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Path: utzoo!watmath!watmum!watrose!jrkesselman
From: jrkesselman@watrose.UUCP (jrkesselman)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Message-ID: <7297@watrose.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 20-Feb-85 10:34:58 EST
Article-I.D.: watrose.7297
Posted: Wed Feb 20 10:34:58 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Feb-85 21:17:25 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 16


 As Jews, why are we so concerned with Halacha when we discuss the
 Ethiopian Jews?  Clearly the "Jewish thing to do " is to accept them
 openly from the society in which they were persecuted.  Ultra religious
 Jews who are making an issue of "strict halacha" are forgetting the
 basic values of Judaism.

 Our Ethiopian brothers should be accepted as Jews into Israeli society
 without question.  We as Jews should know what persecution is and should
 be fighting for the rights of Ethiopian Jewry.  We should not be 
 focusing our energy on the "authenticity" of their Jewishness. Instead
 we should show our "jewishness" by accepting them as Jews without 
 making them go through halachic conversion.

 Jack Kesselman
 Univercity of Waterloo