Stories and Pathways

Roni Akale is the first to share his story in our breathtaking project, #ENPeople documenting the lives and stories of different members of the ENP community. This project was created by our amazing intern Noa, a very talented photographer and storyteller. Noa photographs her subjects proceeding an interview about the subject's life and experiences. Over the next couple of months, Noa will be interviewing and photographing a variety of members in the ENP community including students, parents, and administrators in the organization. Noa hopes to amplify the voices of the Ethiopian Israeli community through a platform that highlights the strength and resilience of her interviewees. She hopes readers are inspired become mindful about their actions and resources so they can do more to help Ethiopians in Israeli society feel welcomed, supported, and heard. Read Roni's story below: “I was born in a Jewish village called Woinya. I was a shepherd. When I was six, my parents decided...

The Hebrew word “Aliyah” ( עליה ) literally means “going up”. It was originally used when Jews were called up during services to read from the Torah. Today, it also refers to the process of emigrating from the Jewish diaspora to become citizens of Israel. For many Ethiopian Jews, Aliyah represents the fulfillment of a dream passed down for generations.   Making Aliyah is therefore meaningful not only individually, but collectively, as it constitutes an ancestral return to the Holy Land. Ethiopian Jews in particular faced many obstacles in the diaspora. In the 1970s, many fled Ethiopia to Sudan to escape persecution, where they lived in Sudanese refugee camps. The State of Israel led two major campaigns to rescue Ethiopian Jews: Operation Moses i n 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991. The Ethiopian National Project checked in with several Ethiopian Israelis about their lives after making Aliyah. We ask, was it worth the risk to come to Israel? For each person, not only had their ow...