Approximately 8 000 Jews live in Ethiopia and celebrated Israel’s 70th Independence Day. Many are hoping to join family members who already live in the Jewish state.
Watch the stunning video below as children run through the streets of Ethiopia, waving the Israel flag, colouring in Stars of David, and donning their yarmulkes.
Every year the city of Gondar, Ethiopia, hosts what is considered to be the largest Passover celebration in the world. That is because Gondar is home to the Falash Mura, a community that practices Judaism but whose ancestors converted to Christianity in the 19th century.
Religion in Ethiopia consists of a number of faiths. Among these mainly Abrahamic religions, the most numerous is Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Pentay, Catholic) followed by Islam. There is also a longstanding but small Jewish community. Some adherents of the Bahá’í Faith likewise exist in a number of urban and rural areas. Additionally, there are a few followers of traditional faiths, who mainly reside in the southwestern part of the country.
According to the national census conducted in 2007, over 32 million people or 43.5% were reported to be Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, over 25 million or 33.9% were reported to be Muslim, 13,7 million, or 12.6%, were Protestant, and just under two million or 2.6% adhered to traditional beliefs. Neither in the 2007 census, nor in the 1994 census, were responses reported in further detail: for example, those who identified themselves as Hindus, Jewish, Baha’i, agnostics or atheists were counted as “Other”.
The Kingdom of Aksum in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea was one of the first Christian countries in the world, having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century.
Article source: worldisraelnews.com
