Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, Founder and Director of Ono’s International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry recently delivered the keynote address at a Hanukkah evening dedicated to the memory of Bete Israel soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Elmakan Terape, HY”D, who fell in the Iron Swords War.
Rabbi Shalom’s lecture was entitled, “Did Ethiopian Jews Celebrate Hanukkah?” and explored how Bete Israel accepted the Book of the Maccabees that told the story of Hanukkah in their biblical cannon.
The event was organized by Rabbi Yosef Ot as part of the Committee for Absorption of Immigrant and held at the Ohel Nechama Synagogue. Other speakers included Dr. Freddy Sizel, one of the committee’s founders, Baya Terepe, uncle of Sgt. 1st Class Elmakan Terape, HY”D, and Demeke Meteko, a social activist and member of the community