Episode Transcript
Hate Closed Her Ethiopian-Jewish Cafe, But Beta Israel Owner Beejhy Barhany Won’t Stop Serving Love!
Shalom, and welcome to another very special episode of the World's Number one Jewish podcast.
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Okay, as I said, BJJP first, today's episode will not take place on a set or in a theater.
As every other episode of this show has.
Instead, thanks to my incredible partners at JBS, the Jewish Broadcasting Service where you can find new episodes of this show on your TV every Thursday night, and then some.
We will be offsite today on location on my guest's home turf because this particular place is as much a part of the conversation as my guest is herself.
The where is Harlem.
New York's historic uptown neighborhood that has been home to so many African American cultural institutions over the past a hundred plus years.
Today we're gonna step foot into one such institution with a decidedly Jewish twist.
Tsion Cafe is America's first and only Ethiopian Israeli restaurant, though it nourishes the community through far more than just delicious, vegan, kosher food.
It is the beating heart of the small but mighty Ethiopian Jewish population here in the west.
A hub for gathering, learning, storytelling, bridge building, and joy.
The heart and brains and soul and spirit of the place is its proprietor and executive chef Beejhy Barhany, who has made it her life's mission to share her story, her people story, and her passion for Ethiopian Israeli culture and cuisine with the world.
I've been hoping to have Beejhyon the show for a long time as an ambassador of the Beta Israel community, but unfortunately, a heartbreaking recent turn of events accelerated my outreach, bringing a new sense of urgency, and subsequently me to the door of ion cafe.
As of just a few weeks ago, Beejhy made the painful decision to close the restaurant to everyday dining.
Due to the persistent anti-Zionist hate and harassment she and her staff have been receiving for years, especially since October 7th.
While Cion remains open for private dinners, casual diners will no longer be able to gather in its small but exuberant dining room, which is precisely where Beejhyhas generously invited me to join her today.
So grab your winter coat and come with me as I journey across the country to check in on Cone Cafe for a little taste of the Ethiopian Jewish experience with its preeminent American Emissary, the one and only Beejhy Barhany.
Hey guys, I am here in the Sugar Hill area of Harlem Uptown New York City.
On my way to Cone Cafe, just up the street.
Really excited.
Never been here before.
It's long.
Been on my New York bucket list to eat and now I'm gonna get a, a little private tour, a little conversation.
It's gonna be awesome.
Here we are, cone Cafe, and uh, let's go inside, shall we?
Hello.
Hi.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Beautiful Mozza.
Yes.
So nice to see you again.
Good to have you.
Thank you for having me here.
Beautiful.
This is, I, so I saw this on the outside, uh, and like the angel.
Tell me about this angel and it's like, it's other places, right?
Yeah.
There's a lot of angel.
Our motif is, uh, ion spirituality.
Angel.
We are feeding, everybody's an angel.
That's the I love it.
Overall description.
Yes.
This is a great space.
It's so colorful and we have, uh, books here, uh, celebrating the diverse type of, you know, going from WE de Boys to the book about Malcolm X, some books in Hebrew to Zions.
You know, how much are people sitting down for a meal and grabbing a book?
Uh, a lot.
Yeah.
A lot of people.
Yes.
It's quite interesting.
All of this mix.
Of the different, uh, cultures and what have you.
And actually this particular book was completed here Whoa.
At Cion Cafe because.
Malcolm X worked as a waiter here throughout the Harlem Renaissance, long time ago, the 1920s and thirties, where it used to be Jimmy's Chicken Shack.
So there is a lot of history here.
Wow.
Yes.
Is there anything left over from Jimmy's Chicken Shack?
There is a plaque that we just put here.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
To honor those people, uh, who walked before us.
That's, that's this over here?
Yeah.
So.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
Just a, you know, a couple people you might have heard of.
Right.
Charlie Parker, Malcolm X, red Fox, art Tatum.
That's so cool.
Yep.
All right.
I want to get our conversation started, but there's like so much beautiful, interesting art everywhere.
Any, anything you want to highlight before we get going?
Sure.
I mean, you know, this is, uh, actually, uh, a special drawing that was done.
By one of my employees.
Uh, unfortunately my mom never had the chance visiting Ion Cafe.
Mm-hmm.
It was just a vision that I told her I wanna open.
Unfortunately, she passed about, um.
10 years ago before, I mean, after I opened, but she never came.
And, uh, when I got the news that she passed away, uh, this, you know, very considerate and loving person, this artist, her name was Lily.
She used to work here.
Uh, she drew the picture and brought it to me as an anniversary for the first year.
And since then, my mom is here with me, protecting me, watching over me.
And over there is my grandma.
Portrait of myself.
Yes.
Hey.
Yep.
Looking like a boss.
Well, I guess I'm trying to be a boss.
Alright.
Should we take a seat?
Sure.
Let's go Lead the way.
Yes.
We are going to the bar.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Would you like some coffee?
Yes, please.
All right.
What do, what are we drinking?
We drinking an Ethiopian espresso.
You wanna have a nice, rich, flavorful espresso for you?
I love Ethiopian coffee.
I actually drink a lot of that at home.
I dunno what it is about it that.
It tastes so good, but it's definitely one of my go-tos.
Well, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee.
Is that true?
Is that true?
I didn't know that.
It is.
That's where is the origin come from.
So that's why you love Ethiopian coffee so much.
It's the og.
Yes, we are the OGs.
Oh, thank you.
And they give you a ride here.
Beautiful.
I'll take one for myself please.
Cheers.
Many health, much health and prosperity.
Does the space feel different now that you are, you've had to close the doors to daily restaurant life and now it's just these sort of special events?
I mean, is the feeling different in here?
Of course the quietness, the stillness, but in a way, uh, I think it's necessary.
Sometimes in life, there was all this rush, rush running.
You know, we have done that for 11 years.
All of a sudden we have.
To take it easy, uh, reset, uh, think of something different.
Uh, you know, ion Cafe was built to nourish the community with delicious flavors of the Jewish diaspora in a way.
'cause I'm not only Ethiopian, I grew up in Israel.
So I, I was able to eat Malawi, Shaka and, and all of that stuff.
And cus.
That's, that's my upbringing.
Mm-hmm.
That's part of my identity and I wanted to bring it to Harlem, uh, you know, the hub of black culture, the hub of black excellence, to be part of it and contribute to the community.
Uh, and we have done that unfortunately, by us serving.
Shaka and Malawi.
For some people it was an insult.
Right.
It's funny enough, there was a review for the last five, six years online on Google.
Mm-hmm.
That came out just after you know the whole commotion in media, and it is on.
It says I can send it to you.
It says, stop using Malawi.
Shaka is neither Jewish, neither Ethiopian, and that particular person is hiding behind his.
Screen or computer right without ever meeting me, why I am serving those particular dishes.
This is.
The question I ask, why you are hating?
Because I'm doing that.
What's the problem there?
Is it because I'm Jewish?
Is it because I'm black?
What is it?
Yeah, why don't you come and talk to me and learn a little bit why I'm doing that on my menu.
Uh, so that was constant phone calls and.
You know, name calling and sh coming and shooting.
And so what do you mean?
Coming and shooting?
And they will say like, we're gonna come and shoot you all.
Oh, tell, not actual shoot, but threats.
Threats to come and shoot to your face.
Not on the phone.
On the phone, on the phone.
This is all cowards.
No one's showing up and saying this to you.
Right.
So what's the difference between the K, K, K and those types?
It's terrorizing people.
Yeah.
Without seeing their faces.
Same thing in a different form.
In any case, even the swastika on the front, I think you can see it somewhere on the on.
I didn't, I didn't notice that.
Okay.
You see, it'd be sitting there since 2000 3rd of August.
You left it.
I left it there.
That's part of, we are, that's, that's the mark.
And after a while it become a burden that you're like, goodness.
Dealing in a restaurant industry is not as easy on top of it.
To get all of this layer, like what's in the world do I need this for?
They just do some thinking reset and really do something different that we can control the environment, whomever wanna come and engage.
We will teach them about the rich flavors of Ethiopia and be on and teach about Jewish diversity and break bread together and educate and celebrate one another.
What about.
Shutting down from the daily grind, how is that a deterrent for the people who are, you know, calling you and harassing you?
It's not a deterrent to them.
Yeah.
Like how does it stop?
Like how does that change your situation so that it's it's more manageable for you?
Well, I don't need to deal with it a daily basis.
Mm-hmm.
You never know who's calling and to harass.
That's what it is.
It just kind of cutting some layers right from the struggle and hustle.
Uh, and it's stressful too.
Yeah.
Who wanna deal with this?
No, I'm here to serve food, and yet people are bringing politics that are happening across the pond somewhere there.
And because of my affiliation of being Israeli.
They do not know my political view, whatever I went through on what is overall of the current situation, but yet they're gonna say, you are contributing to the genocide.
You are a colonizer.
All of that stuff is like, God, this is just never ending.
I read that the, the hate accelerated, not because of the war even, but once you became a fully kosher restaurant.
Things ratcheted up.
Is that accurate?
The harassment were there?
Yeah.
Regardless.
And, uh, before, even before October 7th.
Before October 7th.
So not even, so it's not even about the war, it's just they're harassing you for being affiliated in any way with Israel, whatever it is.
Okay.
We don't know.
We can, we never met them.
I wish I could see their faces, right?
Mm-hmm.
October 7th happened, uh, it was really heartbreaking, uh, to see.
And especially in EF Za, this is the area where I grew up.
I grew up in kibbutz in the south.
Mm, not from, from, this is literally my neighborhood in a way.
Growing in kibbutz, working in the avocado fields, in the chicken coop, all of that, the carrots fields.
We, you know, we used to see Gaza just like that.
So it hit home.
Uh, it was very devastating to hear that, especially when people are attacked in a.
Music festival.
Go.
Go figure.
Yeah.
Anyway, and for me, the only way I could think to amplify my Jewishness or.
You know, whatever you will call it, was, I, I wanted to be the good Jew, whatever it is.
I wanted to make the place inclusive yet to be kosher for those people.
The Jewish people never added European food.
Now I wanna make it kosher so I can cater to them as well.
That's, that was the intention.
Yeah.
And that kind of backfire in a way.
All of a sudden, it even worse.
Oh, she is a Zionist.
She's this, uh, phone calls.
Out of the blue random.
This guy I was, you know, shocked.
He calls, is this the Ethiopian Cion Cafe?
So are you the Zionist?
I'm like, yeah, we are.
You calling C Cafe, come and Eat is a public place.
Yeah, but are you the Zionist?
I'm like, what in the world?
You have nothing else to do in your life.
You see?
Yeah.
Get outta that.
To that.
Yeah.
To that level of.
Do something else.
Why are you calling me, harassing me?
Uh, and it kind of, kind of add up and add up and add up and, you know, uh, a lot of stuff, uh, immigration, ice, everything, just, you know, people start fearing, you know, being scared to be, uh, coming even to work.
Coming to work here.
Yeah.
So to that level of, you know, what, what, why do I need all of this?
Hmm.
It's not safe for me.
It's not safe for people.
Feel uncomfortable, so might as well.
Let's control the situation.
And here we are today.
Uh, hoping really to launch a pivot, uh, still to celebrate the flavors of Ethiopia, Jewish diaspora by dialogue, uh, and food and nourishment.
What's been the reception from the neighborhood?
Because I mean, you've been here over a decade, I'm sure you have.
Regulars.
You have neighbors, you have friends.
Have they been supportive?
Have they been silent?
Have they come to your defense?
I mean, what's it, what's it's been like Harlem is home.
Harlem welcomed us with open arms.
Yeah.
When we first opened and Harlem been going through a lot of changes.
The people that I serve since, since we opened and after COVID, is not the same people that came now, they're not the same people that are passing around and you know, they are calling themselves walk.
Whatever it is to me is not walk.
You are numb.
These are the newcomers to Harlem that they think they can fix the world and there is a lot of guilt maybe.
Yeah, I do not know.
I'm not gonna go through politics and history, but it seems to me that there is a guilt here and you wanna blame somebody else.
You wanna point your finger at somebody else because you can.
Oh, maybe I'm doing that too.
So how can I, let me amplify my hate towards that people.
Right.
That's the way I see it.
Oh, yeah.
But I keep it as that.
Yeah.
Have you ever been able to have a conversation with any of your haters?
I wish I could.
Nobody, nobody's willing.
I would love to, uh, you know, uh.
The name on that review.
I would love to meet that person and see.
Let, let me talk.
Let me, let me meet you and see, you know, what is all about.
Yeah.
You know, Hey, you had a graduate Israeli boyfriend or girlfriend or something.
What is it?
Yeah.
You know, why you kind of putting it on me?
What's the deal?
Let's shift away from this, the, the bad and go to the the good.
Yes.
Why is this place called Ion Cafe Ion, you know.
Zion?
Yeah.
Why?
Why call your Cafe Zion?
Why not?
I, you know, from a young age, my ancestors for thousands of years been yearning for the return to Ion Zion and for me as a person who grew up upon those stories and tradition, yes, we made it to ion Jerusalem, but yet I came here to Harlem and created my own Zion where I can welcome anybody from any walk of life and engage with them over food story and tradition of.
Jewish food, Ethiopian tradition and what have you.
That's my ion.
I always say we might be in the West by my heart.
Our heart is always in the east, which is where is ion.
That's what we yearn for all Jews throughout a diaspora, isn't it?
Yeah, I'll think, I dunno.
Right.
You've now said like a couple times, like what the mission of this place is, the nourishment, the, the connection, the sharing.
Why is that so important to you?
Like that's clearly that's your thing.
Like why is that the thing?
That's what I was brought up in.
That's.
The culture I was brought up in from ancient time, uh uh, from back in Ethiopia to, we immigrated from Ethiopia to Sudan and then Israel.
Mm-hmm.
Food is a common ground, is a universal language that connect us all.
Once you are willing to break.
Which somebody try their flavors.
You are willing to engage and learn more about them rather than the biases or stereotypes or whatever you have about that person.
For me, food is really a great tool to engage and learn about culture, people, community.
So I wanna utilize that to engage with people that using hate.
Let's break bread together.
One bite at a time.
The Ethiopian community in America.
Mm-hmm.
I, I was learning about this actually, a pretty large immigrant community here.
300, 400,000 people.
But of those, the Israeli, Ethiopian community, very small, only a couple thousands.
Like less than 1% of all the American Ethiopians.
Yes.
What about New York excited you that made you want to, you know, be a part of this teeny tiny minority in this, in this big old place?
When I first came to the Americas, it was 1996.
Good year.
Good year.
It's after the army.
You save some, you work in some, you know, places.
You save some money and you come to travel, right?
My destination was taking a backpack, coming to the Americas, came to New York.
Loved what I saw.
The diversity, the different ethnic groups, the different flavors.
I'm like, oh my God, this is heaven.
Mm.
So many people from all over that, you know, we have it little in a little, uh, amount in Israel.
Yeah.
Because we have, we are diverse from all over, but here is even bigger.
Sure.
It was like, goodness, I hope to be part of it.
And that's what happened.
I left.
Travel going from the Machu Picchu in Peru, uh, a whole year.
Wow.
Even went, you know, did the Inca Trail, all of that.
That's so cool.
Spent a whole year, uh, you know, kind of finding myself and of course New York, Harlem did, uh, you know, stayed right there in my back of my mind and I wanted to come back and be part of it.
That's, that's basically what happened.
The charm, you are from Ethiopia, right?
You were part of the Beta Israel community.
Who are the Beta Israel, the House of Israel?
Yeah.
Our ancient Ethiopian Hebrews that adhere or practice the Old Testament for thousands of years.
Millennials.
Yeah.
Oftentimes, you know, people will ask me, so how did Ethiopian Jews arrive there?
You know, we always have to remember that.
Jewish diaspora.
We've been exile, migrating for many years through our different conquerors, what have you.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, one of them is a belief that we actually arrived in Ethiopia at the time of King Solomon Makeda.
So King Solomon from there.
Yeah.
Had a child with Queen Yeshiva.
I don't need to tell you the stories, but he fell in love with this beautiful Ethiopian woman who brought him gold and spices and meh and all of that stuff.
He even trick her.
To go to bed with him.
He gave us spicy food and whatever.
It's a whole, you can read the story there.
Okay.
But he had a child with her, um, the name Minick.
She got pregnant, went back to Ethiopia, and then when he was born, you know, when he reached 18, he asked her, who is my father?
And she told him, you are the son of the wisest man on Earth, king Solomon.
So I say, okay, I must go and visit him.
Uh, he come to the land of Israel, I guess.
They say there was a resemblance between him and his father, that some people bow to him 'cause they thought he was King Solomon.
Wow.
And the Israelites didn't like that and say, okay, we don't want your son here.
You have to send him back where he come from.
And King Solomon says, okay, this is my elder son.
If you have to leave this country, all your elder born have to leave as well.
So the elder of the Canis, the Levis son, all of them.
Of the Israelites left and took with them.
The arc at the covenant, which is believed still till today, is an Axiom, northern part of Ethiopia.
So we come from there, we come from the tribe of Dan.
Uh, it's a lot.
I mean, you know, people migrate into marriages, so that's where we are.
Sure.
But the, the fundamental question is though.
To me, uh, within the Jewish world, I find that oftentimes we are focused on, you are different than I, so are you, are you legit still?
Why is that?
Why do you care?
That's still a question that people have Legitimacy.
Yeah.
Even though it's.
I mean, it's been officially legitimate for how many 50 something years.
People are still having conversations about it.
Yeah.
That's what it is.
Why we are not celebrating unity and bringing the different, unique cultures of each ethnic groups.
'cause Judaism is very diverse.
Yeah.
Uh, we are come from all parts of the world, all different complexion and shades.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
So it's no one look, 1D NA one.
Whatever it is.
So we are different, the same, you'll see it in Christianity, Islam, I dunno, I, I don't know how it goes there, but there is any questioning of your legitimacy of being Jewish, you see?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we are focusing on that rather than celebrating the beautiful diversity that we have.
Who's focusing on that?
Like where are you hearing those questions coming from?
Which, which community?
Which spaces?
It's all over.
You know, from the moment.
Ethiopian Jews, for example.
Uh.
Arrived in Israel.
There was always this doubt of, are they Jewish?
Prove your Jewishness.
And yet we can go count seven generation, who is my great-great-grandfather to find, this is my family and I cannot intermarry with them.
Right?
Mm.
And go back to trace the tribe of Dan, uh, either to the King Solomon or Moses.
Uh, and I didn't, which I didn't tell you actually when, uh, Moses killed the Egyptian task Master.
Yeah.
Do you remember, of course, part of the, the Passover story in Han coming up soon?
Where did he fled to?
They say he made, he fled to median.
Okay.
That's what they taught us.
That what we believe in.
Right.
Okay.
But there are many.
Interpretation and understanding as well, actually according to different sources.
And Shar, and he actually fled to Ethiopia and he ruled there for 40 years.
Ruled Moses did.
Moses did rule there for 40 years.
I thought it was a shepherd, whatever it is, and married an Ethiopian princess.
So.
God knows, you know, let's do our research.
That's what I heard.
That's what I know.
I never heard that story.
That's right.
And they didn't put that in the Prince of Egypt movie.
No, they didn't.
Why is that?
Let's be more inclusive.
Yeah.
I still wanna drill down a little bit on like when, when Ethiopians first arrived in Israel, I know that there.
As you've said, they weren't ready for black Jews.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've heard you say that, so I know then, but that was, you know, 50 years ago.
But clearly it's still a, a, a present conversation that you're feeling people are still sort of questioning the legitimacy and focusing on that.
Who are the people like are, is this online?
Is this in your community here?
Is this in Israel?
I, I'm a, in a book tour.
Right.
Um, you know, I interact with a lot of communities and I talk to the point where, you know.
I'm here to talk to talk about the Ethiopian Jewish tradition and culture, and here you go.
Is like.
Or do you know what is ham?
I'm like, what does, what in the world?
What is it?
Is it defining your Jewishness by eating ham in, in, uh, Purim or anything like it?
But they're asking it in a way that's like a test more than it is just a curiosity.
I think it is ignorance.
This is Judaism, this is what I know, and this should be the norm, but it's not the case.
My room is a bit different than yours, so I will never question anybody.
How you Jewish?
I don't care.
You say you're Jewish, you are more than welcome.
You're my brother.
But that notion we have really to be cautious or conscious of thinking that this is my way or otherwise other, but nobody is really good enough for whatever it is.
So that's another.
Element or layer, uh, that I find within the Jewish world that things are not, you know, one way or the other.
There are many ways to practice Judaism.
When we arrived in Israel in the eighties or nineties, we never heard of, uh, reformed Judaism or conservative, right?
It was unheard of.
Sure.
Now it's part of the norm, right?
So you see things evolve, things change.
So we have to be open and receptive to see this is not only one.
Set on stone and this is it.
And there is many way to practice the Hebraic tradition.
Sure, yes.
How did the beta Israel really not know there were other Jews?
Until like the 19 hundreds?
We always believed we were the only, I know the only Jews, but it lasted so long that You'all believe that.
That part's crazy to me.
We believe that.
So for example, in the 16 or 17 hundreds or what have you, medieval time, different scholars or rabbis approach or wrote letters.
They questioned them.
Who are you?
You dunno, we dunno if you're Jewish.
The who's saying that?
The Ethiopians were saying that to them.
Like who are you guys?
Yeah, yeah.
We know who we are, right?
From millennials.
We don't know who you, you know, who are you?
Especially I think there was some Jews and scholars from Italy and Vina and all of that stuff.
And it so happened that through travels and trade.
Oh yeah.
I heard of the Jews in.
Ash, uh, you know, of course we were close very much to Yemen as well.
We didn't really encounter pale skin, uh, Jews.
We didn't think they exist, but because we didn't know, but we do, we do not go and discredit them, right?
Yeah.
We say Wonderful.
So you are prove that you do such and such and such, and terms of the Torah, the tradition.
And after that you say, you know what, okay.
We are a lot more diverse, so it goes vice versa.
We need really to be open.
Yeah.
I just, I just find it crazy that we got, you know, for thousands of years there was no knowledge of one another.
You know, it's wild to me.
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So I know that the, the return to Zion mm-hmm.
Such a central dream of the Beta Israel community.
H how, how much was that felt as sort of this mythical dream and how much of this real thing in place and thing we're gonna do?
The whole, you know, aspiration of the land of honey and milk returning to the temple, rebuilding the temple.
This is stories that pass on from generation to generation.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, for hundreds of years until finally there is this awakening right of the return.
Even in the fifties or sixties, there were a group of dedicated Ethiopian better Israel that.
Wanted to fulfill the same oxid dust that Israel did from Egypt to, uh, Israel.
And they went and perished on the desert before the major known, you know, uh, tto, you know, uh, journey of Ethiopia.
God didn't hook them up with manna and water from the rocks, unfortunately.
And still that notion of going back goes back, uh, you know, was there until the time was right.
So literally.
Communities, if it's Integra, I, this is where I come from.
Northern part of Ethiopia.
Yeah.
We speak Taga there.
They organized 300, 400 people and literally wanted to start, started a journey, uh, on donkeys, horses, wagons, and.
Literally walking from Ethiopia to Sudan.
Yeah.
And eventually to make it to Israel.
Thus, the actual, the reality dedication, uh, to make that with all the hurdles and danger that encounter throughout the road.
I'm just making it very easy in light, but it was treacherous journey.
Yeah.
For example, one anecdote that I always, it's actually in the book.
I, I was four years old when I left Ethiopia.
The elders within the community, they hire, uh, you know, guides to show us, uh, the way and all of that stuff to make sure we are not stopped by, uh, the authorities and things like that.
And unfortunately, the guides led us to the wrong, uh, direction, uh, where we were anticipating for water and there was no water.
Ah, uh, and there myself.
Actually, I was in horses riding with my grandma.
How vividly do you remember all this?
They were told me those stories and it's kind of engraved within me for right many years to come.
My auntie tell me she carried me in her back 'cause I was so exhausted and tired and to the point where I told her, auntie, just take me off your back and bury me here.
To the point where I'm like, you can't, don't worry about me.
I'm not gonna make it.
That is the dedication of my community myself.
I know hurdle, I know difficulties.
Yeah.
So that's, that's, that's the reality.
Wow.
So obviously for you and your generation, it was a reality, but like for your parents growing up, w was it.
Just this sort of, you know, land over the rainbow, uh, that like they never really thought they would get there.
Or was it really like, you know, a, a concrete thing, even before there was a state of Israel to get to before the state of Israel in 1948, there was a relationship between Ethiopia, uh, and the land.
There was many.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Many years.
And actually there were traders that will go there and bring some letters and all of that stuff.
In a dream.
Hopefully we'll make it right.
Right.
For my parents, uh, it was become kind of reality because we had cousins and relatives that.
Immigrated to Israel, you know, a little bit, maybe in the fifties, forties when Israel was young.
They traveled from, uh, Yemen through the Red Sea and arrive in a lot.
But at that point, they would not recognize as anything, no identity whatsoever.
They were considered refugees, but their determination and sending letters to us, to our families, that what kind of create a spark and a movement, uh, for the journey in Aliyah.
And then villages started organizing.
Yes, it is the time.
Let's go.
You went in 1980, is that right?
When you started to go to Sudan?
We left Ethiopia in 1980.
It took us about three years.
We stayed in Sudan.
Right.
'cause of bureaucracy and all of that stuff.
And 1983, I finally made it to Israel.
My journey was quite different.
A big, you know, many time you, you'll hear about Operation Moses and Solomon.
Yes.
It was before that.
Way before that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Were you leaving because we wanna go to Israel now, or were you leaving because there was so much conflict and, and famine and, and, you know, tumultuous times in Ethiopia after the, the emperor was overthrown.
We left before the famine.
Emperor wa was thrown in 76 or 77, I believe, according to Chachi, BT 74 a dictator.
Kind of terrorizing, right?
The people of Ethiopia, regardless of Jewish, Muslim or Christian.
Yeah, he was terrorizing.
And anybody that was educated teacher, uh, you know, mobilizing the community was a threat.
And I had those cousin and families, for example, my cousin Far Lumm, who was a teacher or a leader within the community.
He was a target.
Right.
Uh, and it, it felt un unsafe.
Yeah.
The political uh, uh, situation is unrest.
Even though it didn't impact that as much, but it was coming, they started recruiting to serve in the Army.
Mm-hmm.
And they're like, uh oh.
So, and there was already plans to leave, so it's all kind of came together.
It was like, alright, it's time now.
Let's go.
It's time to go.
Let's get out.
And I remember reading that while you were on this.
Long how it took, it takes months to walk to Sudan on foot, about a month plus or couple of weeks on horses and donkeys and wagons.
But you all kept Shabbat while you were on the journey.
Yeah.
At That's amazing.
Look at that.
Shabbat is, uh, the queen that protected us throughout our journey.
What do you mean?
Uh, for me, Shabbat is a sacred day when we were on a road to from Ethiopia to Sudan because of the.
Not strictness, but the spiritual connection or the faithfulness of my community that even though it was a danger, uh, you know, to rest and have a welcome Shabbat and rest and eat food, they nonetheless decided to do so because they say Shabbat will protect them.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
And she did.
And we continue on a journey that is there.
Beautiful, uh, connection, a spiritual connection that you cannot really fathom.
Uh, you know, resilience of it.
You are willing to die in order to observe.
Shabbat, that's beyond description to me.
Is that what it felt like?
It felt like you were taking a, a life, a, a risk of your life to, to take that pause to me.
Yeah.
That's what it looks like.
Imagine, uh, you know, the people are on that patrolling the border.
Met us, but it so happened they didn't.
Mm.
You see?
Yeah.
That's the magic.
Uh, I'm seeing magics that protected us.
So I called Shabbat queen because she is the queen, and God is the king.
That's, that's the day that, uh.
We're given to the people of Israel to rest and reconnect.
I try to be a good Jew and not to do as much work on Shabbat.
Yeah.
Uh, you know, you grew up in that mentality and in that, uh, practice, which is very much orthodox, you either observe.
Or not, there is no in-between.
But nowadays, you know, you're in different parts of the world.
Yeah.
You see that at the end of the day, if you are a good kind person, uh, humane, uh, that's what counts.
Um, not eating kosher, non-kosher.
That's what counts to me.
That's Jewish to me.
I agree a hundred percent And respect to others.
Yes.
So a lot of the, the Beta Israel community was oriented around this dream of returning to Zion.
Mm-hmm.
And then so many people did.
So then.
What's, you know, okay, we did it.
It's like, now what?
So like, what's the new dream?
What's the new purpose?
The dream is fulfilled.
I know.
So what does that feel like?
What does that mean?
But you see, unfortunately, that dream was kind of slap in the face too.
Mm.
That reality, that dream you anticipated for it wasn't it.
Wasn't it?
That wasn't it.
Because you know, yeah, we are in the land of Zion, shall bird.
It wasn't, it was of course a joyous moment.
Exciting to be, you know, unit united with fellow Jews, but yet, uh, we were not embraced with open arms, right?
There was racism, there were question about Jewishness, uh, you know, and stuff like that.
So you didn't feel like, oh, this is.
The homecoming wasn't homecoming anymore.
What did that look like?
Like in real life?
Was that classmates being, you know, racist to you?
Was that you, you're hearing stuff from your parents?
Like how did you experience that discrimination?
Well, you know, first of all, they never saw black Jews before.
Right.
Vice versa.
We never saw them before.
Right, right.
So it was like, ugh.
You, you, you know, back and forth.
Yeah.
Uh, and then, you know, gradually you learn to live together, uh, interact, learn the language, but it's always a matter of.
You know, if we don't know, you don't know, you don't think anything exists beyond what you know, and you start questioning it and naming it and all of that stuff, uh, you know, one of the thing, for example, with Tinder are, for example, uh, there was this question mark.
They're not really Jewish, so they have to, they have to go through conversion.
That did happen.
Really?
Yeah.
I thought in 73 the chief rabbi was like, they're legit.
They're in, and that's what if I get yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He said.
That is where they say the law of return.
Jews are qualifi.
Ethiopian Jews are brothers or sister from the tribe of Dan.
They can come, they have the right, right yet, but yet there was a doubt.
Mm.
They are they really fully Jewish.
In order to become fully Jewish, they have to go to the Mik and.
For a lot of people, some people without knowing, they went through that, they didn't know they were converting.
Once they figure out this was actually conversion to Judaism, right, they like Uhuh.
Yeah.
We are not gonna go dive into, we don't need to do that.
What am I converting to?
From what?
Right.
That's what it is.
Uh, so it was a lot of really, uh, mixed, uh, emotion, betrayal, uh, anger, you know?
Yeah.
You feel not belong in a way.
Uh, but at the end of the day, what I see is over 40, 50 years now, the integration and there is still racism in Israel.
Sure, we need to do our work for better unity, respect and understanding.
But again.
As well.
Also, we are humans.
I'm not justifying that, but there is always this tension, hate, bigotry, biases, you name it.
Right?
Sure.
Every country on earth has, yeah, yeah.
Ethnic tensions.
But what make us, as I'm Israel, we are the people of Israel.
Let's not focus on judging on the color, shape, practice.
Let's unify and embrace and celebrate our differences.
That's, that's what I would like to see.
So you're already in Israel before Operation Moses.
Operation Solomon Uhhuh.
What was that like seeing, you know, this influx of your countrymen arriving by the, by the plane full?
It was, you know, joyous.
Happy to see the more, um.
Ethiopian Jews are able to fulfill the Aliyah and making, uh, uh, immigrating to Israel.
Uh, but yet in a way, you know, they don't know what they're coming to.
Yeah.
They don't know what's waiting for them.
It's not gonna be easy and stuff like that in terms of language, all of that practices we manage is over, over 120,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel.
Even maybe a little bit more, if I'm not mistaken.
Uh.
Contributing to the fabric of Israeli society.
Dedicated, loving.
This is home.
Yeah.
Uh, with all the difficulties and, uh, uh, that are there.
And hurdles.
Uh, we are here, we are.
Jews have any parts of.
The Talmudic Rabbinic Judaism that were separate from the Beta Israel.
Mm-hmm.
Ha.
Have any of those elements, have you adopted any of that into your life since you've lived in Israel and in America where that's, you know, more mainstream?
Sure.
Uh, mainstream Judaism, where we go, normative Judaism, as they call it, whatever it is.
So for example, often time we hear that Ethiopian Jews, uh, did not know of Hanukkah and por.
Okay.
Again, this is a notion that've been circulating, circulating, or, you know, uh, and discussed many, many times.
But yet, you know, that's what Western European Ashkenazi did.
Uh, that's the way you practice your Hebrew tradition.
Wonderful.
But what it is, is we knew of the story of the Maccabees.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Actually Ethiopia is the land that was able to preserve the book of Maccabees one and two and add it to the canon, and afterwards it was translated and brought, uh, to, uh, the Jewish diaspora one.
As well.
The Book of Esther.
The story.
Yeah.
Aire.
Remember they never wanted to add it to the Ana too.
Mm-hmm.
Because she was a woman, all of that stuff.
Mm-hmm.
It took a while, but we knew of the story and of aire and hash mi kush right there.
We there.
Okay.
We might not eat ham to, but we knew the story.
Oh.
So it doesn't really qualify me if I'm Jewish or not by not eating.
Ham and Ian, but I know the story, so that's interesting.
I didn't real, I had thought and been told that that story was unknown to Oh wow.
No, because you, there was such an isolation of, so I mean if you knew that story, then didn't the Beta Israel know that there were other Jews elsewhere in the world?
So this is a lot of research and think that worthwhile, really diving in.
What it was known, what known unknown to me is fascinating.
Yeah, it's interesting.
Where did this come from?
Yeah.
Yeah, because I think in the land of Ethiopia, before Christianity came on the fourth century, there were paganism, hebrewic, or testament practices.
It is there, it been there.
So why is the notion of all of a sudden this, uh, uh, information that floating and saying, oh, they didn't know that.
They didn't know that.
Why let's diving in.
And really bring everything, the truth to the light.
That's, I would love to do that if anybody's interested.
That would be lovely to research and go to the archives that are hidden everywhere.
Yeah.
You're giving me more questions than answers.
So you mentioned this word earlier, geria.
Mm-hmm.
It's the name of your.
Cookbook, critically acclaimed cookbook, and it's central to what you do here at C Cafe.
What does sche mean?
What is that?
GHA is literally taking a morsel of food.
You take the injera, you take a little bit of chicken.
Dro can do a little bit of cabbage or go or sugar it.
Make a nice bite and you feed it.
That's kha.
That's a bite of nourishment, showcasing love, friendship, and respect.
So nice.
That's GHA and that is Extension gha.
The cookbook is literally the extension of Cion Cafe.
We've been doing it for over a decade, and I wanted to bring it out there to the world for them to learn about their recipes.
Um.
The tradition of Ethiopian Jews.
Uh, the resilience, the resourcefulness, uh, when they first, when we first arrived in Israel, how we managed really to make injera for the first time, even without the grain of f all of that stuff.
Um, yeah, it's a lot of information.
It's not only recipes, it's, uh, a lot of resources to learn about Ethiopian tradition, history and culture.
What, what makes cion and, and the menu and, and what you serve here.
Ethiopian Israeli food versus just Ethiopian food.
Every other Ethiopian restaurant you, you will never find Malawi Akka.
Mm-hmm.
Or any or food or anything like it.
This is the food that I grew up eating and I wanted to share it with the world.
That's my unique niche aspect of who I am.
Uh, yeah, I'm not.
The regular Ethiopian, you know, my style of cooking or everything is influenced by the different flavors, uh, flavors and places that I have been.
So that's the difference.
Uh, and of course overall Ethiopian general and Ethiopian food is not much really of a difference, is the same.
Mm-hmm.
You see, it's very much the same.
The base is in Jira and you have stews, but the stews are, for example, we can talk about red lentil, miss Silhouette.
Right.
Okay.
And it's so Hebrew and ancient that goes to the time of.
Jacob and isl.
Wow.
Do you remember the story?
Yes, that's right.
Okay.
That's the soup that Jacob makes for ease.
St.
Stew.
The stew.
Yeah.
And he lost his birthright.
Right?
We go to the, and this is Beloved Dish.
In Ethiopian tradition.
Wow.
It was probably infused with Better, better.
Cumin.
Cardamom.
So delicious that ISO couldn't resist and lost his birthright.
My last question and then we'll take it to the kitchen.
Okay.
Is.
Did you have a culinary background before you said, oh, I'm opening a restaurant, or you, you were just like, I cook all the time at home.
I'm gonna do it and give it to people in a restaurant.
That's correct.
That's it.
I grew up with my grandmas, my mom and my aunties, helping from peeling garlic on onion.
That's where I grew up, what I saw, and then basically, I know I can do it.
It's basically coming to New York.
Like having Shabbat dinners in my apartment.
Uh, it kind of grew every Ethiopian Israeli that came for the first time to New York, they were like, can I stay by you for a day or two?
And then we cook and we feed and like, and that kind of evolved.
And I said, yeah, never worked in a restaurant before.
I'm saying it here.
Yeah.
Uh, but I said, I can do this.
And here we are.
Amazing.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's prove it.
Let's go to the kitchen.
Let's taste a little something.
Let's it, this is a little sample.
Alright, pj, what are we, what are we making here today?
Uh, this is a really quick, uh, bite called Sam Busa.
Sam Busa.
Yeah.
It's a pocket, uh, you know, appetizer filled in with spiced lentils.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, it's, uh, you know, it's nice as a street, uh, food.
Or quick bite with, uh, some alcohol and wine and, uh, yeah, we're gonna do that.
That sounds good to me.
So this is all, you know, made here.
What kind of, uh, flour do you sort This is actually a tortilla flour.
Oh, we, uh, we, we borrow from whatever is around us.
Yeah.
And we innovate.
Yeah, resourceful.
So rather than taking a thi dough or what have you, we decided to use tortilla.
After all, we in Harlem.
Yeah, there are many ethnic groups.
Sure.
Might as well borrow something.
So that's what we do.
Okay.
Tell me, the one Ethiopian Jewish dish I've heard about is Dabo Uhhuh.
What is Dabo?
Tell me about that.
Okay.
Dabo is the Ethiopian F.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
What is it?
What?
How's it different?
So, it's a bread, uh, that is a celebratory bread made to welcome, uh, Shabbat for special occasion.
I usually, it rises.
Up here is round.
It's this big.
Yeah, it's, you either can bake it in a pot.
Whoa.
In a pot.
Uh, you, and there's a few recipes in my book, but it's delicious.
You can infuse it with a little bit of aromatics.
Sauce such as, um, coriander, cardamom, and a few more other stuff.
It make it nice and earthy.
Uh, not the typical bread, but is what if you want to make it sweet, get a little bit of honey and you have a delicious bread, uh, to make welcome Shabbat or special occasion.
So that's our double.
And I know you, you also make a couple of other Ethiopian.
Food products that you sell?
Correct.
What do you make?
So we make our bbe spice and we have our hot sauce.
This is our CPG.
We are trying, you know, to venture out a little bit and be creative.
What's the hot sauce called?
Uh, what does that mean?
Uh.
Like hot sauce.
That, that's the term hot.
Okay.
And that is the brand.
And we have Ethan in Jira chips.
Oh yeah.
So we will assure you.
Is that, is that a traditional thing or that's something that's like a modern day version of in Jera modern innovation.
Cool.
That is, you know, you wanna be, not waste your in Jira, you toast it in the oven.
They become nice and crispy like, um, pizza chips.
Right.
Uh, and it's very nice and you can season it restock.
So we have that too.
So it's all a matter of evolving and find different way to incorporate our delicious, uh, tradition and flavors.
Let's see how our samus are doing.
Yeah.
Yes.
So this is our samosa.
They're becoming nice and golden and I, this is actually ideal if you wanna incorporate this.
A recipe part of your Hano.
Pran deal.
Yeah.
There you go.
Yeah.
In corporate, some Ethiopians and Es, and after that, when it's nice and ready, you will eat it with hot sauce.
Which is this one?
The ze.
This is the one you make?
Yeah, we make it here.
It's infused with a little bit of honey.
Wine is quite nice.
Honey wine?
Yes.
Oh, which you gonna try as well?
Oh yeah.
Me speaking my language.
Yes.
Now we're talking.
Yeah.
Other than.
Dabo, are there other specific Beta Israel Only, you know, Ethiopian dishes since Pesa is around us.
Mm-hmm.
It is around the corner.
Uh, back in Ethiopia.
We make our own Matas.
Yeah.
And you can make it from therefore any other flour.
There is actually a recipe and the better Israel community will make their mat.
Throughout the week, you do not buy this hard cracker man, shams.
You make your own.
So I wanted to introduce that to any yeah, people, any person that wanna make their own yet gluten free and nice and salt, do that.
So it says like a soft matza.
Soft matza.
That's what Israel did.
Didn't have this cracker.
No, I'm sorry.
What about for sig?
Are there any traditional dishes that you make for that?
For sig is, uh, people will make a special beer.
Uh, or they would make honey wine mess.
Or edge, uh, you know, one of the ancient, uh, drinks of the God as they call it, pure honey, uh, for that, or people will slaughter a goat or lamb, whatever at their disposal.
And of course you make a delicious d or what with that you will make double.
So it's a, it's a very, and according to the season, if there is Goldman, which is colored or cabbage.
Array of whatever is seasonal and abundance within that, uh, particular region.
Yes.
I think our, we looking ready?
Some boots are nice and crisp.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We are busy talking.
There we go.
We can take them out.
Yeah.
Do you eat hot food?
Spicy food?
Me?
Yeah.
I love spicy food.
Okay.
And then you're gonna have it with some honey wine.
Sounds good.
Me?
I'm ready.
Are we ready?
I'm gonna have this some boos right here.
Oh, thank you.
Can I pour you some wine?
Certainly, yes.
Thank you.
I love a little afternoon honey wine.
Yeah, I mean, a little bit of taste.
I'm gonna do a tiny bit for me.
Smells good like I am.
It's very subtle.
Very subtle light.
Yeah.
Delicious.
Careful, spicy.
Oh, I can handle the spicy, don't you.
Don't worry about me.
Go for it.
Crunch.
Crunch.
I love the crunch.
Delicious.
Enjoy.
I am enjoying.
Okay, let me take one as well.
I'm not gonna double dip.
That's okay.
I'll do a pour, fill the pocket with more hot sauce.
Pretty good.
I find you say so myself.
Alright folks, for the next part of this conversation, I'm gonna get into it, Beejhy, with my five deep questions as we continue to enjoy these.
If you want to hear this next part of the conversation, you gotta join my subscriber only community, our Kehilah, which you can do at beingjewishpodcast.com/community.
If not, we'll see you on the other side.
If you heard that sound, that means we just finished five deep questions.
You can see how many Sambo is deep now.
This wine's almost gone.
It was a great conversation.
I urge you to check it out.
Beejhy as, we're getting towards the end here,
Something else you've done and you know all your free time with everything you're doing.
You established Bina, the Beta Israel, north American Cultural Foundation.
Right.
Bina is also the Hebrew word for it.
For wisdom or understanding knowledge.
Uh, knowledge happens to be my wife's chosen middle name.
Oh, wow.
She converted her Hebrew middle name is Bina.
Weekly shout out to Courtney.
Tell me what it is and what do you do?
Oh, you know, when I formed, uh, a cultural foundation, 2000.
What is it?
Three.
It was to bring an awareness on the mosaic of Jewish diaspora.
We've been in a situation when I first came to early 2000 here.
Um, I've been questioned.
What I mean by that is as a typical Jew, on a Friday night, you go to a synagogue and apparently me and my friends look a bit different.
The overall landscape in that particular synagogue.
And this lady asked us, so are you working for somebody?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That's the only thing she could twinkle.
Yeah, we hear that a lot.
Yeah.
So let's be more open.
Let's not be judgemental.
You don't know who is who.
If a person is coming to a synagogue, apparently there is a reason why he's there.
Because he's a Jew.
Yeah.
And let not us.
Them questions 'cause it feels uncomfortable.
Sure.
You know what I mean?
Uh, you wanna feel welcome?
Yeah.
I mean, clearly this is a big theme Yes.
Of our conversation today.
Yeah.
You don't wanna be interrogated.
Yeah.
You know, give it some time to warm up and then we can engage on a discussion and questions.
Let's be more humane and not, you know, that's kind of, that's, that's why I, I phone B now.
Is really to spread knowledge and understanding.
And we did that again, I did that through food, Shabbat dinners.
Yeah, film screenings, uh, uh, panel discussion, and that grew still there.
Small non-profit organization.
Uh, you know, it could be elevated, uh, uh, more, but thus was the first, uh, beginning of encouraging for celebration and inclusion within the Jewish world.
Amazing as I love to do, and we're gonna end with a little game.
Okay?
This one I'm gonna call, uh, where in the world is Beejhy Barhany?
Where in the world is Beejhy Barhany?
And where in the world is Beejhy Barhany?
I'm gonna describe something and you tell me if it most reminds you of Ethiopia, Israel, or America.
Okay.
Okay.
A table of old men loudly arguing over coffee.
I think Israel.
A grandma feeding you until you're physically uncomfortable.
Uh, Ethiopia.
Everyone has an opinion about your life choices?
Maybe American.
Yeah.
I dunno.
Where, where you can find spiritual meaning at two in the morning.
Uh, Israel, I figured someone greets you like your family, even though you just met Israel.
Who's got the best dancing?
Ah, Ethiopian.
Oh, we can shake it?
Yeah.
The best hospitality.
Ethiopian.
The best.
Flirting.
Flirting.
I mean, you could do American, but you can do Israeli too.
Okay.
This really is mixed.
Okay.
Yeah.
The most stubborn people.
Oh, Israelis.
Hardheaded.
Best dressed elders.
I would say America.
They're quite cool.
Yes.
The best hugs.
Oh, you know, in Ethiopian culture there is 5, 6, 7 kisses.
I'm, I'm, I'm sure I'm gonna get that when I go back.
Right.
It's doesn't end.
It's back.
Back.
It doesn't end.
That is, oh, that's nice.
I love that.
Yes.
Hardest place to keep a secret.
Uh, maybe America.
We're does saying goodbye?
Take the longest.
Within Ethiopian Israel too.
They won't let you.
They're gonna keep kissing you and talking.
And talking.
Yes.
Beejhy, thank you so much.
It's been so great.
Thank you for welcoming me into your space, uh, feeding me with your delicious food and drink and, and enlightening us all.
It's really been a pleasure.
Sure, my pleasure.
Thank you so much for taking the time and energy and coming, spending some time here.
I it's really greatly appreciated.
Much love.
All right, I'll see you.
All right, back here for the next revelatory episode of being Jewish with me, Jonah Platt.