Yona Bogale
Encyclopedia
Yona Bogale was the first leader of the Ethiopian Jewish
community in Israel.
to study abroad. He spent two years in British Mandate Palestine, four in Germany
, one in Switzerland
, and one in France
. After returning to Addis Ababa
around 1930, he taught in the Faitlovitch school there. During the Italian occupation he went into hiding and worked in Wollega. After the war Yona Bogale worked for the Ethiopian Ministry of Education for twelve years and then for the Jewish Agency.
Yona Bogale was fluent in Hebrew, English, French, Italian and German as well as Amharic. He was also an author of an early Hebrew-Amharic dictionary. He left Ethiopia in late 1979 and immigrated to Israel. Yona was an early proponent of Ethiopian Jewish praying in Hebrew instead of Ge'ez as he felt that it was no longer appropriate for those seeking to be a part of the broader Jewish community. He did feel though that the Ethiopian Jews should set Hebrew prayers to the Ethiopian Jewish melodies to preserve some liturgical traditions of the Beta Israel community.
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
community in Israel.
Biography
In the 1920s, Yona Bogale was sponsored by Jacques FaitlovitchJacques Faitlovitch
Jacques Faitlovitch , an Ashkenazi Jew born in Łódź, Congress Poland, studied Ethiopian languages at the Sorbonne under Joseph Halévy. He traveled to Ethiopia for the first time in 1904, with support from the French banker Baron Edmond de Rothschild. He traveled and lived among the Ethiopian Jews,...
to study abroad. He spent two years in British Mandate Palestine, four in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, one in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and one in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. After returning to Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
around 1930, he taught in the Faitlovitch school there. During the Italian occupation he went into hiding and worked in Wollega. After the war Yona Bogale worked for the Ethiopian Ministry of Education for twelve years and then for the Jewish Agency.
Yona Bogale was fluent in Hebrew, English, French, Italian and German as well as Amharic. He was also an author of an early Hebrew-Amharic dictionary. He left Ethiopia in late 1979 and immigrated to Israel. Yona was an early proponent of Ethiopian Jewish praying in Hebrew instead of Ge'ez as he felt that it was no longer appropriate for those seeking to be a part of the broader Jewish community. He did feel though that the Ethiopian Jews should set Hebrew prayers to the Ethiopian Jewish melodies to preserve some liturgical traditions of the Beta Israel community.