The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
Today's date is: 5/12/2025
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The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
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| Halevy reported that commerce was unpopular among the Falashas because it interfered with religious observances, while slave trading, which was prevalent in his day, was abhorred. Falashas had a high reputation as farmers, artisans and soldiers. They were well known for their bravery and many thousands had enlisted in the Emperor Theodore's army. While he found that there were no religious differences among them, Halevy noted that each community was independent and that it was only when danger threatened their religion that they united against a common foe. In this way, he said, the weak and ignorant Falashas had succeeded in paralysing the efforts of the missionaries. Halevy was certain that the Falashas formed a distinct sect within Judaism. He recognised the difficulty of distinguishing between myth and fact in disentangling their history and mentioned that in the Semien mountains, in his day, there was an old man called Abba Gideon who was generally regarded as being a direct descendant of the former royal house. Falashas considered the restoration of Jewish nationality a principal article of faith, and set great store on the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. A few years before Halevy's visit the conjunction of Emperor Theodore's accession to the throne and the message preached by the missionaries had deceived many Falashas into believing that a new era was dawning. Imbued with a strong sense of Ethiopian tradition, they recognised Theodore as the name of the expected Messiah. When Kassa assumed that name on his coronation and declared that he was the heaven-appointed Saviour of the nation, many simple folk imagined that the Messiah was at hand. Added to this, the missionaries declared that the Messiah had arrived long ago in Jerusalem and had been accepted by the Jews and it was only their abysmal ignorance which had prevented the Falashas from accepting the gl;d tidings. Many people began to think that the prophecies were at last being fulfilled. A letter was even written, in Ge'ez, by a certain Abba Sagga in 1862, addressed to the chief priest of all the Jews in Jerusalem, inquiring whether the time had come for them to return to the Holy City. The message was mentioned in Rabbi Hildesheimer's appeal and was printed in the journal Asiatique of Paris in 1867.(1) The translation reads as follows: God be praised, Lord oflsrael, Lord of all spirit and of all that is flesh; this letter is sent by Abba Sagga; may it reach the priest of Jerusalem, Kaka Yusef, the chief priest of all the Hebrews; Kaka (1) Vol. 9, February-March. |
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