Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes by Howard Lenhoff

Author:Howard Lenhoff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gefen Publishing House
Published: 2007-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

American Rabbinic Network for Ethiopian Jewry (ARNEJ)

One of the most important outcomes of the AAEJ ’s endeavor to enlist the support of American rabbis was the formation of ARNEJ, primarily through the efforts of Jane Fellman. Her dedication to rescuing the Beta Yisrael dates from 1955, when, as a teenager, she attended a slide show presented by Rabbi Alfred Wolfe at a summer camp in Los Angeles. Memories of “the gaunt, handsome faces and the Ethiopian Jews isolated in Africa” haunted her. As the AAEJ publicity campaign mounted, in the late 1970s, she thought again of the Ethiopian Jews. Her memories began to turn to action. While visiting Israel she met Ran Cohen, a member of the Knesset, who told her in 1979 of the terrible conditions of the Ethiopian Jews, their desire to return to Israel, and the unwillingness of the Jewish Agency to help them.

Shortly after her return from Israel, Jane and her attorney husband, Gary, attended my lecture sponsored by the Pasadena Jewish community. After the lecture, a group of activists gathered to discuss strategy in the Fellman kitchen, seated around a large antique wooden table, warmed by an old potbelly stove. Unlike many of the younger activists, Jane had clear and direct ideas on what needed to be done. Having been influenced as a youth by Rabbi Wolfe, she was convinced that we must get more rabbis involved so they too could influence their congregants. Jane was a dynamo, and I asked her to join the board of the AAEJ . Getting rabbis actively engaged was her obsession.

Jane Fellman initiated meetings with a number of activists, including Nell and Bob Mendleson and Rabbi Daniel Zucker. These get-togethers resulted in the formation of the Organization for Ethiopian Jewry-Los Angeles (OEJ) with Rabbi Zucker as its first president.

In 1983, Jane attended a meeting of the Central Council of American Rabbis. Together with Zucker, she met Rabbis Allen Krause, Phil Posner, Haim Asa, Haim Beliak, and Myron Kin-berg. Rabbi Krause was in regular correspondence with the AAEJ ; Rabbi Kinberg had helped mobilize the small Jewish community of Eugene, Oregon and had spoken at other synagogues. Jane and the rabbis communicated with each other until Phil Posner and Jane agreed that an organization was needed through which rabbis could raise the moral voice of Jewish leadership on behalf of the Ethiopian Jews. Posner ran the plan by a few colleagues; they concurred, and ARNEJ was created.

On the founding board were Rabbis Phil Posner, Haim Beliak, Jonathan Miller, Daniel Zucker, and Steve Kaplan. Each was already involved in various projects dealing with social justice and civil rights. Posner had served time in an Alabama jail for his efforts in the civil rights movement; Haim had been in a Displaced Person’s camp as a child; Daniel Zucker’s father had been among a group rescued from Nazi Germany; Jonathan was heir to his parents’ commitment to social change; Rabbi Kaplan had been on one of the first missions to Ethiopia and had met a Beta Yisrael kes there (chapter 6).

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