Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation

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Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation the Jews were unworthy of the heavenly Zion and had shifted His divine attention to Ethiopia and the Christian movement there as the new hope for humanity’s redemption. 31 By asserting their relation to the same legend, albeit employing a different interpretive scheme, the Beta Israel drew a connection between their history and that of the Ethiopian Christian elite. 32 In this process, they appear to be smoothing out some of the boundaries so stringently constructed between themselves and the Christian community. Instead of defining themselves in opposition to Ethiopian Orthodoxy, here they were defining themselves in terms of their shared history with it. Without a doubt, this shared history was extensive. In 1270, the Ethiopian Christian state experienced a revival, and renewed its proselytizing efforts. 33 Those who disagreed with its methods and theological emphases formed rebel communities, similar to those which had been forming in opposition to the dominant Christian church since the fourth century, only this time the dissident groups included some who identified as Ethiopian Christians. 34 Beta Israel, when interviewed, attribute their inability to speak or understand Hebrew to this intermingling, and Quirin claims that the Beta Israel could not be properly identified as such until this historical fusion occurred. 35 At least in some respects, then, Beta Israel identity formulation relies upon a lack of separation from Christian society. It depends in certain ways and at certain times on interaction between the communities. Additionally, while theoretically contact was proscribed between the groups, in practice this was only moderately observed. In some urban areas, such as Gondar, people of diverse backgrounds were forced to work together frequently; in these areas, the Beta Israel often observed their extreme religious practices less rigorously. 36 They even began to break out of their socioeconomic caste: men began to work as carpenters, masons, and soldiers, while women found employment as paint-makers and church-decorators. 37 More widely, Beta Israel and Ethiopian Christians employed creative strategies to permit frequent and intensive interaction. In order to circumvent restrictions on physical contact, freshly cut branches woven together were used as buffers that could be touched simultaneously by both Christians and Jews as they worked together, and the two would often converse while separated by a fence. 38 In order to resolve questions of dietary restrictions, Jews would often fashion simple clay cups in which to serve coffee to their Christian neighbors, who would discard or 11
12 The Monitor - Summer 2010 keep the cup after using it. 39 The taboo against inviting Christians into a Jewish home seems to have been seldom observed in practice, despite cumbersome complications of eating together, and some sources attest even to intermarriage between Beta Israel and Ethiopian Christians. 40 In addition, the economic relationship between the Christians and the Jews made them indispensible to each other. Christians, for example, milked the cows belonging to the Beta Israel on the Sabbath, and kept the milk which was forbidden to the Jews by Old Testament law—performing a necessary service, as leaving a dairy cow’s udder full of milk can lead to infection. 41 Ethiopian Christians performed other duties which the Jews considered to be impure, such as bearing the corpses of Beta Israel on a stretcher to the cemetery and laying the body in the grave. 42 In describing this service, Beta Israel interviewed by Salamon emphasized their great dependence on the Christians who carried the body. 43 Evidently, the Beta Israel themselves chose to portray the Christians as having an integral role within Beta Israel society. Moreover, while only Christians could own land, they frequently turned to Beta Israel religious leaders to pray for rain and for the fertility of the fields, even imploring them to perform sacrifices—an anathema in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 44 Ethiopian Jews took on the crafts stigmatized by Ethiopian Christians and Muslims, and crafts which were imperative to the functioning of Ethiopian society despite the fear and hatred associated with them. The Beta Israel did not shy from reminding Christians of the symbiotic nature of their relationship; as wedding gifts, Jews often presented knives—something only a Beta Israel blacksmith could make—to Christian newlyweds as an implicit reminder of their mutual dependence. 45 Christians offered live sheep to convey a corresponding message. 46 The similarities in religious practice between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Beta Israel and the two groups’ willingness— even eagerness—to modify their rules for separation signify that what came to define a “Beta Israel” was not simply the ability to establish and maintain isolation from the Christian community. Rather, a Beta Israel was also characterized by insinuating himself inextricably within the fabric of Ethiopian society. This involved recognizing similarities between the Christian elite, and laying claim to these commonalities, as well as forging a symbiotic socioeconomic relationship with Ethiopian Christians. A
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Themes of Unity and Division in Beta Israel Identity Formation

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