that the Falashas are descended from the tribes of Israel who travelled southwards to Ethiopia. There is no doubt that the above sages, who ruled that they (the Falashas) are of the tribe of Dan, investigated and searched and came to this conclusion on the basis of the most trustworthy evidence and testimony. I also, a young man among the tribes of Israel, investigated and searched thoroughly in the matter after their leaders turned to me with a request to be joined to our people, the House oflsrael, in the spirit of the Torah and the-Halacha, the Written Law and the Oral Law, without any restriction, and to carry out all the precepts of the Holy Torah in accordance with the instructions of our great rabbis of blessed memory, by whose utterances we live. I have decided that, in my humble opinion, they are Jews who must be saved from absorption and assimilation. We are obligated to speed up their immigration into Israel and to educate them in our Holy Torah, making them partners in the building up of our land. And the sons shall return to the Holy Land.

I am certain that Government institutions and the Jewish Agency, as well as organisations in Israel and in the Diaspora, will help us to the best of their ability in this holy task that you have taken upon yourself- the mitzva [good deed] of redeeming the souls of our people. For whoever saves a single soul in Israel, it is as though he had saved a whole world.

He ended with a reference to Isaiah's plea that God will 'bring back our brethren from Assyria, from Egypt, from Ethiopia and from the isles of the seas and that the scattered ones of Israel and the dispersed ones of Judah may all be gathered together from the four corners of the earth. May they all come and bow down before the Lord on the sacred mount in Jerusalem.' (1)

The ruling - even though it was based on the somewhat problematic descent from Dan - was clear enough. The Chief Rabbi of the largest religious community in Israel had dissipated the doubts of the orthodox as to the claim of the Falashas to be considered part of the Jewish people and had unequivocally called for their return to Zion. Nevertheless, it took a good two years before the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Ovadia Yosef's constant rival, could somewhat reluctantly bring himself to express a similar opinion. It was only then that the Ministry of

(1) lsaiah 11:11, 12.