Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation

10 The Monitor - Summer 2010
In these ways, both the Ethiopian Jews and the Christians
contributed to the construction of a system of seemingly impermeable
boundaries and non-negotiable differences between the two groups.
These distinctions were expressed in both abstract and concrete ways,
from religious views to prohibitions on conversations and eye contact.
When they played into and emphasized these practices and beliefs
that highlighted the schism between the Beta Israel and the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Jews located themselves—as a coherent
population—in opposition to the Christian “other,” thereby heightening
their sense of internal group unity. Yet sometimes these boundaries were
breached, similarities rather than differences were accentuated, and the
rift between the communities did not seem so extreme. At these times,
Beta Israel identity was determined in an explicitly different way.
Unity with Ethiopian Christians
In many ways, Ethiopian Christianity and Ethiopian Judaism
are more similar than they are different, and the Beta Israel have, at
particular historical junctures, laid claim to these similarities rather
than their differences from Ethiopian Christians. Their religious
system developed in Ethiopia, without input from Jewish groups of
other areas, and several scholars have argued that the religious practice
of the Beta Israel resembles that of Ethiopian Orthodox Church more
than it does that of globally recognizable Judaism. 27 Their religious
leaders were referred to by the same terms, their prayer houses shared
architectural similarities, they employed the same musical instruments
in their services, and they celebrated similar life stage ceremonies. 28
Both the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Beta Israel liturgical books
are in Ge’ez, and are derived from the same sources. 29 To describe
the commonalities between their belief systems would require nearendless
space, but included convictions as far-ranging as the coming
of a messiah called Tewodros, individual immortality in the afterlife,
and the existence of zar spirits which could possess individuals and
cause illness. 30
Furthermore, the groups’ origins stories highlight further shared
elements between the traditions. Ethipian Christians used the Kebra
Negast, which told the story of Menilek I, as proof that God had decided