{"id":34618,"date":"2025-11-16T08:36:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/?page_id=34618"},"modified":"2025-11-16T08:39:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T08:39:50","slug":"la-black-pastor-mission-visits-ono","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/la-black-pastor-mission-visits-ono\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Black Pastor Mission Visits Ono"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\">\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><video src=\"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/FINAL-LA-Pastors-lo-res-11.25.mp4\" controls=\"controls\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\"><\/video><\/figure>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\r\n<h3><strong>LA Black Pastor Mission Visits Ono<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p>On November 12, 2025, a delegation of 25 prominent Black civic, cultural, and political leaders\u2014many with millions of social-media followers\u2014visited the International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry at Ono Academic College as part of the \u201cLet There Be Light\u201d Los Angeles Pastors Mission to Israel. Organized by the Zioness Movement and the Greater Zion Church Family, and sponsored by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the delegation was led by Zioness CEO Amanda Berman, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback of Los Angeles\u2019 Steven S. Wise Temple, and Bishop Michael J. T. Fisher, founder of the Greater Zion Church Family.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Dr. Samuel Schwartz, Director of International Programs and Resource Development at Ono, introduced the group to the college and its pioneering work on Ethiopian Jewry. He presented the delegation with Center publications, including an English-language curriculum on Beta Israel, a book of poems and stories reflecting the trauma of immigration, and a volume of essays by young Ethiopian Jewish leaders on sacred Ethiopian Jewish texts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, founder of the Center, delivered a moving lecture on the history of Beta Israel and his own Aliyah story, including two years in a boarding school believing he was orphaned until his family was located. He described the pain of initial rejection as a Jew, but also the progress he has seen\u2014today serving as a professor, director of an academic center, and rabbi of an Ashkenazi congregation of Holocaust survivors. His lifelong mission is to shift Israeli consciousness from external identification toward intrinsic identity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Ono President Professor Shlomo Noy spoke of the college\u2019s 25-year commitment to integrating marginalized Israeli populations\u2014including Ethiopians, Haredim, and Arabic speakers\u2014into higher education and meaningful careers. The session concluded with joint Beit Midrash learning, demonstration of traditional Ethiopian Jewish prayer movements, and a lively Q&amp;A on identity, recognition, and the evolving religious life of Beta Israel in Israel.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":34625,"parent":0,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34618","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34618"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34626,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34618\/revisions\/34626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}