Coronavirus: In Ethiopia, a vulnerable Jewish community is at risk of disaster

Outside the Hatikvah synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia (Credit: Courtesy of Fight to Save Ethiopian Jews (SSEJ))

“Even before the pandemic, the condition of the people here was not good, we do not have real houses and most of the community does not have a job, so you can only imagine what our current condition is …”, Tesfa explained.

“Of course, we are concerned, we are fully exposed to the infection,” he added. “The situation in Ethiopia is getting worse.”

According to estimates, between 7,500 and 14,000 Jews currently live in Ethiopia, about 3,000 in Addis Ababa and the rest in the city of Gondar. Many are descendants of people who converted to Christianity and have returned to Jewish practice.

Although the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country is only 239, with five deaths, the serious condition of its health system and the almost complete lack of proof capacity suggest that there is no clear picture of the situation. Meanwhile, international health organizations warn that in Africa the worst is yet to come and that the continent is not ready. According to a study by Imperial College London quoted by Reuters, Ethiopia has only 557 fans and may need more than 9,000.

“This is a community that is already living on the edge, they are the poorest in one of the poorest countries in the world,” explained Joseph Feit, a representative of Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jews (SSEJ), who has been working with the Ethiopian Jews. community for the past 30 years.

For the past few years, SSEJ has conducted programs through local organizations that provide services such as medical care to children in Gondar, many of whom are chronically malnourished, summer camps, evening programs, and adult education initiatives.

“About a month and a half ago I started to be very concerned about the virus,” Feit said, explaining how the disease could bring catastrophe to the community. “Hygiene is a very good idea, but they couldn’t afford the soap, nor did they have access to running water. If we talk about social distancing, they live in 6-8 people in one-room shacks, without a bathroom and often without electricity. “

Feit noted that he started reaching out to different organizations for help, noting that in the past groups like the Jewish Federation of North America or the United States Joint Distribution Committee had not offered their help.

Despite our annual budget of $ 750,000, SSEJ has no oversight, no office in the United States or Israel, only one employee in Ethiopia. This was clearly beyond our means, “he said.

Since then, some funds have been provided by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Mandel Foundation, who donated around $ 160,000 each, as well as other donors. SSEJ was able to send food, soap, medical supplies such as masks and non-contact thermometers. They are also training a group of health care facilitators to teach people good practices. A second shipment of essential goods should be arranged in the next few days.

However, the ultimate solution to the plight of Ethiopian Jews who have been waiting for years is the possibility of making aliyah and moving to Israel, where the vast majority of them already have first-degree relatives. Many of them have been waiting for up to twenty years.

“In 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government passed a unanimous resolution to bring the remaining Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in late 2020, but this has not been fully implemented,” activist Alisa Bodner told the Post. countless promises on this issue before the elections. Especially with an impending crisis, the Israeli government should wait no longer to implement an action plan to relocate the remaining members of the community. If a crisis occurs, it will be a major stain on our government, knowing that it acted too late. “Youth awaiting immigration to Israel practice social distancing outside the Hatikvah synagogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Credit: Courtesy of Fight to Save Ethiopian Jews (SSEJ))

Several prominent national religious rabbis, who urged the Israeli authorities to speed up the process and the Jewish organization around the world to help, also advocate the move. Others who shared the appeal included Rabbi Yaakov Medan, Rosh Yeshiva from Yeshivat Har Etzion, one of its founders, Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, Rabbi Re’em HaCohen, Rosh Yeshiva from Yeshivat Otniel, a former Knesset member, and Rosh Yeshiva in Maale Gilboa Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, former Minister of Education Shai Piron and the founders of Tzohar, Rabbi David Stav and Rabbi Yuval Cherlov.

“As Ethiopian communities are under threat from the coronavirus, and are forced to isolate themselves in confined spaces of poverty and inadequacy and long to reunite with their families and their nation, we call on heads of state and of Israeli society to do sound their cry and return them to Zion, “the open letter read. “And we call on Jewish aid organizations around the world to take all possible measures to protect these impoverished Jews from the ravages of this dreaded disease.”