Reuniting Families and Communities: Aliyah for Ethiopian Jewry

Three years ago, in 2013, my husband David Elcott and I traveled to Ethiopia to witness the airlift of the last of the Ethiopian Jewish community to Israel. We didn't realize we could come face to face with heartbreak. Israel has already done extraordinary things.  Currently, 120,000 Ethiopian Jews reside in Israel, one third of whom were born in Israel. But 9,000 Jews remain behind - brothers, sisters, parents and children of the ones in Israel.  We joined with the Gondar community in their compound for Kabbalat Shabbat services. A sea of white robes and turbans. Children and teens fluent in Hebrew - a community waiting for aliyah, many of them for 15 years - refusing to give up hope. On our return I wrote:

"Being Jewish means being part of a family. Whether by birth, or conversion (which is like adoption), this is our family forever.  It’s who we are. White and brown, black and beautiful. There are still 1,600 families (6,000 people in the Jewish compound in Gondar alone) left behind from Operation Solomon. They speak Hebrew, they wear kippot and tzitzit, they have cast their lot with the Jewish people; and for their children, being Jewish is the only life they’ve known. They have been living in poverty, as internal refugees, as they wait for permission to make aliyah to Israel. There is so much heartbreak in the world.  There is racism and brokenness and prejudice – in us and in the world.  But we are not helpless.

“As Jews, we have a mandate to hope, to act and to heal. Israel’s national anthem is “Hatikvah” – the Hope. We believe in hope; we believe in each person; we believe in creating a society where each person brings their gifts and blessings to create a better world. So many Ethiopian Jews never made it to the Promised Land. Others made it through unbelievable obstacles  – but could not surmount the obstacles once they arrived.  And there are still those who are left behind in Ethiopia.  We have much work to do together."

It has been three years since our visit to Ethiopia. Children are languishing; lives are being wasted. There is not a more Zionist community on this planet. We must help Israel complete this aliyah. There is every reason to hope that this aliyah will in fact take place - but not without letting the Israeli government know that we know and we care.

We are writing asking for your help; it requires some heart and soul, and a few minutes. After much delay, Israel's cabinet voted unanimously last November to bring the remaining Jews home to Israel. To the shock of many, in March, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government claimed there wasn't enough money to bring them. No aliyah of Jews has ever been halted due to financial reasons.

We want Prime Minister Netanyahu to know that it's time to reunite these families, that it's time to complete this historic aliyah. Take action on this crucial issue by signing this petition and sharing it with others. We need thousands of signatures to move the mountain. We need Israel to live up to its remarkable promise.

Learn more about this work by visiting our Facebook page.

Shira Milgrom is at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY, where she has been rabbi for thirty years and part of a unique co-senior rabbinate for eighteen. She is married to Dr. David Elcott. They are parents of four and grandparents of nine.

Image via JTA/Facebook: Demoz Beboch in the syngague in Gondar, Ethiopia.