April 27, 2010 / 13 Iyar 5770

Ethiopian children who settled in Israel only a few months ago and are living at the Jewish Agency's Tzahal 9 Absorption Center in Safed took center stage at an Israel Independence Day celebration in Safed.  Performing in a choir called, Olim Berina, they were dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing and they played musical instruments they had fashioned themselves with the help of their teacher, Itzik. They wowed the crowd with an opening song in Hebrew followed by a song in Amharic about King David and his longing for Jerusalem.

Cheering them on from the audience were hundreds of their friends and family from the Absorption Center as well as locals from Safed.

Since January, 2010, over 1,000 immigrants from Ethiopia have settled in Israel with the help of the Jewish Agency.

Photo credit: Rafi Trabelski