On November 21, 1984, Israel conducted a covert mission to rescue thousands of Ethiopian Jews from war-torn Sudan. Called Operation Moses, it was the first of three subsequent missions to save the lives of these Jews and bring them to their ancestral homeland.
Author Kim Salzman has fictionalized Operation Moses in her new book, “Straddling Black and White,” about an Ethiopian-Jewish family that is torn apart during the mission. It tells the story from the perspectives of the different characters: Kebede, the father who gets to Israel, Tigest, the pregnant mother who is left behind in Ethiopia with her four young children, and 14-year-old Azmera, who is making the journey to Sudan to hopefully go to Israel and reunite with her father.
Salzman made aliyah in 2006 and was inspired to write the book after working for Tebeka, a legal aid society advocating for the rights of Ethiopian-Israelis.
“I became fascinated by Ethiopian aliyah and their tremendous longing to return to Jerusalem and the sacrifices they made along the way to make that possible.”
“I learned from my colleagues about their personal aliyah stories from Ethiopia,” she said. “I became fascinated by Ethiopian aliyah and their tremendous longing to return to Jerusalem and the sacrifices they made along the way to make that possible.”
When Salzman went on her honeymoon, she spent time in the Gondar region, the northern region in Ethiopia where most Ethiopian Jews came from.
“The more I researched, the more I realized that there was little to no literature written in English about Ethiopian aliyah, and this was especially the case for historical fiction novels which have the ability to bring to life their stories through compelling storytelling,” she said. “My motivation to tell their story, and to tell it in a compassionate and moving manner, grew.”
“Straddling Black and White” isn’t just a work of historical fiction – it’s also a book that focuses on complicated family dynamics and how they affect our worldviews. Once Azmera does find her father, she discovers that he’s been drinking to deal with the challenges of being an immigrant, and she learns shocking secrets from her parents’ past.
“The reader is exposed to the different challenges olim face when immigrating to Israel, but also to the ways in which Am Israel stand by one another in their time of need and the Talmudic teaching of kol yisrael arevim ze le’ze (the People of Israel are responsible for one another),” Salzman said.
The book includes traditional storytelling as well as letters from the characters. In a letter that Kebede writes to his wife, he details his struggles with fitting in, as well as the kindness of some of the people around him, like his ulpan (Hebrew language class) teacher.
He writes, “Israel is nothing like I expected. Everyone moves so fast and there are so many cars and buses that it’s easy to forget that this is the place where our forefathers came from … The best part of my day is when I go to my Hebrew class. My teacher is Israeli, and she is amazing. She has been so kind and welcoming to us. Hebrew is a difficult language, but I study religiously every afternoon and feel that I’m improving like the younger boys in class.”
As someone who was an immigrant herself and worked with immigrants, Salzman perfectly captures the experience.
“I have been intrigued by the stories of other olim, new immigrants, to Israel, whether they come from Morocco, Ukraine, the U.S. or Ethiopia,” she said. “All of us olim have something in common – leaving behind our culture, language, family and more to start a new life in the Jewish homeland.”
The title of the book, “Straddling Black and White,” not only refers to the differences between Israel and Ethiopia and the color of people’s skin, but also to Azmera’s coming of age story and her integration into Israeli society.
“Upon making aliyah, she learns that the world is not nearly as black and white as she once thought, but rather much more nuanced and complex than she ever imagined,” said Salzman.
The author hopes that when people read “Straddling Black and White,” they will learn about the sacrifices Ethiopian Jews made during their aliyah journeys. She thinks that once readers are informed, they could become more accepting of Ethiopian olim – and olim in general – and realize that the ingathering of the exiles to Israel is what truly matters.
“I hope the book will connect readers to Israel emotionally as they learn more about the complexities of Israeli society, the strength of the Jewish people and how incredibly diverse Israel truly is,” Salzman said. “I believe it can be an important book which unites the Jewish people in these divisive times.”
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