MY FAMILY
THE BETA ISRAEL CURRICULUM
ISOLATION & INTEGRATION
Teachers should remind students that the Beta Israel’s history in Ethiopia was constantly shaped by religious persecution and forced conversions experienced at the hands of the country’s Christian leadership. Teachers should add that while the Beta Israel established clear personal boundaries between themselves and their Christian neighbors, they also “took an active part in the broad national culture in which [they] lived”30 as reflected in the art that they produced which was highly influenced by Christianity, as well as the Christian
We can learn from this experience that even when a community isolates itself, it is inevitable to be influenced by neighboring cultures, and to absorb other customs as a result. Do you think it’s ever possible for a community to isolate itself fully? And if so, would that be a good or bad thing to do?
To prompt discussion, teachers might want to ask students to reflect on their own Jewish community.
30 See Shalom, “Art as Experience: The Religious Culture of Ethiopian Jewry,” in The Monk and the Lion: Contemporary Ethiopian Visual Art in Israel.
