Rebecca Avera moved inspired college students who keenly listened to her tell the story of "The Jewish Ethiopian Journey to Israel" at Florida International University.
This recent presentation by guest speaker Avera, who is the Israel Fellow at Stanford University Hillel and the daughter of Jewish refugees from Ethiopia, was hosted by Hillel at FIU.
When asked in an interview on what she hopes students could take away from her presentation on the story of her Ethiopian community in Israel, Avera, responded: "They can get awareness about the black Jewish community that exists in Israel."
"It's a complicated situation that the Ethiopian community has in Israel. We have success and some achievements but also, with the protest we had last year, it's also to create awareness about that," she noted. "When I first arrived in the United States in 2013, I realized that a lot of the Jewish communities in this country never saw a black Jew so I think part of this is to expose them to something that is the same like them but also different."
Avera was born and raised in Haifa, Israel along with her siblings. Her father immigrated to Israel in 1979 after enduring years of anti-Semitism in his native Ethiopia, entering the country via Cyprus, while her mother came to Israel from Ethiopia during "Operation Moses" in the 1980's. "Operation Moses" was the covert evacuation of approximately 8,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a famine in 1984.
During her presentation, Avera mentioned that she considers herself both an Israeli and an Ethiopian. She shared the story of how her mother walked hundreds of miles across the African desert until she reached Sudan, where the Israel Defense Forces whisked her to Israel during Operation Moses, which is often compared to the Jewish exodus from Egypt. She said she basically grew up hearing her mother's stories and mentioned that before leaving Ethiopia, her family couldn't leave their home with a symbol of Judaism and could only practice their religion in their home. She said that the family felt they couldn't stay in Ethiopia and left to make aliyah.
However, these Jewish refugees faced numerous dangers along the way. They first had to leave in secret, as Jews were forbidden to leave Ethiopia and make their way to the Sudanese border. Avera mentioned that 4,000 people died on this trek. She said she heard about the terrible stories at a refugee camp in Sudan where people got sick, lost weight and lacked food until the airlift of Operation Moses. Avera noted that there is a Memorial Day for the Ethiopian Jews who perished on their way to Israel.
Avera mentioned that when her family moved to Haifa, they were the first Ethiopian family to buy a house in the city and while growing up, she was the only black student in her class for 12 years. At the age of 18 she was drafted to the army and served in the Military Police, working at check points all over the West Bank, preventing terror attacks from get into Israel. She also mentioned the success stories of Ethiopian Jews in Israel and praised the Jewish State for its democracy and freedom of speech.
Jessica Kronis, executive director for Hillel at FIU, said "The students were deeply impacted by Rebecca's presentation. Her family's exodus from Ethiopia and their immigration story provide a different lens through with they can see Israel and Judaism."
Michelle Nahmias, a Miami resident and FIU alumna who attended the presentation, thought Avera's story was "very educational."
"I have always wanted to learn more about the amazing Ethiopian Jews' background and how they got to Israel," she added." We hear about the operations but we don't learn about the people and I learned a lot today."'
Zoe Van Slyke, a Miami resident and FIU student, said when asked what stood out for her in Avera's presentation: "Hearing her passion for Israel was really amazing."
Source: sun-sentinel.com
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