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About Beta Israel
Ethiopian Jewry, the Beta-Israel community, was often known by the name “Falasha,” which in Amharic means foreigner and is a term of derision given them by Ethiopians. No one knew of the community’s existence for hundreds of years. Prior to the Christian era in Ethiopia, a Jewish kingdom is said to have existed in the region of Axum in northwest Ethiopia. For three centuries, from the 13th-16th, the Jews of Ethiopia did battle with the Christians who tried to force them to convert. The last independent stronghold of the community, in the Semien mountains, fell in the 17th century. Many Jews converted to Christianity; but a minority, who lived in small villages, maintained their Judaism under difficult conditions of persecution.
Like Jews elsewhere around the world, the Jews of Ethiopia danced the dances of the people with whom they lived. Most Ethiopian Jews resided in the area of Gondar in northern Ethiopia. This region was the home of the Amhara nationality, known for its shoulder dances, called eskesta, the original troupe's namesake. In eskesta, the shoulders undulate and the dance gains speed and intensity.
The Ethiopian Jewish liturgical tradition has been handed down primarily orally over the generations, and is performed from memory. There are also parchment manuscripts containing texts and collections of prayers for various occasions.
The community religious leaders and liturgical experts are the Kess (meaning “priest” in Amharic). Prayers are chanted responsively, in complex overlapping melodic patterns, combining solo and choral performance. Prayers are often accompanied (except on the Sabbath and Yom Kippur) by musical instruments. Rhythmic swaying body movements often accompany the performance. The language of the prayers is Ge`ez, a Semitic language which is also the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Christian Church.
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dancer: Geva Biadgo
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