Mandell JCC displays Ethiopian Jewish quilt

West Hartford >> The Mandell JCC is proud to unveil a unique Ethiopian Jewish quilt, showcasing an important part of the history of the Jewish people from Ethiopia. Each square depicts traditional Ethiopian Jewish village scenes and illustrations of familiar Bible stories. The quilt will be on display indefinitely in the new after school children’s area at the Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT.

Ethiopia was the oldest Diaspora community practicing Torah Jewish observance in existence. Throughout the centuries, they held fast to their desire to return to Jerusalem, while suffering because of their desire to keep their religion.

In 1908, the chief rabbis of 45 countries officially recognized the “lost tribe” as truly Jewish. This was followed in 1984-85, with Operation Moses. 8,000 Ethiopian Jews were secretly air-lifted to Israel through Sudan. Unfortunately, four thousand died on the treacherous route to Sudan. And 15,000 were left stranded in Ethiopia.

Those who were left now had no way to support their families. The North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) responded by developing a work program to enable the heads of Jewish households to support their families. They wanted the program to utilize traditional Ethiopian skills performed by both men and women, to produce work which could be sold to interested individuals in the United States. The funds from the sale of their work would pay for their salaries, materials, and workplace. And so, the Embroidery program was born. Hundreds of men and women made very vibrant, stunning, and completely hand –embroidered tapestries. It took most workers about a month to complete one embroidery square, containing approximately 40,000 stitches.

Then in 1991, in Operation Solomon, 14,000 of the remaining Ethiopian Jews were air-lifted from the capital city of Addis Ababa, to Israel in 36 hours. Today, nearly 130,000 Ethiopian Jews reside in Israel. One third of those were born in Israel to Ethiopian-Jewish parents.

In 2002 the JCC purchased 24 embroidered pillowcases from NACOEJ. Diane Kruger Cohen, a JCC member created the quilted wall hanging showcasing the remarkable craftsmanship of the Jews of Ethiopia.

For more information about the quilt, contact Jill Ziplow, 860-231-6339, jziplow@mandelljcc.org.