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Former Ambober Synagogue, Ambober, Ethiopia (Approximate Location)

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

Surrounded by a low wall, the building sits atop a grassy hill and can be seen from all sides. The synagogue, or mesgid,) is neighbored by two long, low buildings that make up a school that once taught its students how to write and read in Hebrew [8]. The Ambober synagogue was built in the traditional Ethiopian way, and is a large hut constructed from local stone. At the top of the roof, originally thatched but now covered by galvanized sheets of corrugated metal, sits a star of David [9]. The synagogue, like many of the buildings in Ambober, does not have electricity, so the only light in the building comes from small windows set deep into the yellow plaster walls, with bright red metal shutters [10]. Inlaid above each window is a star of David, constructed out of metal rods [10]. 

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Beta Israel population in Ambober boasted 250,000 Ethiopian Jews, but by the late 1960s, that number had dropped to nearly one-tenth of what it once was [8]. European missionaries heavily targeted Ambober, despite its secluded location deep within the wilderness outside of Gondar, the nearest city [8]. They faced extreme prejudice and violence within Ethiopia, leading to the area being inhabited by only 25,000 Jews in 1971 [11]. 

In the early 1980s, this synagogue served as the main site of the JDC’s operations to assist the Beta Israel before they made Aliyah to Israel [8].

Some images of the Ambober synagogue can be found here:

https://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Amhara-Region/Gondar/blog-815126.html

https://www.africansynagogues.org/html/countries/ethiopia/ethiopia5.html

https://jewishphotolibrary.smugmug.com/AFRICA/AFRICAEast/ETHIOPIA/AMHARA/ETAmboberSynagogue/

 

Ambober, Ethiopia