As part of the retrospective on 30 years following the State of Israel’s Operation Solomon to rescue Ethiopia’s Jews and bring them to their homeland, Army Radio Galgalatz released a series of interviews with public personalities who took part in the event. One of the vignettes featured the story of Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, the Director of the International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry at Ono Academic College, told in his own words.
Rabbi Sharon discussed the experience of Ethiopian Jews and in particular, their eternal longing for the City of Jerusalem. In the immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, he saw the fulfillment of the ancient visions of the Hebrew prophets. Rabbi Sharon mentioned that on arriving in Israel, he felt very different and this caused a drive to develop in him to become a big success. He said that today, thirty years after Operation Solomon, one can find Ethiopian immigrants at all levels of Israeli society. Rabbi Sharon concluded saying the secret of the Ethiopian Jewish community has always been maintaining hope and understanding that we are only at the beginning of our journey.
