The Center for Ethiopian Jewish Heritage and its affiliated research institute will hold academic conferences throughout the year, as well as book launches and folklore conferences about the heritage, history, and culture of Ethiopian Jewry. The main annual conference of the institute is held every February, and other events are held periodically and according to special dates on the calendar, such as: the Sigd holiday, the anniversary of Operation Solomon, and the anniversary of Operation Moses. The conferences will be advertised on the organization’s website and on social media. The public is invited to follow the updates.
May
24
International Conference Beta Israel – A History of Coping and Struggle
Ze’evi Auditorium, ANU Museum, Tel Aviv University Campus
24.05.2023
09:00 - 19:50
The third conference of the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center, in collaboration with the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University; the Africa Unit, S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies, Tel Aviv University; the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies (MALI), Ben Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, Ben Gurion University of the Negev; ANU Museum of the Jewish People; the Baron De Hirsch Fund; and the Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies, Tel Aviv University
Wednesday, 24.5.2023
9:00 – Gathering and refreshments
9:30 – 10:00 – Greetings
Moderator: Ziona Desta Nega
Dr. Simcha Getahune, former chairwoman of the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center and lecturer at the Kibbutzim College
Prof. Avi Bareli, director of the Ben-Gurion Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, Ben Gurion University
Prof. Roni Stauber, head of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center, Tel Aviv University
Representative of the Baron De Hirsch Fund
Dan Tadmor, CEO of ANU – the Museum of the Jewish People
10:00 – 10:30 Keynote lecture
Danny Admasu, MALI, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
A Narrative of Glorification and Exclusion in the Aliyah of the Ethiopian Jews in the 80s: ‘Operation Moses’ as a Test Case
First Session: Coping with Challenges in Ethiopia 10:30-11:30
Chair: Prof. Esther Meir, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Dr. Wovite Worku-Mengisto, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and David Yellin College and Dr. Bar Kribus, Tel Aviv University
The Impact of the Ethos of the Struggles in the Sǝmen Mountains in the Days of the Gideonite Dynasty on the Life of the Betä Ǝsraʾel Community in this Region in Later Times
Mauricio Lapchik Minski, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Jews and Judaism in Ethiopia in the Eyes of the Jesuits – Resistance and Struggles
11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 – 13:00 Second Session: The Struggle for Aliyah
Chair: Dr. Anbessa Teferra, Tel Aviv University
Mordechai Baruch, Ariel University
The Ways in Which the Religious Leader Qes Berhan Baruch Coped in His Twofold Struggle: Vis-à-vis the Christian Mission in Ethiopia and the Zionist and Rabbinical Institutions in Israel
Dr. Louise Fischer and Michal Saft, Israel State Archives
‘If the Rescue Activities Will Not Increase in Momentum… There Will Be No One To Save’: The Israeli Government and the Beta Israel Activists in the Struggle for Aliyah from Ethiopia.
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch break
14:30 – 16:00 Third Session: Social and Political Struggles in Israel
Chair: Dr. Simcha Getahune, Kibbutzim College
Dr. Elad Wexler, Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center
The Struggle of the Ethiopian Jews Against the Chief Rabbinate and Against the Giyur le-Chumra
Uri Perednik, Bar Ilan University
Israel Even Though He Has Sinned? A Critical View on the Media Coverage of the Struggle for the Aliyah of the Ethiopian Jews between the Years 2015-2020
Dr. Ravit Talmi-Cohn, Ruppin Academic Center
A Vague Aliyah Policy – Its Expressions and Consequences
16:00 – 17:30 - Conference participants are invited to a tour at the ANU Museum of the Jewish People, and to experience the new tour on the topic of the Beta Israel community.
17:30 – 18:30 Round table, activists in the struggle for aliyah
Moderator: Ziva Mekonen-Degu
Participants: Abraham Yerday, Addisu Masala, Belaynesh Ayeh, Rahamim Elazar, Babu Yakov
18:30 – 19:30 Round table, activists in social struggles
Moderator: Danny Admasu
Participants: Avi Yalou, Ziva Mekonen-Degu, Itzhak Tayem, Banchi Meshesha
19:30 – 19:40 Concluding Remarks
Prof. Galia Sabar, Tel Aviv University
19:40 – 19:50 Thanks
Naphtali Avraham, CEO, Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center
The conference will be broadcast live on the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center's website.
January
19
The Kingdom of the Gideonites
Via ZOOM APP
19.01.2022
15:30 - 21:10
The Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center presents the second annual conference:
The Kingdom of the Gideonites The Political Autonomy of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) and Their Wars with the Christian Solomonic Kingdom Online conference Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 15:30-21:10 Throughout the Middle Ages and early modern times, Jews commonly lived as a religious minority under Christian or Muslim rule. The Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), on the other hand, maintained political autonomy in the Semien Mountains, the highest mountains in the Horn of Africa, and initially, in surrounding areas as well. This self-governed area is known in Beta Israel tradition as the Kingdom of the Gideonites, named after the monarchs who ruled over it and were called Gedewon (Gideon). The acts of valor of the Beta Israel in the wars waged between them and the Christian Solomonic kingdom (15th-17th century) served for generations as a source of inspiration for the community and for World Jewry in general, and had a deep impact on the interaction between the Beta Israel and the Jewish World. This conference is dedicated to the history of the Beta Israel at the time of their political autonomy and military conflicts with the Solomonic kingdom. This period in the community’s history, despite its crucial importance, has so far received very little scholarly and public attention.| 15:30-16:00 | Introduction: Dr. Elad Wexler, Head of the Research Institute of the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center Welcome addresses: Hili Tropper, Minister of Culture and Sport Dr. Simcha Getahune, chairwoman of the Public Council, the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center Dr. Anbessa Teferra, chairman of the Scientific Committee, the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center |
| 16:00-17:00 | First panel: The Place of the Kingdom of the Gideonites in the Community’s Traditions and Heritage Chair: Dr. Simcha Getahune, chairwoman of the Public Council, the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center, Kibbutzim College Rabbi Moshe Baruch: Queen Judith and Who Were the Gideonites? Daniel Belete: Gideon VII at the Time of His Reign and Afterwards |
| 17:00-17:30 | Break |
| 17:30-19:00 | Second Panel: The Political Autonomy of the Beta Israel in the Sources of the Jewish and Christian World Chair: Dr. Anbessa Teferra, Tel Aviv University |
| Dr. Bar Kribus, Ruhr University, Bochum: Where was the Kingdom of the Gideonites? The Borders and Scope of the Political Autonomy of the Betä Ǝsraʾel and the Location and Characteristics of Its Political Centers Dr. Leonardo Cohen and Mauricio Lapchik Minski, Ben Gurion University of the Negev: The Fall of the Political Autonomy in the Semien Mountains in the Eyes of Manuel de Almeida (1580-1646) – War, Destruction, and Resistance | |
| . | Rabbi Menachem Waldman: The Wars of the Gideonites in Ethiopia as Reflected in the Jewish Sources of the 15th and 16th Century |
| 19:00-19:30 | Break |
| 19:30-21:00 | Third session: The Involvement of the Politically Autonomous Beta Israel in the Politics and Military Struggles of the Northern Ethiopian Highlands Chair: Prof. Bat-Zion Eraqi Klorman, The Open University of Israel |
| Dessalegn Bizuneh Ayele, University of Gondar: On the Beta Israel-Muslim Alliances during the Muslim-Christian Con_icts of the 16th Century | |
| Dr. Solomon Gebreyes Beyene, Hamburg University: Representations of the history of Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews) in the royal Chronicle of King Sarsa Dengel (r. 1597-1563): A Historical Commentary | |
| Prof. Steven Kaplan, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Ya’eqob: A Christian Emperor with Beta Israel Roots | |
| 21:00-21:10 | Concluding Remarks: Naphtali Avraham, CEO, of the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center |
| Thanks: Dr. Elad Wexler, Head of the Research Institute of the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center |