25th Year of Pro-falasha Work to Be Observed

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the practical work being conducted in Abysinnia for the educational and rehabilitation of the Falashas, is to be marked in New York by a celebration on Monday afternoon, March 31, at the Community House of Temple Emanu-El. The opportunity for the celebration offers itself because of the presence of Dr. Jacques Faitlovitch in this country. Dr. Faitlovitch during the past quarter of a century has dedicated his life to the task of strengthening the Falasha Jews in the traditions of their faith and of lifting the level of their life to a high standard of dignity.

Both the Pro-Falasha Committee in America, of which Dr. Cyrus Adler is honorary Chairman, and Dr. Israel Goldstein is chairman, and the Women’s Division of the American Pro-Falasha Committee, of which Mrs. Rebekah Kohut is honorary chairman and Mrs. David E. Goldfarb is chairman, are cooperating through this celebration to bring before the Jews of America this foreign bit of missionary work among Jews, which has been undertaken by Jews.

The story of the Falashas is one of the most romantic tales in the annals of Jewish history. Until about sixty years ago, European and American Israel were not even aware of the existence of this far-off branch of the Jewish people in far off Abyssinia in the heart of Africa. In 1870, however, Prof. Halevy of the Sarbonne, Paris, discovered this tribe, who called themselves “Beta Israel,” and who are called by their neighbors, “Falashas,” which means “strangers.” Their religious customs are unmistakably Jewish. They observe the Mosaic laws, conduct their religious worship in special huts set aside as Synagogues, and have their “Kahens” and “Debteras” who officiate at the ritual and give religious instruction. Their family life is far above the level of their environment.