Praying for immigration

Morning prayer at the Falash Mura synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia

The Falash Mura synagogue in Gondar, Ethiopia
Falash Mura is the name given to Jews in Ethiopia and Eritrea who converted to Christianity under pressure from the mission during the 19th and 20th centuries. There are approximately 8,200 Falash Mura living in Ethiopia. The Falash Mura are not considered under the Israeli Law of Return. There are concerns in Israel that these people are just using Judaism as an excuse to leave Ethiopia in efforts to improve their lives in a new country. The Israeli government, in 2018, approved a plan to allow 1,000 of them to move to Israel. Many still reside in camps in Gondar and Addis Ababa, waiting to immigrate to Israel, simply having nowhere to go. They sold all of their belongings in order to reside in the Jewish Community Center of Gondar in hopes that this will be their last stop before making it to Israel. The children study Hebrew at Gondar's Jewish Day school in preparation for their relocation. The images of this project were captured in January 2019 at the temporary synagogue compound operating in Gondar, during the morning prayer ceremonies.