National & International News

Beta Israel: Snapshots Of The Ethiopian Jewish Community

By Tinbete Ermyas

Published March 22, 2013 at 11:41 AM EDT

Facilitated by the Israeli government, a young couple and their children are going on <em>aliyah</em> from Ethiopia — a purposeful ascent, or "going up" to Israel. The facial cross tattoos, often sought to hide their Jewish origins, are frequently removed once they have arrived in Israel.

1 of 10 — Facilitated by the Israeli government, a young couple and their children are going on aliyah from Ethiopia — a purposeful ascent, or "going up" to Israel. The facial cross tattoos, often sought to hide their Jewish origins, are frequently removed once they have arrived in Israel.

Facilitated by the Israeli government, a young couple and their children are going on aliyah from Ethiopia — a purposeful ascent, or "going up" to Israel. The facial cross tattoos, often sought to hide their Jewish origins, are frequently removed once they have arrived in Israel.

2 of 10 — An elderly couple, ready for their long-awaited move to Israel, June 2011.

An elderly couple, ready for their long-awaited move to Israel, June 2011.

3 of 10 — Woman sculpting a clay pot in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, June 2011.

Woman sculpting a clay pot in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, June 2011.

4 of 10 — Woman with menorah in Addis Ababa, June 2011.

Woman with menorah in Addis Ababa, June 2011.

5 of 10 — Man with Star of David in Addis Ababa, June 2011.

Man with Star of David in Addis Ababa, June 2011.

6 of 10 — Paint on the side of a Jewish school in Gondar, Ethiopia, reads "Welcome Nacoej, Talmud Torah Class," June 2011.

Paint on the side of a Jewish school in Gondar, Ethiopia, reads "Welcome Nacoej, Talmud Torah Class," June 2011.

7 of 10 — Students at a Jewish school in Gondar, June 2011.

Students at a Jewish school in Gondar, June 2011.

8 of 10 — Men at morning prayers touch the Torah Scroll with the fringe of their prayer shawls at a Jewish compound in Gondar, June 2011.

Men at morning prayers touch the Torah Scroll with the fringe of their prayer shawls at a Jewish compound in Gondar, June 2011.

9 of 10 — Ethiopian men and women at morning prayer with a traditional dividing curtain between them, Gondar, June 2011.

Ethiopian men and women at morning prayer with a traditional dividing curtain between them, Gondar, June 2011.

10 of 10 — As of summer 2011, approximately 5,000 Beta Israel remain in Ethiopia anxiously waiting for an opportunity to join friends and family who are now in Israel.

As of summer 2011, approximately 5,000 Beta Israel remain in Ethiopia anxiously waiting for an opportunity to join friends and family who are now in Israel.

For South African photojournalist Ilan Ossendryver, photographing the Ethiopian Jewish community, also known as Beta Israel, started out professional but ended up personal.

His decades-long body of work is now represented in the exhibit "Beta Israel: Ethiopian Jews and the Promised Land," at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Ossendryver admits that he didn't know much about Ethiopian Jews before receiving an assignment years ago to cover their migration to Israel. Turns out that assignment wasn't so easy.

He recalls one of his first stops — an "absorption center" — in the southern Israeli town of Ashdod, where immigrants learn Hebrew and "get acclimatized to living in Israel."

He brought his camera, "but they weren't very happy about photography at the time."

The newly arrived immigrants were shy and uncomfortable about being photographed. But Ossendryver wanted to capture what he saw as resilience in a community stuck between two cultures in two countries.

His images offer a snapshot into the contemporary life of a community with a history that may not be well-known to many. And it may not be well-known because it is not entirely clear.

The contested origin story of the Ethiopian Jewish community has made the ongoing migration to Israel — which has happened in waves for decades — a complicated one.

Jewish ancestry determines whether one has a right to Israeli citizenship. Over the years, many Ethiopian Jews have lived as Christians, for example, to escape persecution — often going as far as tattooing crosses on their foreheads.

For Ossendryver, photography can do what historical analysis and DNA testing can't: examine how the community actually lives today.

The exhibition actually shows two groups: One still in Ethiopia, striving to make sense of its identity and trying to blend in while sustaining its traditions; the other group is seeking to carve out a new life in Israel.

The journey to Israel is one that the majority of Ethiopian Jews have shared in recent decades. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 78,000 Ethiopians have immigrated to Israel since 1980. By some estimates, only a few thousand remain in Ethiopia.

Getting to Israel isn't easy — and life for those who get there isn't easy, either, according to Ossendryver.

Recent events in Israel — like the vigorous and ongoing debate around immigration from Africa, accusations of discrimination and the recent news of Ethiopian immigrants being forcibly injected with birth control have also highlighted some tensions the community has faced within the country.

Even in the face of this adversity, Ossendryver says most Jews in Ethiopia have their eyes on Israel.

Ossendryver says one of his favorite scenes was a Jewish school in Gondar, Ethiopia. There, he says, students don't have to choose between two worlds.

"It's a really beautiful school. You'll see there's a picture of Africa, there's a picture of Israel and a picture of Ethiopia all in Amharic," the official language of Ethiopia, he recalls. "I found that quite nice to see."