This Yom Kippur, we should ask Ethiopian Israelis for forgiveness
Op-ed: How is it possible that Jews who preserved their Jewish identity and avoided mixed marriages for thousands of years in the Diaspora are considered gentiles by Israel's religious establishment when it comes to marriage?
I find it difficult to understand how we reached an impossible situation in which some Jews of Ethiopian descent who immigrated to Israel as children and grew up here all their lives are required to bring witnesses to prove that they are indeed Jews.
And so, on the most significant moment of their lives, members of the second generation of Ethiopian immigrants discover that they are not Israeli like everyone else. The marriage registration process and the encounter with the rabbinical world, which is supposed to be a journey of a spiritual and uplifting experience as a couple, turns in many cases into a humiliating and offensive encounter.
No 'special halachic solutions' abroad
I wonder if the reason for this delusional reality stems from the sin of arrogance and separatism which some of the religious councils apply to the Ethiopian population - or whether it is the result of the punishment for the fact that the community bows its head to arbitrary dictations.
Because at the end of the day, every couple which has undergone this experience vis-à-vis the religious councils in the State of Israel is willing to tolerate the price of humiliation, if only to reach the anticipated moment of marriage.
I ask myself painfully how did we reach a situation in which Jews of Ethiopian descent who live abroad find it very difficult to be accepted as complete Jews, and in many cases are rejected by rabbis who claim they cannot prove their Jewisheness. A rabbi of a congregation in the United States, which includes several Jews of Ethiopian descent, told me that rabbis abroad are not even aware of the "special halachic solutions" for Jews of Ethiopian descent which exist in Israel.
"Here," the rabbi told me, "there is no 'clarification of Jewishness' or 'giyur lechumra.' (a "rigorous"conversion process) Either they are Jewish - or they're not. If I don't let him marry a congregation members, it won't be because of his color but because of the Jewisheness."
How surprising and ironic is it that the Jews who preserved their Jewishness and avoided mixed marriages for thousands of years in the Diaspora are considered gentiles when it comes to marriage in the eyes of Israel's religious establishment?
Whether the reason for this embarrassing situation is the foolishness of an institution which is unwilling to accept a holistic solution to the Jewishness of Ethiopian Jews; whether the reason is the sin of the rabbinical establishment, which ignores Jewish basic values; and whether it is our punishment for the fact that we let the Rabbinate get away with its discrimination against different Jewish denominations in Israel - it is unthinkable that a native Israeli child of Ethiopian descent will have to come up with a confirmation that he is Jewish before getting married. For him it's a disaster, because as far as he is concerned, he is Jewish from birth.
The great lie
Here is another small matter for soul-searching of parts of the religious sector: How is it possible that after 30 years of immigrant absorption, there are those who refuse to include yeshiva students of Ethiopian descent in a prayer quorum? How is it possible that they are not admitted into state-funded institutions?
And I wonder, is this defective reality the reason for the sin of ignorance and foolishness of people and institutions, or is it a result of the punishment for our passivity and failure to insist on our Jewish and legal identity?
During certain periods in the history of Ethiopia's Jews, anti-Semites tried to annihilate the community's Jewish flame. A number of anti-Semitic Ethiopian rulers created demonization against the Jews, based on the lie that there is one human truth which is the Christian annunciation, while any other faith is a danger to humanity and the world.
Well, a small number of Jews of our time are seeking, under some guise or another, to continue and complete this great lie. According to them, there is only one truth in the Jewish faith.
The alternative is not that every man will do what is right in his own eyes, God forbid, but a comprehensive solution as part of the Chief Rabbinate and in full coordination with the community.
We must remember that it's the responsibility of each and every one of us, from all sides, to understand that not everyone who doesn’t agree with us is "evil." We are all brothers and sisters. We immigrated to Israel in order to live with each other, not in order to badmouth each other.
It seems, therefore, that the only comprehensive solution for some of the Ethiopian Jews is to create a pool of names and issue a certificate confirming the Jewishness of each immigrant or family.
How can this be done? By establishing a council made up of different representatives on behalf of the community and the Chief Rabbinate, representatives of the Kahens (Ethiopian Jews' high priests) and Ethiopian dignitaries and some representatives of the Torah Sages Council. The new council will look into the roots of each family and prepare a family tree for each member of the community.
Solving the problem from its core
The preparation of such a list could take two or three years, but after it is completed the problem will be solved once and for all: Each Ethiopian immigrant, regardless of where he lives in Israel or abroad, will be given a certificate proving his Jewishness. In addition, the committee will also try to look into the integration and status of the community's leaders and Kahens in the rabbinical establishment.
Let's look up to the sky and realize that we have gathered here from the four corners of earth with God's help, and that we are facing a great challenge to try to reduce the gaps that have been created, and of course to live with each other out of dignity despite the great difference between one group and another.
Both European immigrants and veteran Israelis must realize that the community has long become an inseparable part of the Israeli society's fabric and of Jewish tradition. My personal self-examination on this issue, therefore, is that I won't remain silent until the solution is solved. And God will forgive our crimes and sins.
Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom is a community rabbi in Kiryat Gat, a member of Beit Hillel - Alternative Spiritual Leadership, and teaches at the Tel Aviv and Bar Ilan universities.
