Assist Ethiopian Jewry

WHEREAS: Those Falash Mura remaining in Ethiopia who are of maternal lineage have been declared to be Jews by successive chief rabbis of Israel, and

WHEREAS: they are considered to be Jews by leaders of the three main streams of American Jewry (Conservative, Reform and Orthodox) and will hereafter be referred to as Jews in this document, and

WHEREAS: the great majority of those known as “the 8,700” (referring to the approximately 8,700 Jews now living near the Israeli consulate in Gondar City, Ethiopia) have been shown by previous investigation to possess the required maternal lineage, and

WHEREAS: these Jews are struggling to survive under severe conditions of poverty, hunger, exposure to life-threatening illness (including malaria), unemployment and lack of medical care, and

WHEREAS: they are demonstrating their ardent desire to live observant Jewish lives by attending local synagogue services; availing themselves of the limited facilities, ritual objects and opportunities available in their isolated, rural area (including an unheated mikvah, shared tefillin, observance of kashrut, Shabbat and holidays); and attending classes, as available, to increase their knowledge and ability to observe Jewish religious customs, and

WHEREAS: these Jews are openly and proudly Zionist despite the real possibility of local anti-Zionist violence, which, although not approved of by the national government, has taken place in the region in the past, and

WHEREAS: they have relatives already living in Israel, including parents, children, siblings, and in some cases sons and daughters serving patriotically in the Israel Defense Forces,

We therefore urge the government of Israel to verify their eligibility for aliyah rapidly and to expedite the transportation to Israel of those deemed eligible, while providing and encouraging others to provide adequate humanitarian, educational, nutritional and religious aid to the entire community while the process of authenticating and transporting those eligible takes place.

We furthermore urge that means be found to assist those whose lineage prevent their aliyah to ensure their survival during a period of transition and facilitate their establishment of new, self-supporting lives in Ethiopia.