B"H

Why Does The Rabbinut Refuse to Recognize That The Ethiopian Jews Are Jews?

It is quite clear and easy to understand why the Rabbinut refused to recognize the Ethiopian Jews as Jews.

For the first time in history the Rabbis were faced with a kehilah of Jews whose origins antedated the Pharisaic/Rabbinic tradition. Now, the Rabbis had a very, very serious problem with that. You see, according to accepted Judaism the spiritual level of the Jewish People has been declining in every generation since the giving and receiving of Torah on Har Sinai. Thus, faced with a community of Jews whose traditions antedated that of the Rabbis, the Rabbis would have been forced to accept the way the Ethiopian community practiced Torah as more authentic than their own. That would have put them out of business. So, they were given no choice but to refuse to accept the Jewishness of the Ethiopian Jews. Had they not done so they would have had to learn from the Kesim.

My family and I once attended an Ethiopian seder for Pesach (my daughter, Roni, contributed to this thread above). I fully expected an authentic Ethiopian seder as was carried out throughout the ages in Ethiopia. What did we get? We got a standard aggadah written in Hebrew on one side and Amharic on the other and a Rabbi conducting the service as though the Kesim couldn't. I was so disappointed, sad and embarrassed.

I, for one, am quite convinced that the traditions of the Ethiopians are more authentic and close to how Judaism was practiced and should be practiced and I would very much like to learn with Ethiopian teachers. The problem is, the Rabbis, together with the gov't authorities who pay the Rabbi's salaries, have effectively precluded the possibility of learning and teaching the Ethiopian way here.

I also know that the Ethiopian Jews readily admit that they have forgotten how to perform some mitzvot, like blowing the shofar. This is understandable during a 2,700- year-long exile. The fact that the Ethiopian Jewish community knows they forgot how to blow the shofar shows that they were once in possession of the full Oral Tradition. They are honest enough to admit what they do not know. Therefore, I am wont to believe what they do claim to know. The Rabbis, in contradistinction, claim to be in possession of the whole, incontrovertible, incontestable Oral Tradition. Therefore, I doubt most of what they say.

Col HaCavod to all those who have not bent to pressure, gone to mikva'ot and bent to Rabbinic ways, which are not as true as the ancient ways that you have kept. The correctness and holiness of your way will prove itself, be'ezrat HaShem, in time and many will join you.

P.S. I am not referring to the Falash Mura who converted to Xianity, be it voluntarily or not. The Falash Mura do require conversion. I am sure that the Ethiopian community, both Jewish and Falash Mura alike will agree that the Falash Mura require conversion.

Unfortunately, they have to undergo a Rabbinic conversion, as the State does not recognize an Ethiopian Jewish conversion, which should be the natural conversion for the Falash Mura. I am speaking about the Jews in Ethiopia who never gave up being Jewish no matter what the hardship.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat