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Ethiopian Jews on the Road to Freedom
ICEJ Aliyah - be a part of their journey!
Posted on:
29 Nov 2016 
In early October, just in time for the Feast of Sukkot, 63 Ethiopian Jews arrived in Israel as precursors of the latest wave of Aliyah from Ethiopia. Thanks to the support of the ICEJ, they were finally reunited with relatives who came to Israel in the years past.
The ICEJ, depending on Christian donors from every continent, vowed to bring many more Ethiopian Jews home, to reunite the families and provide a better future for the new generation of immigrants from the South.
On the day the first Aliyah flight from Ethiopia arrived this year, a state of emergency was put in place in this struggling African country. The Jewish families from Gondar need to be transported with great caution to Addis Ababa, the capital city 660 km away, where they can then board a flight to their Promised Land.
So far, with your faithful support, the ICEJ is able to sponsor the journey for the first 523 people. However, more Ethiopian Jews still need our help!
Settling in the Promised Land
In addition to helping with flights, the ICEJ will also help with absorption of Ethiopian Jews. In a way, their journey from poor villages in Ethiopia to the very developed country of Israel is like being transported 400 years into the future.
The new immigrants need a lot of help in understanding this new culture, so they are welcomed to absorption centers in various parts of the country where they learn the Hebrew language and Jewish history, such as the Holocaust and Israeli fight for independence. They also learn more about the Biblical holidays – Chanukah, Passover, and more – which many of them have celebrated in Ethiopia, thanks to oral traditions, but without understanding their history and significance.