Twice Exiled: The Struggle and Triumph of Diasporic Jews in Israel

Scattered but Not Forgotten

As the conditions of diaspora vary, the Judaic inhabitants face east, hoping to one day return to Zion. Facing gatekeepers and cultural erosion by the same people they considered brothers, without ever knowing them. From the Sudanese to the Beta Israel, all have faced the same trials: suspicion, alienation, and indignity. And yet, each community emerged vibrant, dignified, and enduring. Has this journey ever been easy? Was Moshe tasked with a trivial challenge?

Each community’s pain and contribution helped shape the Israel of today — a mosaic built by resilience. I often hear cries of injustice and complaints about the rigidity of the culture. I think of all our brothers who suffered to transcend nationalism into ancestralism. To my Igbo brethren — the signs are there. We are next. Will we ensure the fire of return as they did?

— Aniefuna Omenana

Beta Israel — The Price of Return

The Jews of Ethiopia, known as Beta Israel, were granted aliyah rights under the Law of Return in the 1970s, which was officially confirmed in 1975. Yet their return was marred by covert operations, racial discrimination, and spiritual doubt cast upon their authenticity.

Hard Facts:

• Over 8,000 were rescued via Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991), many forced to trek across deserts to reach extraction points.

• Reports emerged in the early 2000s that Beta Israel women were administered birth control injections (Depo-Provera) without informed consent, effectively limiting their population.

• Rabbinate authorities often required symbolic reconversions or questioned lineage, treating Beta Israel not as long-lost family but as suspect strangers.

Testimony:

“We were told we are Jews — but not Jewish enough. We lost our land, our language, our fathers — now we are asked to lose our memory too.”

— Tigist A., Ethiopian-Israeli Activist

Yemenite Jews — A Vanished Generation

The Yemenite aliyah in the late 1940s brought nearly 50,000 Jews to Israel in “Operation Magic Carpet.” But it also exposed a deep national trauma now known as the Yemenite Children Affair.

Hard Facts:

• Hundreds (estimated between 1,000 and 5,000) of Yemenite children disappeared mysteriously. Parents were told their children died, yet many never received death certificates or burial sites.

• Testimonies and classified documents suggest children were taken for adoption — primarily by Ashkenazi families — under a veil of modernist paternalism.

Testimony:

“They told me my baby died. Years later, I saw a woman with the same eyes. Her name was changed. But her blood was Yemenite.”

— Shoshana Y., mother and witness

Conspiracy Notes:

• Official state commissions were convened but never confirmed systemic wrongdoing.

• For decades, families carried photos and sat in mourning, never given closure.

Bukharan Jews — Erased in Transit

The Bukharan Jews of Central Asia — primarily from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — had preserved Jewish customs for 2,000 years. Yet upon arrival in Israel, they were viewed as “oriental,” not “authentically Jewish.”

Hard Facts:

• Many Bukharan families faced economic marginalization, with children steered away from yeshivot and into vocational programs.

• Reports emerged of Ashkenazi schools refusing Bukharan students due to their dress, accent, and customs.

Testimony:

“They called us Russian, but didn’t understand that we kept Torah under Soviet bans. We prayed in silence. Here we were told we were too loud, too foreign.”

— Rabbi Aharonov, Bukharan community elder

Sudanese Jews — Forgotten in the Shadows

Lesser-known are the Jewish families from Sudan, who fled war, slavery, and famine, some tracing lineage to Nubian converts and Judeo-Egyptian roots.

Hard Facts:

• Many were resettled alongside African asylum seekers and faced a racial double-burden.

• Despite Halachic conversions and Israeli army service, many still struggle for citizenship and rabbinic recognition.

• Ethiopian-Sudanese Jews in particular were profiled as “security risks,” unable to move freely between cities.

Testimony:

“My grandfather taught me Torah in the refugee tent. When I arrived in Israel, they asked if I had ever seen a synagogue. I cried. Ours were destroyed by Arab militias.”

— Ben-El Makurdi, Sudanese-born Israeli

A Shared Burden — Forced Conversion and the Price of Return

A pattern emerges: nearly every Jewish group returning from diaspora was expected to “reprove” their Jewishness through conversion, submission, or cultural erasure.

Hard Facts:

• Yemenite, Beta Israel, Indian Bnei Menashe, and Kaifeng Jews were often required to undergo symbolic or halachic conversions — even if their Torah observance exceeded many secular Israelis.

• Questions of race, accent, dress, and custom replaced halacha in the court of public opinion.

• Many were settled in development towns with poor infrastructure, under surveillance, and excluded from rabbinic leadership.

Testimony:

“All of our brothers who suffered ultimately faced conversion. A small sacrifice to be grafted in.”

— Aniefuna Omenana

Toward Restoration — Beyond Nationalism

Oh, brethren of diaspora, who’ve shouldered Torah in the physical and spiritual realm for generations — the lost sheep of the flock of Abraham — your hearts still yearn to taste the lips of Zion once more. But will you continue to bow to the cultures of the land in which you are lost? Do you put the identity of the soil before the identity of Sinai?

To my Igbo brethren: the signs are unmistakable. We are next. Will we endure as our brothers have endured?

“When a stranger measures your tribalism, you reply in Igbo with pride.

But when the measurement is Hebraic — you cry culture?

What is your culture, then? Circumcision on the eighth day? Marriage under a canopy?

Kosher diet and priestly inheritance? Be bold in your nationalism,

but let it never exceed your Hebrewism.”

— Aniefuna Omenana

The Gates Are Open

From the desert walks of Beta Israel to the skylifts of the Yemenite exodus, to the forgotten children of Sudan — the pattern is consistent: alienation, resilience, rebirth, and ultimately, gathering.

What remains is the final exodus.

Let the rest of the tribes prepare.

For Hashem is calling. The land awaits.

Oh, brethren of diaspora, who’ve shouldered Torah in the physical and spiritual realm for generations, the lost sheep of the flock of Abraham, whose hearts yearn to taste the lips of Zion once more. Do your prayers ring to the east? Have you forgotten your covenant? Surely you have pledged allegiance to the land in which you are lost? Do you put the culture of the soil before your ancestral birthright? Shall you, too, sell your birthright for a bowl of soup? Have you forgotten your tent?

ABBA grafted you into Israel; return to your Father, for only you has He known.

“When a stranger measures your tribalism, you reply in Igbo with pride.

But when the measurement is Hebraic, you cry culture?

But what is your culture? Circumcision on the eighth day?

Marriage under a canopy? Kosher diets and marriage rites?

Be forward with your nationalism, but it should supersede your Hebrewism.”

— Aniefuna Omenana