“For me, the Ethiopian Jews are a model of true Zionism”, says Micha Feldman, the man who was the Jewish Agency for Israel’s main emissary in Ethiopia. “Entire families with their old and their young didn’t wait and didn’t ask anyone, and set out on the dangerous road to Sudan in order to realize their dream to make aliyah to the Land of Israel”. In 1970 Micha Feldman began working as an absorption center director. He later became a youth movement shaliach in Germany, and subsequently, an aliyah shaliach in San Francisco. In 1982, he began volunteering on behalf of the Jews of Ethiopia and since then, has devoted a large part of his life to helping them. He witnessed the arrival of the first olim to Israel, even before Operation Moses, something that he, as the son of Holocaust survivors, found very moving. Feldman worked in Ethiopia for several years before becoming one of the leaders of Operation Solomon in 1991 – the operation that brought 14,310 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 24 hours. 43 aircrafts carried out the largest airlift in history. During those 24 hours, eight babies were born, on the ground and in the air. “I didn’t sleep or eat for two days”, recalls Feldman. “After landing, I ran over to the last immigrants, who were completely exhausted. When they saw me they said: ‘Thank you, Abba Mika'”. Micha Feldman shared his experiences during this historic event in his book, Exodus from Ethiopia, which was published in 1998. He was subsequently sent to many countries by Keren Hayesod. Among other places, he went to Germany, where, while standing in front of the crematoria in Dachau, he said: “I thank God and the Jews of Ethiopia for the privilege of being part of history”. “I have been involved in aliyah from Ethiopia for 37 years already and am with them in times of distress and times of happiness”, he says. “I feel tremendous pride when I see young people of Ethiopian origin who become lawyers or officers, or graduate with honors from the Technion”.
Photo: Micha Feldman, Gondar, Ethiopia, 2006