Sharon Shalom

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Jan 5, 2025, 7:46 AM

Chabad and the Recognition of the Jewishness of Bete Israel

The Aliyah of Bete Israel, or Ethiopian Jewry, is a remarkable chapter in Israel's history. Their return to their ancestral homeland is a testament to the enduring power of Jewish identity. However, the question of their Jewishness, according to...

Dec 26, 2024, 3:23 PM

Hanukkah Thinking: Why Bete Israel Could Never Imagine Sitting in a Study Hall During Time of War

Hanukkah is a post-biblical holiday, and as such, Ethiopian Jews (Bete Israel) were not supposed to be familiar with it. How did they come to learn about it? Another question arises. How can we explain that the Greeks, who...

Nov 21, 2024, 2:05 PM

From encounter to fusion

Holiness & growth in Kook's ideas and Hartman's feminism

May 7, 2024, 5:07 PM

Ethiopian Jewish Chaotic Thinking Leads to ‘Hatikva/the Hope’

I have an old friend who was once a pilot in the air force and later a Mossad agent who served as one of the commanders of the “Red Sea Diving Resort” operation in Sudan (made famous in a...

Nov 29, 2023, 10:29 AM

The Question of a Kiss: An Ethiopian Keis Would be Surprised If Jacob DIDN’T Kiss Rachel

In the jazz standard, "As Time Goes By,” the great Louis Armstrong asserts that "A Kiss Is Just A Kiss." The same question is addressed by the Torah in the weekly portion of “Vayetze” and in our days by...

Nov 21, 2023, 12:25 AM

Baseless Hatred? The Ethiopian Jewish Experience

Since Hamas’ barbaric attacks of October 7th, my son has asked me several times: "Why do they hate us? What did we do to these people who are murdering our babies? All in all, we just took our own...

Nov 7, 2023, 9:29 AM

A Return to the Abrahamic and Ethiopian Jewish Concept of Equality

Recently, we’ve been reading about our forefather Abraham in the weekly Torah portion. The Bible does not tell us why God chose Abraham to be the founder of His people. This contrasts the situation of Noah, regarding whom, the...

Oct 20, 2023, 11:02 AM

From Hamas to redemption, through the eyes of Ethiopian Jewry

Illustrative: Ethiopian Jews aboard an Israeli plane during Operation Moses (November 21, 1984 – January 5, 1985). (Screen grab from The Spielberg Jewish Film Archive)

Throughout history, a consciousness of redemption has helped Jews stave off despair, and move forward into the light (Noah)

Oct 10, 2023, 5:56 PM

‘Survivor of Sudan’ sees sparks of light in darkness of Simchat Torah war

I write as “a survivor of Sudan.” That is how the Mossad official involved in my escape defined it. Sudan, in those days, was an "accident of a country" in which 4,000 Ethiopian Jews, who fled from Ethiopia hoping...

Oct 3, 2023, 3:28 PM

Look to Ethiopian Judaism to truly understand unity

Kesim, Ethiopian rabbinical leaders, at a Sigd celebration at Jerusalem's Haas Promenade when thousands gather to pray and recite Psalms. (Flash90)

The principle that everyone is equal before God can serve as a foundation for a shared Israeli identity

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About Me

Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom is the founding director of Ono Academic College's International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry. He is also the author of Dialogues of Love and Fear (Koren, 2021) and From Sinai to Ethiopia (Gefen, 2016).