Stories and Pathways

My name is Kara Bookbinder and I'm a new intern at ENP. This Monday I went out on my first "mission" with a group of 16 people from the Jewish Federations of North America, on a program called "Mission Possible." Being my first mission, I had no idea what to expect. I knew that we would be going to a Youth Outreach Center in Beit Shemesh, and that we would meet some of the Ethiopian teens who benefit from the center, but that's all I knew. On the hour bus ride to the Center, I learned so many fascinating things about Ethiopian Jews and their struggle to make Aliyah. I had never before heard about Operation Moses or Operation Solomon which evacuated 8,000 and 14,000 Ethiopian Jews, respectively, from Ethiopia to Israel in the 1980's and 1990's. Upon hearing these stories I had a new found appreciation and curiosity about Ethiopian Jewry. Once at the Center, we were broken into three groups, each with some participants and some Ethiopian t...

Shalom all beautiful people! It was such a wonderful day here in Israel. I am so excited to be able to share with you all my wonderful (and first) Sigd experience. For those of you who are not too familiar with Sigd, here is a link to their facebook page which gives a great overview http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sigd/138229019535354. However here is a short sweet version of sigd: Sigd is a Festival celebrated every year in honor of the mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem by the Ethiopian Jews. It is celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur it is an essential part of the Ethiopian culture here Israel. Now, to explain the beauty of it...well there are no words, but I will attempt. I was told that the festival would take place in Tapiyot, exactly the opposite of Mt Scopus (where I currently live). However exactly where in the Tapiyot I was not sure. I was certain to find out through random wondering and silly questioning and so I hopped on the bus and headed in that direction. I got off at...