Learn About the Family Education Initiative
Ethiopian Family Initiative: A Joint Program of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and Equal Opportunity for Ethiopian Jews in Israel
The Family Ethiopian Initiative is the brainchild of Rabbi Yafet Alemu, the first Ethiopian immigrant to have graduated from the Conservative Seminary in Israel. Rabbi Yafet, as he is called by the Ethiopian community in Israel, is a dynamic leader. He has built his program with the understanding that the answer to the challenges that face Ethiopian immigrants in Israel lies in the strong families and the strong family traditions that kept the community true to its Jewish heritage through centuries of difficulty and prejudice in Ethiopia. By helping parents maintain their authority and the respect of their children, and by involving the parents in educating and supporting their children, the Family Education Initiative implements Rabbi Yafet’s vision, helping parents to help their children and so strengthening the entire family.
The Family Education Initiative works with Ethiopian families with the help of the North American congregations that are members of United Synagogue. While the program’s results are just now becoming apparent, already we can see its positive effects on an individual level. Ethiopian-Israeli children have started writing letters to the American families that are supporting them in the program. One congregation visiting Israel invited an Ethiopian child and his father on a trip to Masada and the Dead Sea. Teachers in the Raishit School have written that the letters and contact with the American families already have had a positive effect on how the children learn English. We know that parents and children in the program are communicating positively and well with each other, and that the children are benefiting from their parents’ support and strength. With the help of United Synagogue, the program is empowering families to help themselves and Ethiopian Israelis are becoming strong and active contributors to Israeli society.
To learn more about Rabbi Yafet Alemu and the Family Education Initiative, look around this website.
For more information, email Rav Yafet Alemu at aytegeb@gmail.com or Aviva Groen, the program’s director of education and community organizing, at avivagroen@gmail.com. In the United States, you can email Dr. Alan Spiro, chair of the Family Education Initiative in the United States, at ahs47@columbia.edu.
