Ethiopian situation draws look from federation reps
Two Monmouth County residents joined more than 170 lay and professional leaders representing 48 Jewish federations across North America who recently participated in a mission to Ethiopia and Israel.

The mission provided a firsthand look at life-saving Jewish Federation of Monmouth County projects, according to a press release from the federation.

Holly Weiss of Freehold and Albert Bloomfield of Ocean Township traveled with the mission because of their new roles as women's philanthropy campaign chair and co-chair of education-allocations, respectively.

The seven-day fact-finding trip was aimed at providing an in-depth look at the challenges facing some of the world's most vulnerable Jews, in Ethiopia, and the opportunities Jewish Federation partner agencies provide them in Israel, according to the press release. The mission also got a firsthand look at Israel Emergency Campaign IEC) programs at the first anniversary of the Second Lebanon War.

Heading first to Ethiopia, participants met some of the last remaining Ethiopian Jews, the Falas Mura, whose descendants were forced to convert to Christianity but who wish to return to their Jewish roots and live in Israel. Federation is helping bring the Falas Mura to Israel and helping better integrate all Ethiopian-Israelis into mainstream Israeli society, according to the federation.

In Ethiopia, mission participants witnessed as Falas Mura prepared for the final stages of immigrating to Israel. At designated compounds in the province of Gondar, the community receives medical care and food, while children learn Hebrew and adults attend Jewish identity classes.

Weiss said, "I realized when we accompanied the new immigrants to Israel that getting them there is the easy part. Making them contributing members of Israeli society is much more difficult."

Participants also experienced programs supported by the annual campaign and IEC, which help deliver social services that meet the needs of Israel's most vulnerable citizens, including new Ethiopian immigrants.

IEC programs help tens of thousands of Israelis affected by the Second Lebanon War - by helping those in the north rebuild, and helping support those still facing missile strikes in the south, in the Sderot area near the Gaza strip.

Jewish Federation initiatives are operated by overseas partners, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel; as well as the Ethiopian National Project and World ORT.

Ultimately, "all of the members of our delegation came away with a greater understanding and with greater enthusiasm for working in our communities to support the Jewish Federation's mission to 'Live Generously' and to honor the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repairing the world)," Bloomfield said.