Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation

Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation
Beta Israel, for example, were accused of bastardizing the Jewish race
through intermarriage with Ethiopian non-Jews, as evidenced by their skin
color and physical features. 77 Not only was this insulting because official
Beta Israel religion prohibited marriage with non-Jews, but also because
almost no other Diaspora Jews seeking to return were held accountable
for potentially contaminating the Jewish lineage through intermarriage. 78
Additionally, after the Ethiopian Jews were declared to be real Jews, the
rabbinate declared in 1985 that all Beta Israel male immigrants had to
undergo a ritual called hatafat dam b’rit—a token circumcision in which
the penis is nicked and a drop of blood is offered to God. 79 The requirement
was lifted in the face of vehement protestation against its inherent prejudice:
the Beta Israel had always practiced circumcision for male children on the
eighth day after birth, in accordance with Jewish law. 80
Perhaps the most publicly scandalous offense came in January 1996,
when Ronael Fisher published an exposé in Maariv revealing that all blood
collected from Ethiopian Jews during a nationwide blood drive had secretly
been thrown away. 81 The government cited the high AIDS rate among
Ethiopian Jews as its justification, but the Beta Israel were outraged. They
perceived an unfathomable incongruity in the expectation that young Beta
Israel would join the army and be willing to die for a country that didn’t
think their blood was clean enough to save the lives of its citizens. 82
The reminders that they were viewed as separate from other Jews
of the world were continuous, often coming from sources other than
the Israeli government. Russian Jews were entering the country en masse
around the same time as the Ethiopian Jews, and the Beta Israel observed
as they received much more welcoming support from the Israeli people
than the Beta Israel were experiencing. The Russians’ Judaism was never
called into question, and they seemed to have no trouble finding jobs
and affordable housing in safe areas. 83 Young Ethiopian Jews, by contrast,
were sent to boarding schools designed to suit the needs of children
with family and behavioral problems; as a result, they found themselves
surrounded by peers who were often hostile, bullying them and calling
them kushi, the Hebrew slang equivalent of “nigger.” 84 The Beta Israel
turned clannish in response; instead of repeatedly and self-defeatingly
trying to integrate with their antagonizers, they set themselves apart and
emphasized their own exclusivity. 85
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