Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes by Howard M. Lenhoff

From the Publisher

Seldom has a small grassroots organization polarized American Jewry as
did the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ) and seldom has a
grassroots organization been so successful.

How were five governments persuaded that it was to their interest to
allow the threatened Jews of Ethiopia to fulfill their dream of
rejoining their brethren in Israel? From 1974 through 1991, active AAEJ
members demonstrated that it was possible to rescue black Jews from
Africa. They enlisted the support of college students, American Rabbis,
editors of the Jewish press and other Zionists. Lenhoff's memoir
provides many untold stories behind this historic drama: How Israeli
Ethiopian Jews and Americans Jews worked secretly to rescue over 1,000
Ethiopian Jews. How Jerry Weaver masterminded Operation Moses - the
first mass exodus of black Africans as free people - not as slaves. How
two gutsy American women set up a situation allowing Israel to rescue
14,000 Ethiopian Jews in one day of Operation Solomon. There is more:
the intrigues in Israel between the politics of religion and the Law of
Return; the daring heroic adventures of courageous Ethiopian Jews as
they trekked from Ethiopia to Sudan. These are the stories of activists
who challenged the establishment and won!

Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes is written from the first-hand
experiences of one of the AAEJ's three Presidents, scholar-activist
Howard Lenhoff. Lenhoff and Gefen Publishing House are especially
pleased to present also as part of this book, the untold story of
righteous gentile," Jerry Weaver.

What People Are Saying

"A blueprint for grass roots mobilization as well as a stirring saga of rescue and relief, Black Jews, Jews. and Other Heroes is above all else a tribute to the small group of Jewish activists who in spite of the indifference and even hostility of the Israeli government and some of the mainstream Jewish organizations in the US, managed to put the fate of the ancient Jewish community in Ethiopia on the agenda of the US and Israeli governments, and through their courage and persistence made possible the rescue of Ethiopian Jewry.
This riveting first person account of the role of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews in bringing about a modern day miracle is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand how Operations Moses, Sheba, and Solomon came to pass. If it is true, as the Talmud tells us, that 'he who saves a single life it is as if he has saved the entire world,' then Howard Lenhoff and the AAEJ have saved the world many times over, and Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes explains how and why they did it.
The book is a literary tour de force in praise of a monumental organizational achievement. May it inspire others to replicate their triumph on behalf of other downtrodden and repressed peoples who, unlike Ethiopian Jewry, still await the salvation of a helping hand."
— Stephen Solarz, former Chairman of the Sub-committee on Africa of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

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