Good morning. This article arrived in my email box, one day after another article in Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) arrived. To combat propaganda, I try to remember that white people tend to obliterate history before the arrival of Christianity. I suppose that’s the reason I thought this article was a good addition to this one.
The JTA article is titled: The Orit is a rare Ethiopian version of the Bible. This Israeli family risked it all to retrieve one.
In Ethiopia, people have been practicing Judaism for 3,000 years. As his Holiness Abuna Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who holds a PhD in theology from Princeton University, explains: "We've had 1,000 years of Judaism, followed by 2,000 years of Christianity, and that's why our religion is rooted in the Old Testament."
When Christianity, and forced conversion, arrived in Ethiopia in the 4th century (AD), people who continued to practice Judaism were called “Falasha” (a derogatory term meaning outsider).
Sixteen hundred years later, during the political unrest of 1991, more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel. Unfortunately, Ethiopian Jews who had converted to Christianity were left behind. Ethiopian Israelis, who are known as Beta Israel (meaning House of Israel) have been trying to bring their family members to Israel ever since. Suffice to say, Israel’s immigration issues are as divisive as ours, and for much the same reason (religion).
The covenant of the ark, containing the two tablets with the Ten Commandments carried down the mountain by Moses is said to be in Ethiopia. The Smithsonian published a good article about this.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/keepers-of-the-lost-ark-179998820/
The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe also claim their ancestors carried the covenant of the arc to their ancestral home in the Dumghe mountains.
Laura, history is so complicated, I wasn’t sure I should even post this comment, but figured you would tell me if it was off base, or out of line. 😊
