Esther Tafara, chief technician at the new Heart Cath Lab suite in Hadassah Hospital Mt. Scopus, is one of the thousands of Ethiopian olim who came to Israel with the support of Keren Hayesod. Her journey to Israel is almost unbelievable. At the age of six, she moved with her family from the village in which she grew up to the city of Addis Ababa, where they waited for the right moment to come to Israel. That moment arrived three years later, when Esther was nine. She was put on a plane to Israel with a family she did not know. She recalls that she was afraid to close her eyes during the flight, lest she be left behind. When she landed in Israel, she was taken in by family members who had come through Sudan in Operation Moses. She finished elementary school, high school and an undergraduate degree, and worked at Hadassah Ein Kerem for 14 years before being offered her new prestigious position. Esther is just one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Ethiopia who came to Israel with the help of Keren Hayesod, which continues to support the aliyah of Jews from Ethiopia.
Photo: Esther Tafara at work in Hadassah Hospital, Mt. Scopus, 2019