It's a four hour flight into their future. Until recently Fekadu and his family have been practicing Christians - though they are of Jewish heritage. Will they qualify for a new life in Israel? They have been waiting in Gondar, Ethiopia for ten years. Fekadu learns that he may go only if he leaves his adopted son, Worku behind.—Anonymous
Rarely is there a moment in time that will signify so much. It is not often that we witness events that will ultimately change countries, religious leaders and our own thinking in such a dramatic way.
A relatively small group of Ethiopian Jews have been making a journey to the Promised Land since the 1970s. But, in reality, this journey is the fulfillment of a promise made 2500 years ago. It is a final connection between the Jewish people and their Home. It is not to todays Israel, a recent country, but to the biblical land of milk and honey of the Israelites and Abraham and Jacob and Isaac and all.
This dream is not cornered in a landlocked African country far far away. It is the same dream that many immigrants or would-be immigrants have shared and will share - as have the Irish, the Mexicans the Chinese to America. (another example)
The debate is at hand. The outcome is uncertain. It is only the questions which have substantial weight. And these are the same questions that we all have or will be asked to answer. What groups do we belong to - nationality, race, sexual choice, religion? And who determines who gets into the group and who does not?
Fekadu's family is asked these questions. They must make a choice - to go to the promised land or to wait even longer than the ten years the have spent in Gondar. They may go. But only if they leave their adopted son, Worku, behind. Will they?
