Ethiopian Jews always dreamed of Jerusalem

For generations, Ethiopian Jews dreamed of Jerusalem while living largely separated from Jewish communities elsewhere in the world. In villages across northern Ethiopia, they preserved their faith, developed their own traditions and religious leadership, and maintained a connection to a place most had never seen. 

Their story is a striking reminder that Jewish culture has never looked the same everywhere. As the 2026 Investec Jewish Achiever Awards celebrate “Le Festival des Juifs, a tapestry of culture”, Ethiopian Jewry adds a distinctive African thread. 

The Ethiopian Jewish community is known as Beta Israel. Historically concentrated in the north, the community developed distinctive Jewish customs. Spiritual leaders known as Kessim led its religious life, and some of its traditions differ considerably from those familiar to Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews. 

One of the clearest examples is Sigd, a festival particular to Ethiopian Jewish tradition. Celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur, it is a day of prayer, communal reflection, and renewal of the covenant between the Jewish people, G-d, and the Torah. Central to Sigd was the yearning to return to Zion. Ethiopian Jews would pray for Jerusalem, turning a distant city into something deeply present in their religious lives. 

That longing took on a very different meaning in the late 20th century. Between 1980 and 1984, large numbers of Ethiopian Jews left their villages and travelled through Sudan in the hope of reaching Israel. The journey could take weeks or even months and refugees faced hunger, disease, violence, and dangerous conditions in Sudanese camps. According to the Knesset, about 4 000 Ethiopian Jews died on the way and in the camps. 

For those who survived, Israel eventually became a reality. Operation Moses, which began in 1984, brought about 8 000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel before publicity surrounding the secret operation led to it being halted. Families were separated and many members of the community remained behind. 

Then, in May 1991, came Operation Solomon. With Ethiopia in the midst of civil war, more than 14 000 Ethiopian Jews were taken to Israel in just 36 hours. Their arrival represented the fulfilment of a dream that had shaped Ethiopian Jewish life for centuries. 

But arriving in Israel also meant beginning again. Ethiopian Jews had to establish themselves in a society with different languages and customs, while preserving a heritage that had survived for generations in Ethiopia. Their traditions ultimately became another distinctive part of the extraordinary mix of cultures that make up Jewish life in Israel. 

Their story also raises a bigger question about what Jewish culture looks like. For many South African Jews, their traditions have roots in Lithuania, Poland, and other parts of Europe, while some trace their customs to Morocco and other communities across North Africa and the Middle East. Ethiopian Jews bring another African culture into the picture, with its own religious traditions, foods, music, and history. 

That is what makes Ethiopian Jewry fitting in this year’s Investec Jewish Achiever Awards theme. “A tapestry of culture” isn’t simply about celebrating different foods, music, and clothing. It’s about recognising the vastly different histories that Jewish communities have carried with them while remaining part of one people. 

Ethiopian Jews carried theirs through centuries of relative isolation, enormous upheaval, and an extraordinary journey to Israel without losing what made their culture distinctive. Their traditions didn’t have to look like those of Jews in Johannesburg, Jerusalem, Warsaw, or Casablanca to belong to the same story. 

It is precisely those differences that make the Jewish tapestry what it is.