The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
Today's date is: 5/12/2025
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| 133 Jewish Chronicle, he related his experiences and explained how he had succeeded in overcoming the suspicions of the Falashas. 'Every time a European comes to see us,' he was told, 'he proclaims himself a Jew; but that is only in order to deceive us and to convert us'.(1) It was four decades since Halevy had been among them and as he had not returned they thought he must be dead and, once again, they felt neglected and decided that they must be the only Jews left in the world. It was Faitlovitch's task to reassure them. In some ways he presented a less depressing picture than Halevy, who had visited the country at a particularly bad time. He did not suggest that the Falashas were being persecuted and he reported that 'they live very happily in the country where they maintain cordial relations with the qrher inhabitants when these are not incited against them by the chiefs and the missionaries. I may say, however, that the Negus Menelik shows them much goodwill.'(2) What worried him was their isolation, their poverty, their lack of education in anything but the simplest religious instruction and, above all, the activities of the missionaries. He saw clearly, as Halevy had done, that only by overcoming their ignorance would the Falashas be able to counteract the influence of the evangelists whose resources, though strictly limited, seemed immense to these simple folk. They were eager for assistance and Faitlovitch reported that 'in the midst of the ignorant populations among whom they dwell they form an elite desirous of emerging from their degraded condition, burning with idealism, full oflove for the faith of their ancestors, which they would not abandon except if compelled to do so by violent methods. These brothers', he declared, 'must be retained in the religion of Israel; and with this object the Jews in our country must interest themselves in these Israelites who are so worthy of their sympathy and solicitude. '(3) With the object of forming a cadre of teachers and leaders who would be trained in Europe, Faitlovitch brought back with him to France two young men, Tamrat Emanuel, whom he had met in Asmara, and Getie Jeremias, from Fendja, who were placed in the care of the Alliance Israelite. He also brought a pathetic message from the Falashas, written in Amharic, begging for help, which throws a revealing light on the state of the community at that time. It reads, in translation,(4) as follows: (1) J.C., 27 October 1905. |