the Zera Beta Israel were turned away while trying to board Israeli planes because  of their ancestors' conversion to Christianity [2]. Never fully integrated into the Beta Israel community and turned away by Israel, many Zera Beta Israel remain behind in Ethiopia, although many of them have extensive family who successfully immigrated to Israel [2]. Over the past forty years, thousands of Zera Beta Israel have made it to Israel, though thousands still remain behind. The most prominent Jewish community is currently located in Gondar, where Israeli groups provide medical care and Jewish educational support, despite Israel’s stance against allowing the Zera Beta Israel to immigrate [1].

DESCRIPTION

Hatikvah means “the hope” in Hebrew and is the title of Israel’s national anthem, after which the synagogue was named. Located in northern Ethiopia, Gondar is home to hundreds of families of the Zera Beta Israel, who remain in the country because they are ineligible to make Aliyah (migrate to Israel) because of Israel’s  Law of Return [3]. These Jews descend from an ancestry of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity during the nineteenth century to avoid rampant discrimination and persecution [4]. Over the past forty years, Israel has allowed thousands of the Zera Beta Israel to emigrate; however, the process has been challenging and halting [4]. The majority of families remaining in communities like Gondar have extensive family currently located in Israel [6].

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Gondar’s Jewish community centers around the Hatikvah Synagogue, where Jews can study and practice Hebrew, weave tallitot, and be buried in a Jewish graveyard that neighbors the synagogue. There are services three times a day, and Jewish studies classes are often taught by volunteers from Israel [7].

The synagogue itself is roofed and built from wood and corrugated metal sheets, with some exterior walls painted blue and white [3]. Many neighboring community huts are painted in the same color scheme and marked with Stars of David​​. These buildings are home to classrooms, whose walls are decorated with posters written in Hebrew [7]. Two walls of the synagogue are nonexistent, with only cloth curtains separating the pews from the outside [8]. Israeli flags hang from the rafters both outside and inside of the building. Around 600 people can fit inside of the synagogue at once, and at the head of the building is a blue and white raised platform with a hand-drawn Star of David at its front. Sitting on this platform is an ark, emblazoned with the lyrics of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah” [6].

Ethiopia

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