The following are excerpts from letters received by the author and comments made upon publication of the original version of this book in Hebrew.
D. A.: “The book you have written (with excellent timing) was like a drink of cold water for a tired soul. Your interesting and fluent writing granted me continuous enjoyment in reading this book, and inspired me to read it again. I learned new things about the sources of Talmudic customs and general Jewish history. I was particularly impressed by your worldview, traditional and based on the Torah, yet Western. I was pleased to discover that you work in educating youth and a generation of educators.”
W. A. T.: “What Rabbi Sharon Shalom has attempted in From Sinai to Ethiopia is to preserve the most ancient tradition among the Jewish people, from the period preceding the Sages. It will form part of the mosaic of Jewish culture and enrich it. For many years, I desired from the depths of my soul to preserve our beautiful tradition, but I did not find anyone who shared this wish. Our people only tried to distance themselves from every sign of tradition, and to imitate other communities or at least to ignore ours. After reading Rabbi Sharon’s book, I was filled with joy. Only He Who knows all secrets is aware of the inner happiness and pride I felt. From that moment, I felt that our tradition had legitimacy, and there was no more need to hide it in the depths of our souls. On the contrary, we Ethiopian Jews have traditions that should be expressed in everyday life, and not remain in books or museum exhibits. Until now, the concept of traditions has been applied only to communities such as the Yemenites, Sephardim, or Ashkenazim. None of these customs has any basis in the text of the Torah, nor in the Talmud, and yet they wave the flag that bears the slogan of ‘Jewish custom is Torah,’ and the verse ‘Do not foresake the Torah of your mother.’
“In a shtiebl in Bnei Brak, I once saw a sign with directives for the hazzan: ‘The hazzan will wear a hat, a suit, and gartel [belt that separates between the heart and the lower part of the body]. He will pray according to Nusah Sefard with Ashkenazic pronunciation. Before prayer he must immerse himself in the mikveh. He must not shave, following the custom of our holy rabbis.’ I am certain of one thing: ‘the custom of our holy rabbis’ is not the Tannaim or the Amoraim, not the Rishonim or the Shulhan Arukh or the Rema. Rather, these customs were developed by communities in Eastern Europe, but they still use the term ‘our holy rabbis’ even though this list of rules has no relation to halakhah, and they preserve their customs punctiliously. However, when it comes to the customs of Ethiopian Jewry, these sayings do not apply. All of our customs are deemed in error, and we should be subject to the Shulhan Arukh and Yalkut Yosef. (I do not know what source in the Tanakh or Talmud says we should be subject to these.) Naturally, this leads to loss of respect for parents, kesim, the entire Ethiopian community, and to slander of our ancestors who followed and preserved the customs. How sad it is to see some of the negative responses of members of the Ethiopian community toward the book, which are shallow and lacking in content. This demonstrates self-degradation, and when a person does not respect himself, others do not respect him and even belittle him. Today we see that communities who ingratiate themselves to other communities are not received in a welcoming manner, and all the more so, are derisively rejected.
“We may argue about the significance of this book, but the discussion should be topical and respectful, with proofs from the texts, as the rabbis have done throughout history. I have also heard positive responses, some from rabbis representing other communities, on the importance of preserving our tradition. This is very uplifting, and gives us strength to continue preserving our customs. One example: a Yemenite Jew who read the book told me that he regretted his grandmother was no longer alive, so that he might ask her about the customs of the Jews in Yemen. Since our aliyah, finally I feel proud to be a Jew. In Ethiopia I felt proud to be a Jew, but here I was always made to feel that our Judaism was in doubt, and that we were outcast refugees . . . ”
Rabbi R. T. I.: “This is the first time that the halakhic and legal worlds have encountered an organized halakhic work, with citations and explanations, about Ethiopian Jewry. Until this book, no one has presented our tradition in Hebrew. From this aspect, this is a historical as well as a halakhic breakthrough. No one before him has ever done this.”
Rabbi M. S. expressed opposition to the book. His main argument was that the book would lead to isolation of the community, while for the last thirty years, the community has integrated religiously. According to him, the book takes us backward in time. He explains his dissatisfaction: “Most painfully, the author is an Ethiopian rabbi, who should ideally act to connect the Ethiopians with the rest of the Jewish people. But here he is actually doing it a disservice. I have no doubt that the author’s intention was positive, but from my point of view, it has led to a negative result. As Rabbi Judah Halevi stated in the Kuzari, ‘Your intention is desirable, but your actions are undesirable.’ ”
D. C.: Rabbi Shalom proposes a path beyond accepted halakhah, divided according to generations – the older generations should continue to follow the ancient customs, while the younger generations should gradually adopt mainstream halakhah. . . . In certain places in the book, Rabbi Shalom seems to be speaking in an apologetic tone. On one hand, he agrees that the Ethiopian community must move within a few generations to pesika (implementation or practical application of halakhah) based on the Shulhan Arukh (Ashkenazic, Sephardic, or similar). But against the insult and humiliation suffered by members of the older generation, who are unable to change their practice, he provides a proud and courageous defense. The book raises and addresses difficult questions that demand a broader platform – on the difference between the unity and the uniformity of the Jewish people. . . . But more than this, he gives the Ethiopian community reason to be proud of its customs, with the knowledge that the custom in the remainder of the Jewish world is different. The non-Ethiopian public will also be very interested in this book, and may achieve a better understanding of the customs of the Beta Israel community, which perhaps seem strange at first glance, but most of which rely on sound inner logic.”
Y. S.: “First of all, I congratulate you on From Sinai to Ethiopia. Undoubtedly, this book is a precious asset and treasure for the entire Jewish people. In particular, it grants Ethiopian Jewry a place within Israeli society. In my opinion, the response that the book has generated in the various communities of the Jewish world is proof that the Jewish people are alive and well. You have made an impressive achievement in questioning. . . . I would like to encourage you, and to say thank you for the wonderful gift of your book.”
At a conference about the book at Yad Ben Zvi Institute, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber said: “The praise that the author of this book deserves is endless. Thanks to this book, a new field of study has been created surrounding the topic of Ethiopian Jewry. It must be studied, added to, and expanded, and most importantly – defended.”
At the same event, Kes Samai Elias stated, “This evening, I am full of pride. In Ethiopia, during hundreds of years of journeys and hardships, we remained strong, because we preserved tradition that distanced us from assimilation and Christianity.” He added, “For thirty years, we have been trying to defend the assertion that we are Jews in the full sense of the word. Now Rabbi Sharon Shalom has arrived and put our community on the map, our customs in the center. Ethiopian Jews will continue to observe the traditions that our ancestors observed in Ethiopia. Even if other [Jews] do not accept this, they will have to live with it.”
Rabbi Yosef Hadana, chief rabbi of Ethiopian Jewry, praised the book, but noted that “the Jewish community of Ethiopia came [to Israel] with sources and traditions, but in my opinion we must decide according to the Shulhan Arukh.”
Rabbi Reuven-Tal Iasso, who sat on the panel at the event, said, “The real question is whether or not the Ethiopian community belongs to the Jewish people. If we follow those who believe that the Ethiopian Jews are not part of the Jewish people, then there is no reason to study their tradition. If we follow the opinion that the roots of the Ethiopian Jews are within the Jewish people, this changes the entire pesika. Rabbi Sharon Shalom has paved a new road. He has shaken the rabbinic world by forcing it to confront Ethiopian tradition in rabbinic language, the language of halakhah and Jewish law.”
Rabbi Yehuda Brandes, head of Beit Morasha beit midrash, added, “One of the important points of this book is to prevent the ancient tradition of Ethiopian Jewry from being swallowed within the world of modern halakhah, which has undergone two thousand years of transformation. . . . Someone had to translate the Ethiopian language, and to state that Ethiopian tradition is not just folklore, but tradition.”
To conclude the discussion, Shula Mula, chairman of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews (IAEJ), stated: “In my opinion, From Sinai to Ethiopia is the most important book I have ever encountered.” Shula shared her experience as a new immigrant who denied her tradition in order to blend in. “From Sinai to Ethiopia teaches us that we must not smother the practices we used to follow. We must not be embarrassed by the way we were educated. The book does not hide the arguments and the conflicts, but rather asserts that elu ve-elu divrei Elokim hayim – both of these are the words of the living God.”