A Humbling Experience

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By: Allison Kaminsky
ENP Volunteer
Onward Israel Boston
Student at Northwestern University

As my first two weeks at the Ethiopian National Project come to a close, I am very thankful for this opportunity to reflect on my experiences. I have learned so much in just a few weeks, and I know that I will gain even more knowledge by August. These past few weeks have been humbling, and I look forward to being further humbled.
I began my internship feeling confident that the background research that I had done on Ethiopian-Jews gave me a good picture of the community. I will be the first to say that I was wrong. It was very ignorant of me that my basic research would suffice. This summer I am focusing on bringing international awareness of the Ethiopian-Jews by creating an informational PowerPoint and writing a comprehensive article on the history and customs of Ethiopian-Jews. However, before I could inform the American public about the history and customs of Ethiopian-Jews, I needed to do more research. Therefore, I have busied myself by reading books, newspaper articles, government reports, and website articles.
I still cannot say that I know everything about the Ethiopian-Jewish community. When studying a community that has existed for potentially 2,500 years, it is silly of me to assume that I will learn everything there is to know within two months. Therefore, I hope to have a working knowledge of the Ethiopian-Jewish community by August, but I cannot hope to fully understand the community by the time I leave.


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