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Falashas
Falashas. Jews of Ethiopian origin. The Falashas themselves claim to be descended from Menelik, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10. 1–13). Most experts believe they belong to the Agau family of tribes to whom Judaism spread from S. Arabia. They call themselves ‘Beta Esrael’ (House of Israel) and live in their own separate villages, the best known of which are near the town of Gondar. They keep the ritual food law of the Pentateuch; they circumcise their sons on the eighth day; they observe the Sabbath and Day of Atonement, and they offer sacrifice and eat unleavened bread (mazzah) during the Passover season. Their precise personal status as Jews is still in some dispute among the Israeli religious establishment. In 1985, many Ethiopians demonstrated in Jerusalem against the Chief Rabbi, who had demanded symbolic conversion for those among them who wished to marry—because of doubts about their divorce procedures and personal status. The insistence on symbolic recircumcision was withdrawn, but not ritual immersion.
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Cite this article
JOHN BOWKER. "Falashas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Falashas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Falashas.html JOHN BOWKER. "Falashas." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Falashas.html |
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