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Wolleka Cemetery, Wolleka, Ethiopia

Description

A HISTORY OF THE BETA ISRAEL IN ETHIOPIA

The Beta Israel, also known informally as “Falasha Mura,” is a Jewish community with roots in Ethiopia that can be traced back centuries. They are often referred to as Falasha or Falasha Mura; however, that comes from the derogatory term for “landless,” or “wanderer" [1].

The Beta Israel lived in villages across northern and northwestern Ethiopia in the Simien Mountains, alongside the nation’s predominantly Christian and Muslim populations [2]. Tracing their lineage back to before the twelfth century B.C., the Beta Israel practiced a non-Talmudic form of Judaism, as they were cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for nearly a millennium [3]. For nearly two thousand years, these Jews were politically autonomous and had their own strongholds across northern Ethiopia [4]. From the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries, Beta Israel armies engaged in violent conflict with neighboring Christian kingdoms and were subjected to aggressive missionizing [5]. They were denied land and sold into slavery if they refused to convert to Christianity [1].

In the mid-nineteenth century, the Beta Israel population had been reduced to an estimated 250,000 people, though their numbers continued to decline due to European missionizing and famine [6]. Those who converted to Christianity became known as the Falasha Mura or Zera Beta Israel, and those who refused to convert faced great prejudice within Ethiopia. 

The Beta Israel made contact with other Jewish communities at the turn of the twentieth century. In 1908, the chief rabbis of 45 countries made a joint statement that they viewed the Beta Israel as Jewish; however, a rabbinic debate about their Jewish authenticity continued throughout the twentieth century [3].  In 1973, after divisive discourse, Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef declared that the Beta Israel were eligible to make Aliyah (immigrate to Israel) under the Law of Return [7]. In 1975, Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren accepted the Ethiopian Jews as well, ushering in the first efforts to organize the Aliyah process for thousands of Beta Israel [7]. Two major rescue operations brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel: Operation Moses in 1995, and Operation Solomon in 1991. Over 150,000 of these Ethiopian Jews and their descendants are in Israel today. Few Jewish communities remain in Ethiopia today, mostly consisting of Zera Beta Israel whose forefathers converted to Christianity. 

DESCRIPTION

The town’s Jewish community had almost entirely emigrated to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, yet it was an undeniably Jewish town. Mud huts are topped with Stars of David, and mezuzahs adorn doorways. The town is filled with many sculptures of the Queen of Sheba, Solomon, and their son Menlik, celebrating the Solomonic dynasty. The current inhabitants of Wolleka still sell tchotchkes and crafts decorated with Hebrew words and the Star of David. The town is also informally called “Falasha Village,” a derogatory name used for the Beta Israel that means “landless” or “wanderer.”

Slightly outside of the town itself, a short walk through fields and over a stream sits the Wolleka Jewish Cemetery. A few dozen graves are marked with Stars of David, and headstones are written in a mix of Hebrew and Amharic [8]. The graves themselves were at one point painted in shades of blue and white, however, exposure to the elements has chipped off the bulk of the paint [9].

Because Wolleka is a tourist destination, locals have recently begun charging about seventy-five cents for visitors to enter the cemetery, though the site isn't well maintained [9].

Images of the cemetery can be found here:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-village-left-behind-by-jews-in-ethiopia-became-a-top-tourist-draw/

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-falasha-graves-in-the-cemetery-of-wolleka-village-ethiopia-20098132.html

https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/details-photo/africa-ethiopia-gondar-wolleka-village-the-beta-israel-the-jewish-community-cemetery/X5T-1879865

https://ethiopiautopia.tumblr.com/

 

Ethiopia