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The historical data concerning how
a Jewish population first came to settle in Ethiopia
is scant due to the lack of written records and the
regional prevalence of oral traditions. There are however
many theories, of which three are the most widely accepted:
- The Ethiopian Jews are the descendants
of the lost ancient Israelite tribe of Dan.
- They may be the descendants of
Menelik I, the fabled son of King Solomon and the
Queen of Sheba, as set down in the folkloric, biblical
and aggadic Ethiopian Kebra Negast.
- They might be descendants of
Jews who left Israel for Egypt following the destruction
of the First Temple in 586 BCE.
These and other ideas have their
supporters, and also their detractors. Regardless, for
thousands of years, Jews in Ethiopia maintained a strict
pre-Talmudic biblical Judaism. They kept Kashrut (Jewish
dietary laws), the laws of ritual cleanliness, and observed
the Jewish Sabbath and festivals. The Kesim (religious
leaders) were respected as the rabbis of each community
and presided over festival services in the ancient liturgical
language of Ge'ez. They passed down Jewish tradition
orally and maintained the Jewish books and torah scrolls
that some communities had preserved in Ge'ez.
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