Children's books: A magical peek into the Ethiopian

culture
"Yerus Goes To Jerusalem" provides a successful taste of the Ethiopian Alyah story
through the eyes of a girl who made the journey to Israel with her family. The result is
adventurous and rich with pearls from the distant culture.

Mor Dvorkin-Fulgman, Ahbar Ha'Eir , 2015

You are not considered "Israeli" until you are laughed at. Ethnic jokes and stingy
humor about the immigrants to Israel are part of the "acceptance process" in to
the Israeli society for many decades now. Uri Zohar and Arik Ainstein expressed it very well in their famous
sketch when Grisha and Misha, Mitzi and Fritzi, Mariuma Alber, Wladek and Shvily shouted, and laughed at
each other but at the end, did it together.
On different level children's books about the different Aliyah stories are amongst the first signs of absorption
in Israel, or at least of the initial presence in its culture. Sami Michael's "A Storm Between the Palm Trees"
and "Tin Sheds and Dreams" that deal with the Alyah of Iraqi jews, Dorit Orgad's "Into A New Place" that
deals with the difficulties of Moroccan Olim in a southern development town, Yael Rozman's "The Funny Girl
With The Earings" that tells about the hardships of USSR olim, and more.. All validated the presence of the
different communities
in Israel culture, when
sometimes the author
was part of that
communty and other
times he or she has a
connection to it.
These books usually
come up when the
comuumunity has at
least one "Sabra"
generation and thus
answering two needs:
sharing the heritage
and the Alyiah story to
the new generaon who
was born in Israel
already and also to
make it part of the
landscape of the
culture and
consciousness of the
general public.

Bat-Ami Melnik's book

"Yerus Goes To
Jerusalem" serves
these two goals very
well. The book, which
deals with the hard and Each community and its own stories. Yerus Goes To Jerusalem (the book's cover)
dangerous journey of
Ethiopia's Jews during the 80's and 90's was inspired by the life stories of Ethiopian olim from Bet Shemesh.
The story is told through the eyes of Yerus a girl that makes the journey with her family members. Yerus
shares with the young reader the long lasting dream of the community to move to Eretz Yisrael in a
fascinating, thrilling and exciting manner. The late night start of the journey, the hardships and many dangers
on the way and also the first encounter with white people who are also Jewish soldiers.

Other than the description of the journey and the longing to Israel, the book does an excellent job in providing
a taste of the Ethiopian community culture by using sayings, songs and expressions written in both Amharic
and Hebrew. Thanks to it the young reader is exposed not only to the journey but also to the spiritual and
cultural world that the
Ethiopian Jews had
brought with them after
long years of prayers and
longing to Zion. The
wonderful illustrations by
Moran Yogev adds yet
another cultural tier
thanks to the typical
African colors and style
which reminds
sculpturing and curving
techniques. The
repetitive illustrative
motif of the stork which is
mentioned in one of the
community's yearning
songs to Jerusalem,
adds a great deal of
content and makes the
The repetitive illustrative motif of the stork (from the book)
illustrations as valuable
as the text in conveying
the cultural heritage.

This is the first children book of the "Dror LaNefesh" books publication which belongs to the "Dror Israel"
movement and operate as a non-for profit organization. The publication choose it's books with an aim to
broaden the cultural dialogue in Israel, and sounding the voices of segments of Israeli society with less
presence in it, such as the Ethiopian community. If "Yerus goes To Jerusalem" is an indication for the content
and style direction of the publication than it is absolutely worthwhile to keep tracking it's activity.

Link to the original article ]Hebrew] - http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,608,209,78389,.aspx