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On Monday, September 11, 2023, the first meeting of the Beit Midrash for the Study of Ethiopian Jewish Religious Texts was convened at Ono Academic College’s International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry. This was the first major event held at the Center’s new offices on the fifth floor of Ono’s new campus at Savyon Junction in Kiryat Ono.
In this framework, 12 young Ethiopian Jewish leaders will meet twice a month under the guidance of Ethiopian spiritual leaders and scholars of Ethiopian Jewry, such as Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, founder and director of the Center, Rabbi Reuven Yasu, one of the world’s greatest experts on the Ethiopian Jewish Calendar, Prof. Ephraim Isaac, director of the Institute of Semitic Studies at Princeton University, Prof. Avi Sagi, founder of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Tova Hartman, a scholar and social entrepreneur who serves as Ono’s Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and others.
Together, they will study examples of Beta Israel’s holy books like the Orit (Ethiopian Jewry’s version of the Torah featuring the five books of Moses plus Joshua, Judges, and Ruth), the Madhaf Kadus (other holy books of the Ethiopian Jewish canon, written in the Ge’ez language) and Ethiopian Midrashim (post biblical homiletic stories passed down orally to complement the written texts and fill in narrative gaps). At the end of the program, participants will each write an academic article about a theme that arose in the year-long group Beit Midrash study.
The program began with introductions, as each participant as well as the organizers (Rabbi Dr. Shalom, Rabbi Yasu and Dr. Samuel Schwartz, Director of Ono’s International Programming) shared something from their background.
After the introductions, the participants took to the program’s goal, the study and discussion of traditional Beta Israel texts, with great passion. Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, explained a portion of the Ethiopian Midrash Collection “Moteh Museh” which deals with the final days of the life of Moses. Rabbi Dr. Shalom compared aspects of this midrash with other midrashim from the Rabbinic Jewish tradition which also address Moses’ death. The participants shared their own fascinating insights and got the program off to a great start.
