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Saving the Forgotten Jews

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18/12/2015 GMT

BBC World News - Saving the Forgotten Jews

How the Ethiopian Jewish community came to arrive in the state of Israel.

As Sigd approaches, we explore how the Ethiopian Jewish community came to arrive in the state of Israel.

Sigd is Judaism's lost festival. It celebrates the moment God revealed himself to Moses and the revelation that followed. Proscribed by biblical law it was forgotten by European Jews, only preserved by a remnant of the lost tribes: the Ethiopian Jewish community. 
 
Thirty years ago two remarkable mass movements transported this community to the modern State of Israel and now the festival has once again become recognised, much like the Ethiopian Jews themselves, as an authentic part of the wider Jewish tradition. This year as Sigd approaches we explore how this community came to arrive in the state of Israel. It is an incredible story of espionage, heroism and unyielding faith that led to tens of thousands of people leaving their homes and risking their lives. We join both those who were instrumental in the operations themselves and members of the Ethiopian Jewish community to explore how these so-called miraculous events happened and what they mean today.

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