The Religious Experience of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Despite their ancient and historic Judaic background, Ethiopian Jews have faced discrimination in Israel on religious grounds. This has been particularly evident in the questioning of the legitimacy of the Beta Israel's claims to be Jews, and the lack of full recognition for the kessim (Ethiopian Jewish priests). Both these areas of discrimination have had profound, long-standing effects on the Beta Israel and have delayed their full integration into the wider Israeli society. When the fortunes of the Beta Israel's religious being are approached from the hegemonic perspective of integration into the hegemonic Israel religion, their religious experience in Israel ultimately amounted to rejection. However, it is conceded that in context of social crisis, even the most beleaguered community will fashion its own religious images to make sense of the chaos. The Beta Israel have clung to their beliefs and have created new religious images. These have allowed them to survive the trauma of cultural and spiritual transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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