Twenty years ago, The Jewish Federation helped thousands of Ethiopian Jews make aliyah through our support of Operation Moses. This is the story of one of them — Oshra Friedman. At just seven years old, our Federation touched Oshra’s life by opening up a world of opportunities. Now, more than three decades later, Oshra pays it forward, touching the lives of 16,000 at-risk Israelis through her work with Rashi Foundation. Oshra shared her story with the women of El Caballero Country Club at their recent Playday. Here is her story.
As a four-year-old growing up in a village in Ethiopia, young Oshra had three important jobs: To bring water to her father and brothers who were working in the fields, to bring their lunch, and to take care of her nephews.
Oshra’s family practiced Judaism and always spoke of Israel. She knew that one day her family would go to the Promised Land. Two years later, when Oshra was six years old, her mother woke her (and her eight brothers and sisters) in the middle of the night. They didn’t know where they were going. They brought no belongings and couldn’t talk. They walked for three months in the night, sleeping during the day. Along with ten other families, they walked all the way to Sudan. Not everyone survived the journey.
It was all a part of Operation Moses, something that Oshra is quick to remind was an operation of Zionism, not of suffering. The families weren’t starving — at least, Oshra doesn’t remember it that way. Nor were they impoverished like the Ethiopian orphans we often see in television commercials. However, their dream was to reach Israel and make aliyah. The Ethiopian government wouldn’t let them leave. Hence, the clandestine operation.
Once in the Sudan, Oshra and her family stayed in a crowded refugee camp. With one 8-person tent for 10 families, it wasn’t exactly a thrilling adventure for the adults. Fortunately, it was for the kids. Within the camp, having only ever used donkeys and horses for transportation, Oshra saw a truck for the first time delivering food to the camp. The children who jumped the highest near the truck would get the best food tossed to them. Oshra practiced jumping all the time.
After a lengthy time in the camp, hundreds of refugees, including Oshra and her family, were loaded into a truck. In the 25 minutes it took them to reach their destination, several people were crushed to death. They drove through the dark desert and then, as Oshra describes it, “There was a bird and they were asking me to go into her stomach.” It was a 5-hour flight to Jerusalem. Once there, the family was shocked to find an apartment just for them — with their first-ever key — and a bed for each member of their family. To a family from a Third World country, this was an unfamiliar and very modern paradise.
In Israel, Oshra was able to attend school for the first time. “In Ethiopia,” she said, “you have to be wealthy or your parents have to work very hard.” She couldn’t wait to learn how to read and write.
Oshra loved going to class — that is, until her 8th grade teacher told her not to apply for a prestigious girls’ school because she’d be embarrassed by her skillset. One of Oshra’s brothers encouraged her to apply anyway. Much to her delight, she was accepted into the school, but after five months of extremely challenging courses, she dropped out.
Too afraid to tell her parents, Oshra invented stories about school and instead spent her days on the beach and in the library reading books. One day, however, she realized she couldn’t keep up the charade. She sat down in the street and began to cry. A woman by the name of Ada Miller said she’d help Oshra tell her parents and even give her a job walking her dog — in return, she’d help Oshra with her English and find her a school. Ada kept her word and sent Oshra to a boarding school where she later met her future husband.
A world of opportunities opened up for Oshra after she completed her education. She came to the U.S. on a trip with the Anti-Defamation League, where she met a man who helped her get accepted into law school. However, Oshra had no intentions of being a lawyer and returned to Israel to serve in the army. She asked to be an officer to create programs that would help Ethiopians and other immigrants become equals in the army. And she succeeded.
After completing her military service, Oshra was hired by the Rashi Foundation, which works to help Israel’s underprivileged populations (including Ethiopian immigrants) get better educations and realize their full potential. In particular, Oshra has worked with three scholarship funds: the Ethiopian Educational Initiative, scholarships for Youth Without Family Support, and scholarships for single mothers, who often fall through the cracks. In her 16 years with Rashi, Oshra has touched the lives of 16,000 Israelis through her work.
Oshra used to identify herself as Ethiopian first, then Jewish, and, finally, Israeli. Now, she identifies as a Jewish Israeli who was born in Ethiopia. “Israel opened doors for me to become independent and self-confident,” she said. “I am proud to be an Israeli. This is what I know and where I want to be. I love it.”
Oshra’s success story is due, in part, to the generosity of our local Jewish community, which made the dream of Israel possible for her family. However, we brought Oshra over 30 years ago and she was lucky to meet someone who helped her succeed. Unfortunately, there are many other Ethiopians and other at-risk Israelis who are impoverished and need our help today. Our Federation is touching their lives and enabling them to become self-sufficient by partnering with Ethiopian National Project, which provides educational support for middle and high school students; Israel Center for Educational Innovation, which provides literacy training tools for teachers and principals at low-income schools with high concentrations of Ethiopians; and Yemin Orde, which trains educators with a specific methodology to give at-risk Israelis, many of them Ethiopian, the tools they need for success. In addition, our Federation has had a long partnership with PACT (Parents and Children Together), which provides early intervention for Ethiopian-Israelis, from daycare to well-baby clinics and more; and Youth Futures, which pairs kids in grades 3-8 with mentors to build their academic and social skills.
For more information about our work with Ethiopians and at-risk Israelis living in the country’s periphery, please contact Lori Klein at (323) 761-8165 or LKlein@JewishLA.org.
