"From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia I will bring My worshippers, the daughter of My dispersed ones and they shall bring My offering." - Zeph. 3:10

Facts

History of Ethiopian Jews

Painting of King Solomon and Queen Sheba

Queen of Sheba

Ethiopia has a unique and long-standing relationship with Israel, much of which is recorded in the pages of the Bible.

Moses married an Ethiopian wife (Numbers 12:1).
An Ethiopian traveled to Jerusalem to worship and is discovered reading the Jewish Scriptures (Acts 8:27).

Between these two events, Ethiopian Jewish communities emerged, but little is known of their origin. Three main theories exist:

Visit of the Queen of Sheba (Cush) to King Solomon of Israel (1 Kings 10:1-13). This tradition, favored by Ethiopian Jews, states that a son, Menelik, was born to Solomon and Sheba, through whom all Ethiopian Jews descended.

From Ethiopia to Israel

Jews fled the Babylonian exile during the destruction of the first Temple in 586 B.C.E. (2 Kings 25). They would have traveled to Egypt, then down the Nile River, eventually settling in the hills of Gondar and Tigray, where they remained hidden for centuries.
Jews who traveled from the Arabian peninsula (near Yemen) to the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia) and established new Jewish communities.

Throughout the centuries, they suffered much persecution at the hands of traditional Christians and Muslims. Yet, they remained the oldest Diaspora community practicing Torah Jewish observance, pre-dating modern Rabbinic Judaism. Their greatest desire throughout the generations was to return to Jerusalem.