The Ethics of Ingathering: Race, Religion and the Dilemmas of Ethiopian Immigration to Israel

Third Annual Maurice Amado Foundation Lecture in Jewish Ethics

Professor Don Seeman

Since the conclusion of Operation Solomon in 1991, most new Ethiopian immigrants to Israel have been descendants of individuals whose ancestors had either assimilated or converted to Christianity. The immigration of these so-called “Felashmura,” which continues today, has engendered a whole host of difficult ethical, cultural and legal controversies in Israel. What are the limits of “Jewish solidarity?” Is immigration policy race-blind? How much “Jewishness” can Israeli society expect of new immigrants and citizens? Don Seeman has written the only scholarly account of this immigration and its aftermath, and now turns to reflect on the complicated ethics of this immigration, as well as American Jewish involvement.

Don Seeman is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and the Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University and is the author, “One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism” (Rutgers University Press, 2009). He is widely published in the areas of Jewish thought and social anthropology of modern Israel, and is the co-editor of “Contemporary Anthropology of Religion,” a book series at Palgrave-Macmillan. His late grandparents, Joseph and Rachel Kass, were members of Valley Beth Shalom.

For your convenience, a map to the event is provided.

Everyone is invited. Please call (818) 677-4724 or email jewish.studies@csun.edu to reserve a seat.