Subject Guide: Jewish Aid and Rescue

The Ethiopian Jewish community may descend from the Tribe of Dan, one of the ten so-called “lost” tribes, and could have originated as long ago as the break-up of the United kingdom of Israel, circa 1020 to 930 B.C.E., or the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.E., or the Babylonian Exile in 586 B.C.E. Based on various medieval responsa concerning Ethiopian Jews, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the newly-elected Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, ruled in 1973 that the Beta Israel were Jews and should be brought to Israel. He was later joined in this ruling by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel. On March 14, 1977, Israeli officials decided that the Israeli Law of Return applied to the Beta Israel.

After the Ethiopian civil war broke out, the Jewish Communities were at risk. HIAS, as a member organization of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service (ACVA) and of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC), was involved in some of the rescue activities, starting in 1977 and continuing into early 1980’s. 

From Harrison, Rachel. “We Demand the Immediate Emigration to Israel of All Ethiopian Jews.” ontherescuefront,wordpress.com, December 29, 2017, https://ontherescuefront.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/we-demand-the-immediate-emigration-to-israel-of-all-ethiopian-jews/.

Graenum Berger Papers (P-717)

The greater part of the Graenum Berger Papers relate to Berger's involvement with Ethiopian Jewry, and his efforts to bring about their rescue through the organization he formed, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), which existed from 1973-1993.

Howard Lenhoff Papers (P-902)

The Howard Lenhoff Papers were generated and accumulated by Howard Lenhoff starting with his involvement with AAEJ in 1974 and running up until his final preparations in 2006 for his book, Black Jews, Jews and Other Heroes: How Grassroots Activism Led to the Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews (2007). 

Ludwig Schwarzschild Collection (AR 11945) [Digitized]

Correspondence from the physician Ludwig Schwarzschild (1900-1970) in Ethiopia pertaining to OSE (mostly photocopies), as well as handwritten notes of Ludwig Schwarzschild about Ethiopia and its people. 

Nate Shapiro Papers (P-893) 

This collection is primarily made up of correspondence and other records of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), that remained in the possession of Nate Shapiro after the organization dissolved in 1993.

Records of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (I-503)

Founded in 1969, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ) was instrumental in the international effort to promote recognition of the Beta Israel (known among non-Jewish Ethiopians as "Falashas") by Israeli authorities, and to assist Jewish emigration from Ethiopia to Israel. The extensive files of the AAEJ include case work files, research materials and Jewish artifacts collected in Ethiopia by AAEJ workers. 

Falasha anthology: the black Jews of Ethiopia / Translated from Ethiopic sources with an introd. by Wolf Leslau. of Yale Judaica Series v. 6. New York: Schocken Books, 1969.

Jacques Faitlovitch and the Jews of Ethiopia / Emanuela Trevisan Semi; translated from Italian by Sally Bennet; foreword by Tudor Parfitt. London; Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007.

My name is Rachamim /Jonathan P. Kendall; illustrated by Alemu Eshetie. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1987.

Operation Moses: the untold story of the secret exodus of the Falasha Jews from Ethiopia / Tudor Parfitt. New York: Stein and Day, 1985.

The Falashas: the forgotten Jews of Ethiopia / David Kessler; [with a new preface by the author]. 1st pbk.ed. New York: Schocken Books, 1985.

Treacherous journey: my escape from Ethiopia / Shmuel Avraham with Arlene Kushner. 1st ed. New York, NY: Shapolsky Pub., 1986.