{"id":35201,"date":"2026-02-04T08:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T08:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35201"},"modified":"2026-02-04T08:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T08:06:47","slug":"bete-israel-uja-program-beit-midrash-explores-the-meloksei-jewish-monks-of-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/news\/bete-israel-uja-program-beit-midrash-explores-the-meloksei-jewish-monks-of-ethiopia\/","title":{"rendered":"Bete Israel UJA Program Beit Midrash Explores the \u201cMeloksei\u201d \u2013 Jewish Monks of Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\">\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\r\n<h3><strong>Bete Israel UJA Program Beit Midrash Explores the \u201cMeloksei\u201d \u2013 Jewish Monks of Ethiopia<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Rabbi Adiel Eliyahu chaired Ono\u2019s second UJA \u201cRabbis and Keisim\u201d Beit Midrash welcoming first time participant, Rabbi Refael Elamo, a Netanya community rabbi and school principal. Rabbi Elamo and described his Ethiopian roots and community leadership connections. The main discussion, led by Keis Mentosnot, focused on the historical role of the Meloksei and whether it was a uniquely Jewish institution or influenced by Christian monastic models; participants also debated when it disappeared (scholarly timelines versus Keis oral tradition, including claims it lasted into the 20th century and even until 1960). Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom linked the topic to his recent Hartman article and critiques leading scholars, prompting a broader debate about Beta Israel origins and identity formation and concern that certain academic claims could weaken contemporary Ethiopian Jewish tradition.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-35202 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/UJA-2-1.26.jpg\" alt=\"Second meeting of Ono\/UJA Beit Midrash program\" width=\"602\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/UJA-2-1.26.jpg 602w, https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/UJA-2-1.26-300x124.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rabbi Adiel Eliyahu chaired Ono\u2019s second UJA \u201cRabbis and Keisim\u201d Beit Midrash welcoming first time participant, Rabbi Refael Elamo, a Netanya community rabbi and school principal. Rabbi Elamo and described his Ethiopian roots and community leadership connections. The main discussion, led by Keis Mentosnot, focused on the historical role of the Meloksei and whether it was a uniquely Jewish institution or influenced by Christian monastic models; participants also debated when it disappeared (scholarly timelines versus Keis oral tradition, including claims it lasted into the 20th century and even until 1960). Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom linked the topic to his recent Hartman article and critiques leading scholars, prompting a broader debate about Beta Israel origins and identity formation and concern that certain academic claims could weaken contemporary Ethiopian Jewish tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":35202,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-35201","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories_news-updates_news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}