The Jewish Palate: Beta Israel- The Jews of Ethiopia

By CHEF DENNIS WASKO , 12/20/2010 17:49  

Photo by: Courtesy Ruppin Academic Center

Source: The Jerusalem Post

A column about Jewish history and Jewish food. This week: The tale of King Menelik I, the Ethiopian kingdom of Gondar and "Doro wat."

Eretz Yisrael has become an incredible melting pot.  Within its tiny borders, Jews from every conceivable national origin have found a safe place of refuge where they can express the fullness of their particular flavor of Judaism.  Perhaps the most dramatic example of this would be our Brothers and Sisters from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Jews, known as the Beta Israel, have become one of the most visible, and sadly, misunderstood Jewish communities of all.  They have an incredible story to tell, and a cuisine that is second to none.

The Beta Israel can trace their origins back to antiquity.  Their oldest oral traditions claim that their ancestors migrated from Israel to Egypt after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E.  After a few hundred years, the community migrated further south after Egypt was conquered by the Roman Empire.  They eventually came to the land known as Ethiopia.

Another tradition, described in the Kebra Negast (Book of the Glory of Kings), claims that the Ethiopians are the descendants of Israelite tribes who came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, the reputed son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.  Not only did Menelik I bring Judaism back to Ethiopia, but tradition holds that he also brought the Ark of the Covenant as well.  Though the Bible in no way supports these claims, this tradition is very strongly adhered to by Ethiopian Jews, as well as Christians (there is a church in Ethiopia that claims to posses the Ark of the Covenant) and Rastafarians (who claim that their messiah, the Emperor Haile Selassie (reigned, 1930-1974) was a direct descendant of Menelik I). More reading on The Jerusalem Post .