The “kess of kessim,” the most senior spiritual leader of Ethiopian Jewry, arrived in Israel as an immigrant this week.
He landed with about 200 other Ethiopian Jewish immigrants on an El Al flight from Rome. As he climbed down from the plane, he faced east, bowed and kissed the tarmac.
“I have dreamed of Jerusalem all my life and now my dream is coming true,” said 83-year-old Kess Menashe Zimro.
A tall, imposing figure with a goatee, Zimro arrived wearing the traditional white hat and robes of his community, topped by a gold-trimmed black cloak. He carried a silver-tipped cane and a horsetail fly-swatter.
Zimro was religious leader in Gondar province, where most Ethiopian Jews lived until they left there by the thousands last year for Addis Ababa, the capital, to await emigration.
The kess is now installed at an absorption center in Rehovot. Relaxing there Tuesday, he told visitors he was well aware of the war conditions in the region and fully confident of Israel.
“Am Yisrael is a nation of heroes,” he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
