- Falasha
-
a member of an Ethiopian people who speak a Hamitic language and who practice a form of Judaism.
* * *
Jewish Ethiopians.The Falasha call themselves House of Israel and claim descent from Menilek I, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Probably descended from local Agew peoples converted by Jews in southern Arabia, they remained faithful to Judaism after the Ethiopian kingdom was converted to Christianity in the 4th century AD. Persecuted by Christians, they settled in the area around Lake Tana in northern Ethiopia. Though ignorant of the Talmud, members adhered strictly to the Mosaic law and observed some festivals of Judaism. In 1975 the Israeli rabbinate affirmed that Falashas were Jews, and from 1980 to 1992 some 45,000 Falasha emigrated to Israel, leaving probably only a few thousand in Ethiopia.* * *
▪ peoplealso spelled Felasha,an Ethiopian (Ethiopia) of Jewish (Jew) faith. The Falasha call themselves House of Israel (Beta Israel) and claim descent from Menilek I, traditionally the son of the Queen of Sheba (Makeda) and King Solomon. Their ancestors, however, were probably local Agew peoples in Ethiopia who were converted by Jews living in southern Arabia in the centuries before and after the start of the Christian Era. The Falasha remained faithful to Judaism after the conversion of the powerful Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum to Christianity in the 4th century AD, and thereafter the Falasha were persecuted and forced to retreat to the area around Lake Tana, in northern Ethiopia. Despite Ethiopian Christian attempts to exterminate them in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Falasha partly retained their independence until the 17th century, when the emperor Susenyos utterly crushed them and confiscated their lands. Their conditions improved in the late 19th and 20th centuries, at which time tens of thousands of Falasha lived in the region north of Lake Tana. Falasha men are traditionally ironsmiths, weavers, and farmers. Falasha women are known for their pottery.The Falasha have a Bible and a prayer book written in Geʿez, the ancient Ethiopian language. They have no Talmudic laws, but their preservation of and adherence to Jewish traditions is undeniable. They observe the Sabbath, practice circumcision, have synagogue services led by priests (kohanim) of the village, follow certain dietary laws of Judaism, observe many laws of ritual uncleanness, offer sacrifices on Nisan 14 in the Jewish religious year, and observe some of the major Jewish festivals.From 1980 to 1992 some 45,000 Falasha fled drought- and war-stricken Ethiopia and emigrated to Israel. The number of Falasha remaining in Ethiopia was uncertain, but estimates ranged to only a few thousand (see Researcher's Note). The ongoing absorption of the Falasha community into Israeli society was a source of controversy and ethnic tension in subsequent years.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
