The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
Today's date is: 5/12/2025
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| 124 Yusef, may it reach you by the hand of Buronkosa. Peace to you, our brother Hebrews! The first letter which you sent by the hand of Daniel son of Ananya, father of Muse .... Has the time arrived that we should return to you, [to] our city, the holy city of Jerusalem? For we are a poor people and have neither prince nor prophet and if the time has arrived send us a letter which will reach us, because you are in a better position than us. Tell us and inform us of all that will happen to us. But as for us, a great agitation has disturbed our hearts, for they say that the time has arrived; the men of our country say, 'Separate yourselves from the Christians and go to your country, Jerusalem, and reunite yourselves with your brothers and offer up sacrifices to God, Lord of Israel, in the Holy Land. As for you, Bironkos, man of God, as we love you, so go take for us that letter to our brother Hebrews. Peace to you, peace to you, with much peace, our brother Hebrews, you who are in the Law of the Torah which God gave to Moses his servant on Mount Sinai! I who have sent this letter, Abba Sagga, ... I sent it to you in seven thousand, three hundred and fifty-four, year of the world [i.e. 1862], in the second month. The letter is finished.(1) The addressee of this poignant letter has not been identified nor is it known whether any reply was sent. The bearer, whose name also appears, in a different context, spelt Berinkos, in Halevy's Travels in Abyssinia(2) is probably Bronkhorst, one of the missionaries from Jenda. According to Wurmbrand (3) the letter was handed to Bishop Gobat, who did not deliver it, and it eventually came into the hands of Rabbi Jacob Safir of Jerusalem, the author of 'Even Sappir', who communicated it to Hermann Zotenberg by whom it was published. The original Ge'ez text of the sentence referring to 'Daniel, son of Ananya, father of Muse' is defective and it is therefore unclear whether Daniel brought a letter from Gondar or took one there. What we know from Safir is that Daniel came to Jerusalem in 1855 bringing his son Moses. They stayed a few months and then Daniel returned to Ethiopia, leaving his son behind to receive a Jewish education. The leaders of the community in Jerusalem gave Daniel a letter addressed to ltzhak haCohen in Gondar in which they expressed their sorrow that the Falashas had forgotten Jewish tradition, as a result of their prolonged wars and troubles, and begged them to recognise the interpretation of Judaism which (1) I am indebted to Dr David Appleyard for this translation. 2p. 41. |