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The Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation (MRGFF) is leading an initiative to provide Israelis of Ethiopian descent with the resources which will encourage sustainable success through education. By providing Israel’s best higher education, we ensure the fabric of Israel remains equal and strong into the future.
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38 people from Europe, North America, and Israel embarked on a four-day journey to Ethiopia from November 14th to November 17th, 2022. The mission helped the Changemakers understand important elements such as the care olim (immigrants) receive in Ethiopia and Israel and how education has been and continues to be a key to success in Israel. Following their time in Ethiopia, the group had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the history and culture of the community, flying alongside new olim to Israel, accompanying them as they set foot for the first time on the soil of our Jewish state and reunite with family members who already made Aliyah. These Changemakers marveled at the 2500 years of there being Jews in Ethiopia and left reenergized in the push to help Israelis of Ethiopian descent thrive through access to Israel’s best education- a degree at either Tel Aviv or Hebrew University.
Other Resources
1st night of our joint Conference which featured a couple of live testimonials
Webinar: Leaders, Teachers and Sacred Texts: Ethiopian Jewry Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Recent Historical Facts
1975 – The Israeli government confirms that the “Law of Return” applies to Ethiopian Jews.
1979-1990 – A Mossad agent organizes the first journey of 32 Ethiopian Jews to Israel through Sudan. Their letters home inspire many Ethiopians to attempt the journey through Sudan on foot. The journey is filled with dangers, and during the 1980’s thousands of Ethiopians die en route to Israel.
1984-1985 – Operation Moses: Approximately 7,000 Ethiopian Jews arrive in Israel on 23 secret flights flying through Europe. Following a leak to the press about the operation, the Arab world is outraged and the operation is stopped. Numerous Ethiopians are separated from family members left behind in Ethiopia.
1985-1990 – The flow of Ethiopian Jews coming to Israel through Sudan is renewed. Through rescue missions by the Mossad, 1500 immigrants arrive to Israel. During a time span of 10 years, the Mossad helps close to 16,000 Ethiopian Jews through Sudan, not including those who came with Operation Solomon.
1989 – Renewal of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Israel: an Israeli embassy opens in Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Jews start arriving to Addis Ababa from surrounding villages.
1991 – Operation Solomon, May 25-26th, 1991: Within 36 hours, an unprecedented aliyah operation takes place and 14,310 members of “Beta Israel” are brought to Israel by air from Addis Ababa. During 1990-1993 over 30,000 Ethiopian Jews arrive in Israel.
2021 – Israel estimates that approximately 145,000 Ethiopian Jews are living in the State of Israel. The aliyah from Ethiopia continues today.
1979-1990 – A Mossad agent organizes the first journey of 32 Ethiopian Jews to Israel through Sudan. Their letters home inspire many Ethiopians to attempt the journey through Sudan on foot. The journey is filled with dangers, and during the 1980’s thousands of Ethiopians die en route to Israel.
1984-1985 – Operation Moses: Approximately 7,000 Ethiopian Jews arrive in Israel on 23 secret flights flying through Europe. Following a leak to the press about the operation, the Arab world is outraged and the operation is stopped. Numerous Ethiopians are separated from family members left behind in Ethiopia.
1985-1990 – The flow of Ethiopian Jews coming to Israel through Sudan is renewed. Through rescue missions by the Mossad, 1500 immigrants arrive to Israel. During a time span of 10 years, the Mossad helps close to 16,000 Ethiopian Jews through Sudan, not including those who came with Operation Solomon.
1989 – Renewal of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Israel: an Israeli embassy opens in Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Jews start arriving to Addis Ababa from surrounding villages.
1991 – Operation Solomon, May 25-26th, 1991: Within 36 hours, an unprecedented aliyah operation takes place and 14,310 members of “Beta Israel” are brought to Israel by air from Addis Ababa. During 1990-1993 over 30,000 Ethiopian Jews arrive in Israel.
2021 – Israel estimates that approximately 145,000 Ethiopian Jews are living in the State of Israel. The aliyah from Ethiopia continues today.
YOUR Help
Married and mother of nine, she has been living in Yavne since 2005. She was born in
Ethiopia in 1981 in Zagra-Wenz, a village in Gondar, the eighth of nine children. After
the failure of their first three attempts, starting in 1984, to walk through Sudan, they
came to Israel through Addis Ababa in 1991.
She did her national service duty at the Talpiot boarding school, in gratitude to the
institution that laid the foundations for her development. Through her pregnancies and
births, she studied for a BA at the Women’s College in Bayit VeGan, Jerusalem and she
received her MA in Educational Counselling from Bar Ilan University. She has worked as
an educational consultant for 16 years, including the coordination of educational and
cultural resources for Ethiopian Jews in The Settlement Education Administration.
She has volunteered in the several Ethiopian communities where she offers lectures and
workshops and coordinates and plans educational and social programs.
In October 2020, she began her studies for the Orit Guardians MA, helping her to fulfil a
personal dream and her late father’s last wish: to study and explore the Orit (Bible).
“These days I started studying for a MA degree at Tel Aviv University in The clinical route for The Treatment of Stress and Trauma. Out of the daily contact with the population I care for, a desire and need arose to expand my knowledge through MSW studies. Due to my extensive experience in caring for complex families and after a process of maturing and forming my personal and professional identity, I see myself as an emissary in providing care to needy families and immigrants, feel that this work gives me satisfaction and meaning and that it contributes and promotes me.”
Rivkah holds a BA and an MA in Education from the University of Haifa. She is married
and has three children. In 1984, made Aliya through Sudan to Israel from a village near
Ambober, in Ethiopia. Currently, she lives in Haifa.
Along with researching and exploring her identity in general and her Jewish identity in
particular, she is interested in delving deeper into the study of the scriptures of
Ethiopian Jewry and joined the Orit Guardian program, which studies in-depth the Orit
(Bible) and the holy books.
Gadi was born in Aba-Ant'onis, a village near Gondar. He made Aliya without his
parents, with a group of children, in December 1987. He is married with four children
and lives in Aluma, an Yishuv near Kiryat Gat. He holds a BA degree in Communication,
Creativity and Criticism, and is a certified group facilitator. He has worked in different
Youth Organizations, in non-formal education facilitating groups of parents, activists,
and youth on subjects such as education and parental involvement in education. As part
of the Meskot project, which he initiated and led, he photographed Ethiopian Jewish
social events and conferences, and documented the stories of the older generation
among Ethiopian Jewry. He joined the Orit Guardian program in the Department of
Biblical Studies at Tel Aviv University to fulfil his academic aspirations and utilize the
years of experience he has gained.
34 years old, married and a father of two, he lives in Netivot. He holds a BA in Special
Education and Oral Torah and a Teaching Certificate from Hemdat HaDarom College in
the Negev. In 1992, aged 5, he made Aliya to Israel from the village of Dado in the
Amhara District of Ethiopia with his entire family – twelve people. He was educated in a
state religious elementary school, and at Ofakim’s high school yeshiva. As part of his
yeshiva studies, Addisu devoted his time to Jewish Studies, but he always felt that he
had nothing to bring from his own tradition. One of the fundamental goals of the yeshiva
was to encourage students to take responsibility for society, with an emphasis on the
social periphery. He was encouraged to learn about his community. After yeshiva, he
took on leadership roles in Netivot’s Ethiopian Jewish Heritage Center, working to
change the community’s narrative in many significant areas. The Orit Guardians MA is
enhancing his knowledge and understanding of the scriptures of Ethiopian Jews.
Married and mother of six living in Herzliya, she made Aliyah in 1984, aged 9, with her
parents and two younger brothers. Unfortunately, her two other brothers died in Sudan
(one was 14 at the time of his death and the other was 9 months old).
She holds a BA in Criminology and Education from Ariel University, which operated
then (1998-2001) under Bar Ilan University. Since 2000, she has worked part-time for
the Herzliya Municipality acting as a mediator between Ethiopian-Jews and the
municipality in issues of education and welfare. In 2005, she moved to the Human
Resources Department to work in welfare and then was promoted in 2014, to be a full-
time secretary in Municipal/Regional Support Center (MATYA) Herzliya-Sharonim.
Today, she works as a secretary in the Engineering Department at the Municipality.
She wanted to study for an MA for many years, but she couldn’t because of her sick
mother. Today, she has an opportunity to study for an MA degree in a field of study that
is very important – the Orit – in the Orit Guardian program at Tel Aviv University. She
hopes to be a role model for her children and have a role to play in preserving
knowledge of the Orit, the holy Torah revered by her ancestors.
48-years old, married and father of three, he made Aliya in 1987. He was born in Ethiopia in
Abantonis village, a 25-minute walk from Gondar, the city where most Ethiopian Jews
originated. He made Aliya with his family through Addis Ababa at 11, and joined the older
brother, who was already in Lod, Israel.
He holds a BA degree in Sociology and Political Science from Bar Ilan University. In 2000,
he travelled to the United States on behalf of the Jewish Agency and the Yemin Orad to
mentor at a summer camp for three months. That was an unforgettable experience. Upon his
return, he co-established an after-school program that provides a solution for youth in Lod.
He then worked for the North American Organization of Ethiopian Jews (NACOJ) in charge
of foreign relations. In 2007, he became the director of an absorption centre for Ethiopians in
Lod, a joint project of the municipality and the Ministry of Absorption that provides a
solution for Ethiopians in the fields of education, welfare and employment.
Sefi Mangashe grew up in Or Yehuda and did her undergraduate studies
in organizational behavior at the Ariel University. Since graduating she has
worked in a number of human resource management positions, most
recently as an advisor and placement coordinator at the Petach Tikva
Employment Service. She is also a qualified Life Coach. Sefi began her
studies on the Schwartz Program: MA in Non-Profit and Community
Organization Management in 2021.
Ayala Sfinesh is in her second year of studies on the Hebrew University’s
Schwartz Program: MA in Non-Profit and Community Organization
Management. Her undergraduate studies were in Economics and Business
from Bar Ilan University. For the last three years, Ayala has also been
working for the Beit Shemesh Municipality as a project manager in
community and social services where she is serving the local Ethiopian
community. Recently she has also been promoted and is managing a
project to advance local youth from all sectors of society in employment and
academia. Ayala is married with three children.
Gali Zemena made Aliya in 1992 at the age of nine. The third of eight
children, her family settled in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi where
she graduated high school. After her army service, Gali studied social
work at Sapir Academic College and then worked in a boarding school
for youth at risk. For the last seven years she has been working for the
Ashkelon branch of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs where she
works with juvenile offenders. She has just entered the second year of
studies for her master’s degree in Social Work. Gali has four teenage
children and recently moved from Ashkelon to Kibbutz Givram near the
Gaza boarder.
Arieh Legaca is married with three children and lives not far from Jerusalem, in
Tekoa. He made Aliya with his family at the age of five and lived most of his
childhood in the northern city of Afula, where his parents still live. With a strong
desire to make change in society and to utilize his care-giving skills, Arieh
studied social work at Bar Ilan University and has since worked in a number of
fields including mental health, learning disabilities, and currently with juvenile
offenders. Arieh began his MA studies in Social Work at the Hebrew University
in 2021.
Ronit Mekonen was born and grew up in Beer Sheva where she did her
undergraduate degree in Social Work at Ben Gurion University. Her family
made aliya in 1990. Since graduating, Ronit's work as a social worker has
been focused on youth. Currently she works on a project to help soldiers from
at-risk backgrounds to have a meaningful service and to integrate socially.
Now living in Jerusalem, she is in her second year of MA studies in Social
Work. Her thesis is on the subject of mental health of Ethiopian youth, a
subject that she hopes to continue to develop awareness of in her future work.
Merav Asres did her undergraduate studies at Herzliya's Interdisciplinary
Center in Sustainability and Government, specializing in the energy and
water sectors. She is currently in her second year of studies on the
Hebrew University's unique international program for International
Development studies, Glocal. As part of this program, she is doing an
unpaid internship in a Rwandan not-for-profit company called OffGridBox
whose mission is to provide affordable clean water and renewable
energy in remote areas. In Jerusalem, she works as a project
coordinator at the Hebrew University's entrepreneurship center, Asper-
HUJI Innovate. Merav's parents made Aliya in the late 1980s. She is the
oldest in her family and she lives at home in Kfar Saba where she is very
socially involved, having set up a Mentors in the Community program for
Ethiopian youth. The project won the 2015 Roni Feinstein Foundation
Prize for Urban Entrepreneurship.
Merav Asres did her undergraduate studies at Herzliya's Interdisciplinary
Center in Sustainability and Government, specializing in the energy and
water sectors. She is currently in her second year of studies on the
Hebrew University's unique international program for International
Development studies, Glocal. As part of this program, she is doing an
unpaid internship in a Rwandan not-for-profit company called OffGridBox
whose mission is to provide affordable clean water and renewable
energy in remote areas. In Jerusalem, she works as a project
coordinator at the Hebrew University's entrepreneurship center, Asper-
HUJI Innovate. Merav's parents made Aliya in the late 1980s. She is the
oldest in her family and she lives at home in Kfar Saba where she is very
socially involved, having set up a Mentors in the Community program for
Ethiopian youth. The project won the 2015 Roni Feinstein Foundation
Prize for Urban Entrepreneurship.
Einalem Mangisto, the youngest of eleven children, made Aliya at the age
of three. She did her undergraduate studies in Communication and
International Relations at the Hebrew University. Since graduating, Einalem
has gained varied work experience, mostly in journalism and media. She
worked on the internet desk of the Israel Channel 12 news company and
has also worked on the production of a number of documentary films.
While studying Film Studies at Tel Aviv University, Einalem worked as an
archivist at the University library where she worked on the archive of Dr.
Yaakov Feitelovitch, a scholar of the Ethiopian Jewish culture. Inspired by
this, she changed academic direction and began her MA degree in Cultural
Studies at the Hebrew University in 2021.
Zalo Adiso made Aliya at the age of eight from a small village in Ethiopia where she worked as a
shepherd alongside her younger brother. The first time she held a pencil in her hand was at age eight
and has excelled at her studies ever since. After a year of National Service in which she worked
helping new immigrants in an elementary school, Zalo studied Law at Bar Ilan University with the aim
of helping weak populations realize their rights. Today she works in Discipline and Investigations
Division of the Civil Service Commission where she is responsible for sexual abuse files within the
civil service. Zalo is in the second year of her studies for an MA in Public Policy.
Mesfin Almihu began the Leadership MA Program in Public Policy in
2021. He graduated from his bachelor's degree in law from the Ono
Academic College in 2007 and did his legal internship in the legal office of
the Jewish Agency. Mesfin has worked for the Jerusalem Municipality for
the last seventeen years, the last six of those has been as the Head of
the Department for Community Development and Empowerment. He has
also managed a Ministry of Absorption Center for Ethiopian Immigrants to
Jerusalem. Mesfin is married with three children.
Tova Abeve did her undergraduate degree in General Social Science
Studies at Bar Ilan University. She is the first in her family of six children,
to gain a higher education. Tova has work experience in the business and
non-profit sectors as well as still serving as a reserve lieutenant in the
Israel Defense Forces' International Relations Unit. Tova has decided that
she wishes to contribute to Israeli society through public service and
therefore began her MA studies in Public Policy in 2021.
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