Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Israel Made Teen Ethiopian Bible Quiz Whiz Pay Thousands Of Dollars To Compete

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jewish teen from Ethiopia reportedly has deposited thousands of dollars in order to participate in the final stages of the International Bible Quiz in Israel.

The deposit is to insure that Sintayehu Shafrao, 18, returns to Gondar after the competition ends next week on Israel’s Independence Day.

Shafrao will represent Ethiopians known as Falash Mura, who claim Jewish descent. The Israeli government has pledged to bring the up to 9,000 Falash Mura remaining in Ethiopia who are waiting to make aliyah, but has not followed through with the funding for the operation.

Shafrao’s father and brother immigrated to Israel 17 years ago, according to Israel National News, or Arutz 7.

Since arriving in Israel, the teen has met with Israeli lawmakers and government ministers, including Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. During the meetings he pleaded for the lawmakers to bring the remaining Ethiopians to Israel as soon as possible.

The Interior Ministry demands large deposits from Ethiopians visiting Jewish relatives in Israel, according to reports.

About 135,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel today.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.