In the Beginning
The historical data concerning how a Jewish population first came to settle in Ethiopia is scant due to the lack of written records and the regional prevalence of oral traditions. There are however many theories, of which three are the most widely accepted:
1. In the Beginning Operation Solomon
2. Exile in Ethiopia The Falasha Mura
3. Operation Moses The Jews of Qara
The historical data concerning how a Jewish population first came to settle in Ethiopia is scant due to the lack of written records and the regional prevalence of oral traditions. There are however many theories, of which three are the most widely accepted:
The Ethiopian Jews are the descendants of the lost ancient Israelite tribe of Dan.
They may be the descendants of Menelik I, the fabled son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, as set down in the folkloric, biblical and aggadic Ethiopian Kebra Negast.
They might be descendants of Jews who left Israel for Egypt following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.
These and other ideas have their supporters, and also their detractors. Regardless, for thousands of years, Jews in Ethiopia maintained a strict pre-Talmudic biblical Judaism. They kept Kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), the laws of ritual cleanliness, and observed the Jewish Sabbath and festivals. The Kesim (religious leaders) were respected as the rabbis of each community and presided over festival services in the ancient liturgical language of Ge'ez. They passed down Jewish tradition orally and maintained the Jewish books and torah scrolls that some communities had preserved in Ge'ez.
The above article is copied from iaej (Take a look at the Amharic version of the website).iaej
