MY FAMILY
THE BETA ISRAEL CURRICULUM
OPERATION BROTHERS: 1979-1984
Students should now read the following description of events that occurred between 1979-1984:125
Given the dire situation in Ethiopia, members of the Beta Israel community already living in Israel held public demonstrations in January and October 1979, at the encouragement of the AAEJ, and demanded that the Israeli government and Jewish Agency do more to bring the Beta Israel “HOME.”126 Meanwhile the AAEJ held protests at the Israeli consulates in New York and Los Angeles, and Rabbi Avi Weiss, a well-known activist, spoke of the cause with passion at the United Nations’ Isaiah Plaza.127
Around this time, the AAEJ approached many religious and communal Jewish leaders in the United States and around the world and asked them to show support for the Beta Israel. The involvement of Diaspora Jewry “showed that not only governments could redeem the imprisoned and save lives; the ordinary man in- the-street Jew could also participate in these lifesaving mitzvot.”128
As support broadened, particularly in the United States, “one of the most important outcomes of the AAEJ’s endeavor [was] to enlist the support of America rabbis was the formation of ARNEJ (American Rabbinic Network for Ethiopian Jewry) primarily through the efforts of Jane Fellman.”129
External pressure was gaining serious momentum, and in 1979, “the Mossad decide[d] to bring the Jews to Israel through Sudan.”130 Many Beta Israel members began to walk in that direction.131 The Beta Israel community in Israel was organized now under the leadership of Fereda Aklum, an Ethiopian Jew who had crossed through Sudan himself, and he was key to assisting the Mossad in fulfilling its pledge. By mid-1982 “some three thousand of the Beta Israel”132 had been brought to Israel in secret missions “by sea, in Operation Bat Galim of the navy’s commando unit, and by air, with Hercules transport planes landing in improvised airfields.” Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, whose writing and research contributed significantly to this curriculum, was among those brought in these operations.
Note: Some of these events were recorded by journalist Raffi Berg in his book Red Sea Spies, which describes how the Mossad concealed its mission to bring the Beta Israel to Israel by operating a deep-sea diving resort by day and helping the Beta Israel reach secret ships by night. This story was made into a movie titled, The Red Sea Diving Resort, based on the true events of this mission, Operation Brothers.
How did the Mossad pull off such daring secret operations? “First, small groups were brought out of the camps to the shore of the Red Sea. There, commandos of the Israeli navy would be waiting to transfer them in rubber dinghies to an Israeli ship anchored on the high seas, and this ship would bring the immigrants to Sharm el-Sheikh, which was still in Israeli hands at the time.”133
In his book Red Sea Spies, journalist Raffi Berg included an important reflection: “It is a common misperception that the Ethiopian Jews were ‘rescued’ by the Mossad. [However], even the Mossad themselves don’t like that terminology, and Ethiopian Jews themselves do not like this term either. There is a very good reason for this, and that is the fact that these communities were indeed agents of their own fate. The Ethiopian Jews were the group that went on this tremendous odyssey, on foot, from Ethiopia across the border into Sudan, and it was a hellish journey… They climbed over mountains, through deserts and jungles and across rivers, with very little provisions.”134
Before proceeding, the students should be told to consider (to themselves):
Imagine you are a member of the Beta Israel, who risked life and limb to immigrate to Israel. How might you feel if you were told you were “saved” by the Mossad? In more general terms, imagine you reach the end of a long and arduous journey, in which you exerted, suffered, and lost so much; upon arrival, you are told that you were “saved” by someone else. How would this make you feel? The unfortunate truth is that the Beta Israel’s journey from Ethiopia to Sudan was harrowing and perilous beyond belief.
Thousands of people died along the way from disease, hunger, harassment, rape, and violent robberies,135 and thousands more were hurt. Each spring, on the 28th of Iyar, the State of Israel commemorates the Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews who Perished on their Way to Israel.136
Students should be asked:
Do you think it’s still important to commemorate a Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews who Perished on their Way to Israel? Why or why not? What do you think is the purpose of such commemorations?
| 125 | It should be noted that although dubbed “Operation Brothers,” the events that took place between 1979 and1984 were not formally given a title. As Howard Lenhoff writes, “[T]his secret operation was never given a code name. I call it Operation Elijah because Elijah is known as the Prophet who kept ” – The Indiana Jewish Post & Opinion (July 9, 1997), p.14. See also Lenhoff, Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes, pp. 133-134. |
| 126 | Louis Rapoport, Redemption Song, p. 61 (as quoted in Graenum Berger, Rescue the Ethiopian Jews! A memoir, 1955-1995, 99). |
| 127 | Berger, Rescue the Ethiopian Jews! A memoir, 1955-1995, 98. |
| 128 | Lenhoff, Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes, 144. |
| 129 | Ibid. p. 151. |
| 130 | It should be noted that the idea traveling through Sudan was first suggested by Baruch Tegegne, a prominent Ethiopian Jewish leader, to Howard Lenhoff, then-President of the AAEJ, in February See Lenhoff, Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes, p. 102. |
| 131 | Shalom, From Sinai to Ethiopia, 71. |
| 132 | Feldman, On Wings of Eagles: The Secret Operation of the Ethiopian Exodus, p. xvi. |
| 133 | Ibid. |
| 134 | “Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort: an interview with Raf f i Berg,” Fathom Journal (2020): https:// org/red-sea-spies-the-true-story-of-mossads-fake- diving-resort-an-interview-with-raffi-berg/ |
| 135 | Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews who Perished on their Way to Israel – 28th of Iyar, The Knesset Lexicon: https://m.knesset.gov.il/en/about/ lexicon/pages/yom_zik_ethiopian.aspx |
| 136 | Ibid. |
