Ark of Covenant ታቦተ ዖሪት

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

135,000 Ethiopians living in Israel at end of 2013 -CBS report

The report also stated that in 2013, 1355 new immigrants arrived from Ethiopia, nearly a 50% reduction in aliya from the previous year.

Ethiopians celebrating in Jerusalem. (photo credit:MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

At the end of 2013 the Ethiopian population in Israel stood at some 135.5 thousand people - 85.9 thousand who were born in Ethiopia and 49.6 thousand who were born in Israel to Ethiopian fathers, according to a report released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

According to the report, the majority of the Ethiopian population lives in two central localities - 38% in the Center and 24% in the South. Among the major cities, Netanya maintains the largest Ethiopian community comprising some 10.9 thousand people, followed by Rishon LeZion with some 7.4 thousand and BeerSheba with 7.1 thousand people. Some 5.9 thousand Ethiopians live in Jerusalem while only 2.3 thousand live in Tel Aviv.

The findings also indicated that the Ethiopian population was a relatively young one, with 29% comprising of children up to the age of 14 while only 6% of the population were over 65, compared to 12% of Jewish and "other" populations in Israel.

A majority of Ethiopians, some 88% married within the Ethiopian community in Israel, the report stated. In 2012 the average age for an Ethiopian man to wed was 29.3 years old, 1.5 years older than the Jewish male average; while the average age for an Ethiopian woman to we stood at 26.4 years old, 0.7 years older than the Jewish female average.

In 2013, 3,126 babies were born to Ethiopian mothers, with the average woman giving birth to 2.8 children, compared to 3.05 children among the Jewish population.

The report also stated that in 2013, 1355 new immigrants arrived from Ethiopia, nearly a 50% reduction in aliya from the previous year.

According to the report the average Ethiopian household, whereby one or both parents were born in Ethiopia, has monthly consumption expenditures of NIS 9,385 compared to the national average consumption expenditures of NIS 14,501 per household - a 35% gap.

Furthermore, the average monthly household income for Ethiopian families stood at NIS 11,453 compared to a national household average of NIS 17,711 - also indicating a 35% gap in income.

In addition, the findings indicated that the average Ethiopian household has 2 wage earners, higher than the national average of 1.5 wage earners per household. However, the average Ethiopian household has 4.4 people compared to the national average of 3.3 people per household.

With regards to education, 45.3% of Ethiopian students in elementary through high schools study in the state education system whereas 51.3% study in the state-religious education system.

In 2013, the percentage of Ethiopian graduates who took the matriculation examinations stood at 88%, compared to 82% of Jewish students. However, the findings indicated that only 50% were eligible for the matriculation certificate, compared to 63% among Jewish students.

With regards to higher education, the 2013/14 academic year, saw 312,528 students studying at higher education institutions in Israel, of which some 2,785 were Ethiopian. Of the students, 88% pursued undergraduate degrees, 11.2% were studying for a Master’s degree and 0.5% were pursuing Ph.Ds.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Thirty Years After Operation Moses: Sigd-2014 | Sandy Wasserman | The Blogs | The Times of Israel

THIS IS AN INVITATION! BUT FIRST, A BRIEF INTRODUCTION!

I have the utmost admiration for my Jewish Ethiopian Israeli friend, Bizu Riki Mullu. She lives in Manhattan now, not far from where my grandparents settled when they emigrated from Poland in the early 1900s. My grandparents emigrated to seek a richer, safer Jewish life, and Riki’s emigration to Israel also fulfilled the dream of a return to Jerusalem, sought by Ethiopian Jews for centuries.

Bizu Riki Mullu

RIKI’S STORY:

When Riki lived in Ethiopia, she enjoyed a rich Jewish life in her village, surrounded by family and the Jewish community, though Riki’s family yearned to return to Jerusalem. Jews in Ethiopia could not own land, and lived at the mercy of their Christian neighbors; they experienced discrimination and hatred, called by derogatory names, and treated as strangers. By 1973 Communism was entrenched into Ethiopian society and the Jews in the villages realized things would only get worse; the government planned to disrupt Jewish life further by separating villages and dispersing Jews to various places in Ethiopia. Instead many Jews chose to leave Ethiopia on foot, a trip that would take three weeks or more – walking through Sudan and Egypt – to finally reach Israel, though thousands died on the way, willing to risk their lives.

RIKI’S FAMILY:

As a pre-teen in the late 70s, Riki and a small group of Ethiopian Jewish children were selected to immigrate to Israel and she did so under Operation Begin, well preceding Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991. In many ways Riki’s immigration is reminiscent of the Kindertransport that took place during the Shoah; parents will do anything and everything they must, to take risks to ensure their children a better life.

After WWII, my grandparents here in NY sought to locate any remaining relatives, and Riki had the hope and dream to reunite with her family, still living in Ethiopia in the early 80s. While having little communication with her family back in Ethiopia and still adjusting to Israel herself, with the help of individuals and organizations, she successfully arranged for her entire family to immigrate to Israel.

FAST FORWARD:

Riki enjoyed being surrounded by her extended family in Israel. Times were tough, and adjustments to a new modern country were many. For those accustomed to the rich but simple life in Ethiopia, arrival and life in modern Israel in the 80s had its challenges. Riki’s skill translating from Amharic to Hebrew for new immigrants became valuable to the Jewish Agency in Israel, and by 1991 Riki was sent to NY as a ‘shlichah’ to represent Israel, and the Ethiopian Jews, as a representative to Jews in the Diaspora.

RIKI’S LIFE AS AN ACTIVIST, ARTIST & NEW YORKER:

Original needlework creation – Torah cover- Ethiopian design

Riki became comfortable living in NYC and decided to stay, though she went back and forth as often as possible and still does, visiting her extended family! Now, 20 years later, Riki is still here, still an activist for Ethiopian Jews, always a Zionist, always seeing the glass half full! Besides Riki’s activist side, she is also a master artist, designing and creating Ethiopian jewelry and traditional Ethiopian needle craft.

ACTIVISM + LOVE OF JUDAISM = A BRAINSTORM!

In Israel, Ethiopian Jews have slowly integrated and have become part of the fabric of everyday Israeli life. Army service, participation in Israel’s IDF, is the glue, and binds people together more than other aspects of society. Ethiopian Jews arrived with special foods and customs, with a unique language, with talents in the arts. These unique, diverse cultural aspects of Ethiopian Jewish life became part of Israeli life; in 2008 the Jewish Ethiopian festival, the SIGD, became a national holiday in Israel.

But Riki is living in NY, visiting her extended family in Jerusalem only when she can. She remembers the customs and celebrations and food and memories of her childhood on those visits.

WHAT IS THE SIGD?

Of the many rituals and traditions, the SIGD festival stands out to Riki. SIGD is a Jewish Ethiopian festival which celebrates the giving of the Torah. According to Ethiopian tradition the Torah was given to the Jewish people exactly 50 days after Yom Kippur, rather than on Shavuot, as is the tradition in the rest of the Jewish world. In Ethiopia the Jewish community would make a special pilgrimage to the nearest highest mountain, since they could not observe the precept of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and there would be prayers and blessings by the Kesim (priests and learned elders), followed by a festive meal. In Israel today, thousands of Ethiopian Jews make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem each year, beginning with a gathering on the Talpiot Promenade.

AND THEN RIKI HAD AN IDEA!

“There are other Jewish Ethiopian Israelis now living in the New York area too! They are missing the SIGD. And… perhaps the Ashkenazi Jewish population and the Sephardi Jewish population, and all New Yorkers, would enjoy the SIGD festival, this taste of Jewish Ethiopian tradition. WHY NOT bring it to New York??!!”

THE ANNUAL SIGD IN NY IS BORN!

Chassida Shmella, the organization of the Ethiopian Jewish Community of North America, is the umbrella non-profit organization founded by Riki. The SIGD has been its annual stellar program for the past five years! Each year, it is bigger and better!

THERE ARE TWO PARTS TO THE SIGD FOR 2014!

-SHABBAT DINNER ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14TTH, BEGINNING WITH SERVICES

-THE SIGD, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH IN THE AFTERNOON

ALL DETAILS BELOW!

SIGD IN NY 2013

On Friday afternoon, November 14th, at the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue (Congregation Shearith Israel on 70th Street) services begin at 4:30pm, followed by a lecture and Shabbat dinner – PREPAID – details below -(consisting of both traditional and Ethiopian food, kosher of course) at 7pm.

At that time Shabbat dinner guests will have the pleasure of meeting Ethiopian rabbis, who travel to NY from Israel, and are present for the entire SIGD weekend. These guests will also be present, chanting during the SIGD on Sunday, November 16th at 3:45pm at B’nai Jeshurun synagague on the Upper West Side. The presence of the rabbis from Israel is made possible with the support of the Israeli Consulate.

You’ll be there, along with rabbis and scholars, Ethiopian music and dancing, reading and chanting, Ethiopian food and coffee. All in all, quite diverse and interesting company! All details – regarding fees and locations, all contact information, can be found in the beautiful invitation below.

Sunday’s SIGD, November 16th – Be sure to come on time, and HUNGRY! Hungry for the colors and the sounds, the music and the food, hungry for the experience, and the opportunity for families and people of all ages to learn about another dimension of Jewish culture. After all, Kol Yisrael arevim zeh la-zeh, – ‘all the people of Israel are responsible for one another.’ And we are so lucky that we are living in this time, when, outside of Israel, the four corners of the Jewish world can meet in one place in Manhattan. ALL DETAILS AND FEES BELOW!

AFTERWORD!

A few years ago, Riki founded a non-profit organization, Chassida Shmella, whose name means “stork” in both Hebrew and Amharic. The stork is the bird whose migratory patterns over Ethiopia and towards Jerusalem follow the dreams Ethiopian Jews wished for themselves. Chassida Shmella’s programs inform us about the rich customs and traditions Ethiopian Jews kept through centuries. In this masterful way, Riki has been both supporter of other Ethiopian Israelis living in the New York area- helping them to remember their traditions – and as educator … with programming about Rosh Hodesh in Ethiopia, Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, the challenges of Jewish Ethiopian emigration and immigration, Ethiopian films and music, and Jewish holidays. VISIT CHASSIDA SHMELLA’S WEBSITE http://chasmell.webs.com/ or visit Chassida Shmella on Facebook for further information or to learn about all the fascinating programs.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

'There’s a naivety in saying there is no God’ Prof Brian Cox: - Telegraph

Professor Brian Cox talks about religion, alien life and the Reithian ideals behind his new TV series

'I'm a Manchester academic. I don’t do TV because I want a career in the media,' says Prof Brian Cox Photo: BBC

By Matthew Stadlen

7:00AM BST 07 Oct 2014

1556 Comments

Once he was a scientist who used to be a rockstar, now he’s a rockstar scientist. So successful have his TV programmes become that Professor Brian Cox is more in the limelight now than he ever was as a member of the chart-topping D:Ream in the Nineties. “I was playing keyboard so I was always at the back,” he tells me, when we meet to discuss Human Universe, his cosmology series starting tonight on BBC Two.

Early last year, Sir David Attenborough himself hailed Prof Cox as his heir apparent. “If I had a torch I would hand it to Brian Cox,” said the giant of natural history programming. Time will tell whether Prof Cox can scale Sir David’s broadcasting heights, but he already has two things that the 88-year-old lacks: a professorship and a No 1 hit.

Prof Cox is returning to our screens to ask profound questions about our existence. Why are we here? How did the universe make us? What made the universe? The series is, he says, a love letter to the human race. “During the shooting I realised that we are rare and therefore valuable and quite remarkable and worth celebrating.” In the first programme, he takes us on a fast-track journey from monkey to the space station.

Tall but slight, Prof Cox is a youthful 46, though his trademark fringe is beginning to grey. He was born in Greater Manchester to parents who worked in a bank and was privately educated at Hulme Grammar School in the Eighties. He excelled in physics but got a D in his maths A-level (he was “more interested in New Order and the Smiths”). Today, he lives in London with his wife, the American television presenter Gia Milinovich, their five-year-old son and her son from a previous relationship.

The Wonders of the Solar System, in 2010, was the TV series that tipped him over the edge into mass appeal, and since then he has fronted, among others, The Wonders of the Universe and Stargazing Live.