Petition for Your Congregation or Organization
To sign this petition, click here. It will be submitted to the prime minister of Israel. If you prefer to print out and sign a hard copy, please send it to Rabbi Jerome Epstein, Rapaport House, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 820 Second Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10017, or fax it to 212-353-9439. It will be forwarded to Rabbi Paul Freedman in Jerusalem for submission to the prime minister.
Dear Prime Minister Olmert,
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.
Date: _________________________
Location: _________________________
Signatories
Name: City: Country:
