Reviewing: “Dialogues of Love and Fear: A Rabbi’s Daughter, a Kes’s Son, and Hope for the Future” By Sharon Shalom. Koren Publishers Jerusalem. 2022. English. Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978-1592645466.
Rav Sharon Zewde Shalom has straddled multiple worlds throughout his life. As a child he herded sheep in Ethiopia, trekked through the Sudanese desert and arrived in Israel where he was raised in a children’s home for orphans. He excelled as an officer in an elite IDF unit, went on to receive his PhD in Jewish philosophy from Bar Ilan University, and today is a senior lecturer in Jewish Studies and head of the International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry at Ono Academic College. He also serves as the rabbi of an Ashkenazi synagogue in Kiryat Gat that was established by Holocaust survivors from Europe. He is married to an immigrant from Switzerland and is the parent of five children. Rav Shalom uses his position as an Ethiopian Israeli who is deeply engaged with many sectors of Israeli society to educate the greater public about Ethiopian Jewry. His recently translated work “Dialogues of Love and Fear” is intended to serve this purpose.
Approximately 150,000 Jews of Ethiopian descent live in Israel today. For centuries Ethiopian Jews kept the Biblical commandments but did not practice Rabbinic Judaism and did not have the Mishna or Talmud. The theology and philosophy of Ethiopian Jewry developed very differently from the rest of the Jewish world, and it is because of these differences that Rav Shalom says so many people in Israel “are afraid” of Ethiopian Jews. These perceptions often lead to rifts and have tremendous implications on the integration of Ethiopian immigrants into greater society, he explained.
Rav Shalom is not a stranger to this judgmental behavior. His own Judaism has been questioned in Israel and he met several barriers towards full acceptance as a rabbi early in his career.
Rav Shalom believes the greatest barrier towards their full integration into Israeli society is not discrimination but the skepticism of the authenticity of Ethiopian Jewry that still exists. The problem, he explained, is that Western society tries to bring Ethiopian-Israelis closer to a particular model of Rabbinic Judaism. “I think in our consciousness we have to change that, that the Jew is also something else,” a reference to the fact that there are also Black Jews. “I think when we emphasize not [what is] common but the differences between Ethiopian Jews and Jews in the rest of the world, finally we can understand how much Ethiopian Jews are very special.”
The best way to deal with these issues is by listening, learning and engaging in dialogue with Ethiopian Jews, according to Rav Shalom. “We don’t stop to listen to them, to give them an opportunity to explain the religion from their perspective,” he continued. “We have to stop trying to explain them and start listening in order to understand them.”
“Dialogues of Love and Fear” is a fictional work that presents a model for discourse between Ethiopian-Israelis and the broader society, through conversations between the daughter of an Ashkenazi rabbi and the son of a kes (Ethiopian Jewish priest). Their conversations deal with societal and theological questions, which highlight their different backgrounds but also their desire to genuinely listen and build bridges by understanding the perspective of the other.
Rav Shalom hopes that through these conversations, readers will break down their preconceived notions and understand that the world is not black-and-white, and that all complex relationships consist of many layers that require dialogue to truly understand the other.
Rav Shalom is thrilled that this work is now available in English, enabling a much broader audience to become more familiar with Ethiopian Jewry and its heritage. Living up to its mission to bring more people to the heart of Hebrew sources, Koren Publishers Jerusalem translated this work early this year.
“We are privileged to have Rav Sharon Shalom’s book as part of the Koren and Maggid family,” said Matthew Miller, publisher at Koren Publishers Jerusalem. “One can’t help but be moved by his amazing life story and his inspirational outlook. His unique message of unity through our differences is one that speaks to the heart and strengthens the soul and is at the core of everything we are trying to achieve at Koren Jerusalem.”
By Alisa Bodner
