Rescue: The Exodus of the Ethiopian Jews

by Ruth Gruber

Traces the history of the Ethiopian Jews and chronicles the progress of Operation Moses, the secret rescue mission that brought these isolated, persecuted black Jews out of Ethiopia to Israel

Genres: History, Jewish, Nonfiction

234 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1987

About the author

Ruth Gruber was an award-winning Jewish American journalist, photographer, and humanitarian. Born in Brooklyn in 1911, she became the youngest PhD in the world and went on to author nineteen books, including the National Jewish Book Award–winning biography Raquela (1978). She also wrote several memoirs documenting her astonishing experiences, among them Ahead of Time (1991), Inside of Time (2002), and Haven (1983), which documents her role in the rescue of one thousand refugees from Europe and their safe transport to America.

Reviews

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2019 bk 394. I vaguely remember news stories surrounding this. The impression I had was that the Rescue was a one time event and that all of the Ethiopian Jews had left the country. Ruth Gruber provides a much wider view of the story. These 'black Jews' had so many strikes against their survival. In Ethiopia, they had been forcibly moved to the mountain area, were not allowed to own farm, could be forced to return to the capital as laborers, denied the chance to worship or live their lives in the orthodox style. In Israel, it took a rabbinical council to determine they were Jews, and then that same group wanted them to go through a purification ceremony to put a stamp of approval on what the refugees had known they were and practiced their entire lives. Leaving was dangerous - permits hard to get - that didn't change from the time of Haile Selassie to more current times. But the Ethiopian Jews persisted and they did have help from Mossad, different councils, and individual diplomats. The airlifts themselves were possible only because of secrecey and if certain newspapers had not reported on the airlifts for another 3 months, all of the Jews would have been able to leave. An impressive story telling of the difficulties of any type of help reaching those in turmoil.

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave a facinating account of Israel's 1984 covert rescue mission, Operation Moses. It follows different groups of young and old Ethiopian Jews making the dangerous trip to the Sudan and their subsequent flight to Israel within the context of the political dealings and corruption in Ethiopia. I appreciated that the book didn't gloss over the heartache of those who left Ethiopia for their family and culture left behind and the cultural misunderstandings between the Israelis and the Ethiopians which lead to difficulties during their absorption.