Weaving Two Worlds: The Next Generations of Ethiopian Jewry in Israel Open Access

Abstract

The next generations of Ethiopian Jews, more formally known as Beta Israel, have been the subject of limited scholarly literature, leaving significant gaps in understanding their evolving identities, cultural preservation, and integration within Israeli society. The next generations of Ethiopian Jewry in Israel are born into much different lives than their parents. Big cities are dominated by people of lighter skin, a diversity of cultures, languages, and understandings of the world. This all takes place in the first and only Jewish State in the world, which thousands of Beta Israel immigrated to from Ethiopia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. How do the next generations of this community make meaning of their identities in Israel? What does the preservation of traditional Beta Israel culture look like today? 

This ethnography was conducted through participant observation and unstructured interviews within multiple spheres of the Beta Israel community, from restaurants and organizations that preserve culture, to homes and weddings. The next generations of Beta Israel in Israel hold a liminal position in Israeli society: at once trying to integrate into Israeli culture while striving to preserve their Ethiopian culture. This leads to a reshaping of both the Beta Israel community and the Israeli society as a whole. The primary questions explored in this ethnography are as follows: 

How do systematic epistemologies of power in Israel continue to oppress the Beta Israel community? In the same light, how do these epistemologies under Israel’s hegemony shape how this community, specifically the next generations, perceive their Ethiopian culture and identity?

Table of Contents

I. The Beginning                                                     

II. Literature review and Historical Overview         

III. Rivka                                                         

IV. My Beginning                                                     

V. Volunteering Volumes                                        

VI. Shabbat                                                     

VII. The Wedding                                        

VIII. The Bar Mitzvah                                             

IX. Callactivit                                                       

X. Clubbing for Culture                                          

XI. Memory, Modernity, and Meaning                 

XII. Afterword                                                         

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	Anthropology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, General Anthropology, Cultural Jewish Studies
Keyword	Beta Israel Ethnography Black Jews Ethiopian Jews
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Seeman, Don, Emory University
Committee Members	Kahlon Shelnutt, Pazit, Emory University Nugent, David, Emory University

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