Story of a Journey” (‘Sipur Al Haderech’) was established by members of the Ethiopian Community, Mr. David Darsalli Aveta, together with the Israeli Association of Community Center’s educational team. The need for this initiative rose from an increasing sense that there is an essential ignorance among the Israeli public regarding the Ethiopian community’s 2,500-year-old Jewish identity, culture and the story of their journey to Israel.
This lack of familiarity is thought to underlie widespread social and professional prejudice and reluctance to integrate the Ethiopian community within the Israeli ethos.
‘Story of a Journey’ was designed to build bridges of understanding between people and communities, through the creation of a platform for communal gatherings and storytelling, which promotes direct and open discussion between Ethiopian-Israelis and other segments of the community. Recognizing that actualizing the dream of a truly integrated and cohesive pluralistic society requires more than legislation or policy alone, Story of a Journey empowers members of the Ethiopian-Israeli community to share their community’s Jewish story, as well as their personal journey to Israel, with peers from other backgrounds in an inviting setting of home hospitality.
This program allows the story of the Ethiopian community to enter the hearts of the broader community, in an accessible and unmediated manner, thus promoting relationships and discussion between different groups within Israeli society, each group with its own uniqueness.
After three years that “story of a journey” is acting, this is no longer a project. The impact of the program on decision-makers is considerable. Thanks to the generosity of the Baron de Hirsch Foundation and the Ministry of Education, the IACC is able to open new courses for storytellers and to ensure more meetings of ‘Story of a Journey’ in different localities.