Beta Israel information

Beta Israel:
ביתא ישראל‎
ቤተ እስራኤል
Ethiopian Jews:
יְהוּדֵי אֶתְיוֹפְּיָה‎:
የኢትዮጵያ ይሁዲዎች
Total population
	173,500
Regions with significant populations
	Israel 160,500 (end of 2021); 1.75% of the Israeli population, 2.3% of Israeli Jews
Ethiopia	12,000 (2021)
United States	1,000 (2008)
Languages
	Historical Jewish languages Kayla Qwara Liturgical languages Ge'ez Hebrew Lingua franca Amharic Tigrinya Hebrew
Religion
	Judaism (Haymanot · Rabbinism) · Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox – see Falash Mura and Beta Abraham)
Related ethnic groups
	Jews and other South Semitic speakers · Qemant

This article contains Ethiopic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.

The Beta Israel (Hebrew: בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl; Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል, Beta ʾƏsrāʾel, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAe: Betä Ǝsraʾel, "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"^[5]), also known as Ethiopian Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי אֶתְיוֹפְּיָה: Yehudey Etyopyah; Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ይሁዲዎች, yä-Itəyop'əya Yəhudiwoč), are a Jewish community that lived for many centuries in the area of the Kingdom of Aksum and the Ethiopian Empire, which is currently divided between the modern-day Amhara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia. Most of the Beta Israel community immigrated to Israel in the late 20th century.^[6]

The Beta Israel lived in northern and northwestern Ethiopia, in more than 500 small villages spread over a wide territory, alongside predominantly Christian and Muslim populations.^[7] Most of them were concentrated mainly on what are today North Gondar Zone, Shire Inda Selassie, Wolqayit, Tselemti, Dembia, Segelt, Quara, and Belesa.

The Beta Israel appear to have been isolated from mainstream Jewish communities for at least a millennium, and practice a non-Talmudic form of Judaism that is similar in some respects to Karaite Judaism. In Israel, the form of Judaism practiced by the Beta Israel is referred to as Haymanot.

Having suffered religious persecution in Ethiopia, a significant portion of the community was forced into Christianity during the 19th and 20th centuries; those converted to Christianity came to be known as the Falash Mura. The larger Beta Abraham Christian community is also considered to have historical links to the Beta Israel.

The Beta Israel made contact with other Jewish communities in the late 20th century. Following this, a rabbinic debate ensued over whether or not the Beta Israel were Jews. After halakhic (Jewish law) and constitutional discussions, Israeli officials decided in 1977 that the Israeli Law of Return was to be applied to the Beta Israel.^[8]^[9] The Israeli and American governments mounted aliyah (immigration to Israel) transport operations.^[10]^[11] These activities included Operation Brothers in Sudan between 1979 and 1990 (this includes the major Operation Moses and Operation Joshua), and in the 1990s from Addis Ababa (which includes Operation Solomon).^[12]^[13]

By the end of 2008, there were 119,300 people of Ethiopian descent in Israel, including nearly 81,000 people born in Ethiopia and about 38,500 native-born Israelis (about 32 percent of the community) with at least one parent born in Ethiopia or Eritrea (formerly part of Ethiopia).^[14] At the end of 2019, there were 155,300 people of Ethiopian descent in Israel. Approximately 87,500 were born in Ethiopia, and 67,800 were Israeli-born with fathers born in Ethiopia.^[1] The Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel is mostly composed of Beta Israel (practicing both Haymanot and Rabbinic Judaism) and to a smaller extent of Falash Mura who converted from Christianity to Rabbinic Judaism upon their arrival to Israel.

^ ^a ^b Israel Central Bureau of Statistics: The Ethiopian Community in Israel
^ Rudee, Eliana (May 24, 2021). "Work goes on: Efforts to bring last of Ethiopian Jews to Israel". JNS.org.
^ Mozgovaya, Natasha (2008-04-02). "Focus U.S.A.-Israel News – Haaretz Israeli News source". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
^ "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people".
^ For the meaning of the word "Beta" in the context of social/religious is "community", see James Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews, 2010, p. xxi
^ Weil, Shalva (1997) "Collective Designations and Collective Identity of Ethiopian Jews", in Shalva Weil (ed.) Ethiopian Jews in the Limelight, Jerusalem: NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, Hebrew University, pp. 35–48. (Hebrew)
^ Weil, Shalva. (2012) "Ethiopian Jews: the Heterogeneity of a Group", in Grisaru, Nimrod and Witztum, Eliezer. Cultural, Social and Clinical Perspectives on Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel, Beersheba: Ben-Gurion University Press, pp. 1–17.
^ Cite error: The named reference JPOST was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Approv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Weil, Shalva. (2008) "Zionism among Ethiopian Jews", in Hagar Salamon (ed.) Jewish Communities in the 19th and 20th Centuries: Ethiopia, Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, pp. 187–200. (Hebrew)
^ Weil, Shalva 2012 "Longing for Jerusalem Among the Beta Israel of Ethiopia", in Edith Bruder and Tudor Parfitt (eds.) African Zion: Studies in Black Judaism, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 204–217.
^ The Rescue of Ethiopian Jews 1978–1990 (Hebrew); "Ethiopian Immigrants and the Mossad Met Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine" (Hebrew)
^ Weil, Shalva. (2011) "Operation Solomon 20 Years On", International Relations and Security Network (ISN).http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?ord538=grp1&ots591=eb06339b-2726-928e-0216-1b3f15392dd8&lng=en&id=129480&contextid734=129480&contextid735=129244&tabid=129244
^ [1] Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine, Ha'aretz

[The_Ethiopian_Population_In_Israel-1] Israel Central Bureau of Statistics: The Ethiopian Community in Israel

[jns.org-2] Rudee, Eliana (May 24, 2021). "Work goes on: Efforts to bring last of Ethiopian Jews to Israel". JNS.org.

[3] Mozgovaya, Natasha (2008-04-02). "Focus U.S.A.-Israel News – Haaretz Israeli News source". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-12-25.

[4] "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people".

[5] For the meaning of the word "Beta" in the context of social/religious is "community", see James Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews, 2010, p. xxi

[6] Weil, Shalva (1997) "Collective Designations and Collective Identity of Ethiopian Jews", in Shalva Weil (ed.) Ethiopian Jews in the Limelight, Jerusalem: NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, Hebrew University, pp. 35–48. (Hebrew)

[7] Weil, Shalva. (2012) "Ethiopian Jews: the Heterogeneity of a Group", in Grisaru, Nimrod and Witztum, Eliezer. Cultural, Social and Clinical Perspectives on Ethiopian Immigrants in Israel, Beersheba: Ben-Gurion University Press, pp. 1–17.

[JPOST-8] Cite error: The named reference JPOST was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Approv-9] Cite error: The named reference Approv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[10] Weil, Shalva. (2008) "Zionism among Ethiopian Jews", in Hagar Salamon (ed.) Jewish Communities in the 19th and 20th Centuries: Ethiopia, Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, pp. 187–200. (Hebrew)

[11] Weil, Shalva 2012 "Longing for Jerusalem Among the Beta Israel of Ethiopia", in Edith Bruder and Tudor Parfitt (eds.) African Zion: Studies in Black Judaism, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 204–217.

[12] The Rescue of Ethiopian Jews 1978–1990 (Hebrew); "Ethiopian Immigrants and the Mossad Met Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine" (Hebrew)

[isn.ethz.ch-13] Weil, Shalva. (2011) "Operation Solomon 20 Years On", International Relations and Security Network (ISN).http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?ord538=grp1&ots591=eb06339b-2726-928e-0216-1b3f15392dd8&lng=en&id=129480&contextid734=129480&contextid735=129244&tabid=129244

[haaretz.com-14] [1] Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine, Ha'aretz

Beta Israel information

and 29 Related for: Beta Israel information

Beta Israel

Ethiopian Jews in Israel

History of the Jews in Ethiopia

Ten Lost Tribes

Falash Mura

Israeli Jews

Haymanot

History of the Jews in Africa

Kingdom of Simien

Jewish religious movements

Beta Abraham

Aliyah from Ethiopia

Priest

Israel Defense Forces

Book of Jubilees

Twelve Tribes of Israel

Jewish ethnic divisions

Black Jews

Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites

Qemant people

Habesha peoples

Amharic

Demographics of Israel

Beersheba

American Jews

Kayla dialect

Religion in Ethiopia

Debtera

Proposals for a Jewish state

Total population

173,500
Regions with significant populations
Israel 160,500 (end of 2021)^[1] 1.75% of the Israeli population, 2.3% of Israeli Jews
Ethiopia	12,000 (2021)^[2]
United States	1,000 (2008)^[3]
Languages
Historical Jewish languages Kayla Qwara Liturgical languages Ge'ez Hebrew Lingua franca Amharic Tigrinya Hebrew
Religion
Judaism (Haymanot · Rabbinism) · Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox – see Falash Mura and Beta Abraham)
Related ethnic groups
Jews and other South Semitic speakers^[4] · Qemant