For September, we're doing something different. Presenting, Unpacking Israeli History. You might have heard of the Beta Israel, the community of Israel’s Ethiopian community. In this episode, Noam Weissman tells their story - not only their rich Jewish heritage and history, but also the story of how they got to Israel, in Operation Solomon, and their integration into Israeli society over the last thirty years. It’s thrilling, inspiring, but also complicated, and difficult at times. In other words, it’s a microcosm of the entire state of Israel, and the Jewish community the world over.
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Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Alan Fisher and Barbara Sommer, and Jon and Rachie Teller.
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Learn more about Unpacked: https://jewishunpacked.com/about/
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Teaching about this topic? Check out our relevant educator resources here: https://unpacked.education/unpacking-operation-solomon-30-years-later/
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Sources
https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-backlash-barkan-winery-says-ethiopian-workers-to-work-as-usual/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/11/10-key-findings-about-jewish-americans/ft_2021-05-11_jewishkeyfindings_01/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32813056
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beta-Israel
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-history-of-ethiopian-jewry/
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/timeline-of-ethiopian-jewish-history
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/who-are-the-ethiopian-jews
https://minorityrights.org/minorities/beta-israel/
https://tamidnyc.org/passover-around-world/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/outcry-as-barkan-winery-shuns-ethiopian-workers-over-doubts-of-their-jewishness/
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-07-29-1996211101-story.html
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ethiopian-jewry-no-longer-a-lost-tribe/
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/op-ed-contributors/rabbi-ovadia-yosef-and-the-ethiopian-jews-328178
https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19861990/saltzman_ethiopian.pdf
https://www.aish.com/sp/so/My-Treacherous-Journey-across-the-Ethiopian-Desert.html
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-lifts-sweeping-ban-on-ethiopian-israeli-blood-donations-1.5483820
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ministry-lifts-ban-on-ethiopian-blood-donations/
https://www.enp.org.il/en/background.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebra_Nagast
https://www.torahmusings.com/2017/12/rav-ovadya-yosef-whether-ethiopian-jews-need-reconvert/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/05/11/10-key-findings-about-jewish-americans/ft_2021-05-11_jewishkeyfindings_01/
Lewin-Epstein, Noah; Cohen, Yinon (18 August 2019). "Ethnic origin and identity in the Jewish population of Israel". Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 45 (11): 2118–2137.
Steven Kaplan, "A Brief History of the Beta Israel", in The Jews of Ethiopia: A People in Transition
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Unpacked is a division of OpenDor Media