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When it comes to the Ethiopian experience in Israel, anthropologist and writer Naomi Shmuel has a unique perspective, as a British-born Israeli married to an Ethiopian-born husband, Emmanuel Shmuel, for the past 34 years.
“I’m a bit internal and a bit external,” Shmuel said. “It gives me a clearer idea of what is happening with the Ethiopian community.”
Shmuel will speak about his connection to the Ethiopian community on Monday, November 15, as part of Sigd’s digital celebration of Beit Avi Chai, the Ethiopian Jewish holiday, marked until November 18 on the cultural institution’s website.
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Beit Avi Chai’s menu of free online events includes performances by Israeli Ethiopian music and spoken word artist Orit Tashoma, as well as a children’s workshop and traditional food recipes served at Sigd.
Sigd, which is celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur, was established as a national holiday by the Knesset in 2008 and is celebrated on the Jewish date of Heshvan 29.
Children’s book author Naomi Shmuel, who wrote about her children’s experiences, with her husband, Emmanuel Shmuel, who emigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in the same month that she moved to Israel from England. (courtesy of Naomi Shmuel)
Shmuel was 21 years old and recently graduated in anthropology when she came to Israel from England in 1983, and volunteered at the Kiryat Gat absorption center during the same month as Emmanuel Shmuel, a young Ethiopian who had recently immigrated to Israel.
The two became friends and married in 1986.
“We were welcomed everywhere in Kiryat Gat,” Shmuel said. “The whole absorption center made our wedding for us.”
The couple moved to the Jerusalem area and had four children, prompting Shmuel to write children’s books with “brown children,” he said, the first books in Israel depicting children of color. He ended up writing 15 more, 13 for children and three for adults.
His children’s experiences created the impetus for Shmuel to create picture books for them, inspired by his own experiences with prejudice and racism.
Eventually, Shmuel found his way back to anthropology, earning a doctorate in intergenerational relations and transfer of culture and cultural heritage, which included conducting research on the Ethiopian community and the struggles Ethiopian immigrants have in Israel. She also trained as an Ethiopian Community Parent Advisor, part of her commitment to giving back and helping the community that she has been a part of for nearly 40 years.
“It took me a long time to get comfortable doing the research in the Ethiopian community, but I realized the intergenerational divide in the community,” Shmuel said. “I wanted to understand more about this.”
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