Kayla (Beta Israel)

Historical reference works record Kayla — rendered as "Kaila" in the historical Jewish Encyclopedia — as a name applied to the Ethiopian Jewish community alongside the better-known "Falasha."[4][5] The Jews of Abyssinia "are also called 'Kaila,'" according to the historical entry, which offers no explanation of the word's derivation or social register.[5] Another reference entry likewise lists Kayla as a name for the community also known as Beta Israel, without explaining its meaning.[4]

The community's own name, Beta Israel, is rendered as "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel" in Ge'ez.[6] A scholarly article says members in Ethiopia usually called themselves Beta Israel or Israel and later preferred "Ethiopian Jews"; a separate historical overview describes "Falasha" as a pejorative term meaning "strangers" or "immigrants."[7][2] Where Kayla fits within this terminology — whether it was neutral, derogatory, or simply archaic — the available sources do not establish. The scholarly article and historical overview do not mention Kayla.[7][2]

A related but distinct term appears in the historical Jewish Encyclopedia: "Kailina" is identified as the Agau dialect used in Falasha homes, in which biblical material was translated and prayers recited.[5] The entry does not connect Kailina etymologically to Kaila, so the similarity in spelling does not establish a relationship between the terms.

Beta Israel have historical ties to Agew-speaking populations. A Library of Congress country study suggests that a group of Agew speakers may have adopted a form of Judaism before Christianity reached Ethiopia in the fourth century, while emphasizing that the precise origins and nature of this Judaic influence remain disputed.[1] Their religious organization and many practices resembled those of their Orthodox Christian neighbors, a parallel that has shaped debate about when and how Jewish traditions reached the community.[1]

Historically, Beta Israel lived across more than 500 small villages concentrated in Ethiopia's northern Amhara and Tigray regions, with particular density in areas including North Gondar, Shire Inda Selassie, Wolqayit, Tselemti, Dembia, Segelt, Quara, and Belesa.[8] According to the Library of Congress study, the community had been cultivators until it lost the right to hold land following a major conflict with the Amhara and a refusal to convert to Christianity in the fifteenth century.[1] Community members subsequently became craftsmen, though many later returned to agriculture as tenant farmers.[1]

The first documented encounter between Beta Israel and the wider Jewish world took place in 1867, when Joseph Halevy visited Ethiopia.[9] Community members initially doubted that Halevy was Jewish; according to the account, they became emotional when he mentioned Jerusalem.[9] An 1848 letter from Beta Israel to Jews in Europe, praying for the unification of Jews everywhere, further illustrates the community's long-held sense of connection to global Jewry, even in isolation.[3]

Most Beta Israel spoke Amharic as their primary language, while those from northern provinces spoke Tigrinya.[10] Agew appeared in their liturgy, although the words were not understood by the community.[1] Prayers were primarily conducted in Ge'ez or Agawinnya.[10]

Ge'ez — an ancient Semitic language once used in the Aksumite Empire and in Ethiopian literature and chronicles — is no longer a spoken vernacular but remains in liturgical use, including within the Beta Israel community.[6] The community's sacred manuscripts are written in Ge'ez and have been held and transmitted by the kesim, the community's religious leaders, across generations.[6] A documentation project involving the National Library of Israel, the Center for the Heritage of Ethiopian Jewry, Tel Aviv University's "Topshei ha-Orit" initiative, and community kesim had scanned 17 manuscripts at the time of publication, including four Orit texts. Two were described as the oldest Orit manuscripts then known and were dated to the fifteenth century.[6] Scanning was conducted inside Beta Israel prayer houses without removing the manuscripts from the kesim.[6]

For many years these texts were inaccessible to researchers because they were held privately, and some were stolen or lost during the difficult journey to Israel.[6] Community suspicion of Israeli institutions contributed to delays in cooperative documentation efforts.[6]

The Beta Israel maintained a form of Judaism that could differ from modern Judaic practice depending on the community.[11] Their tradition developed in relative isolation and included distinctive practices that set the community apart from most Jews who followed rabbinic precepts.[12] The community maintained these distinct religious traditions over centuries in Ethiopia.[3]

As of 2023, Beta Israel communities in Ethiopia primarily lived in the Amhara and Gondar regions, with isolated communities in Kechene and Addis Ababa.[11] Members reported frequent social exclusion; local accusations of witchcraft against Jews were documented, and some communities held beliefs that Jews were possessed by demons or transformed into hyenas at night.[11] Despite these pressures, Beta Israel were legally free to practice their religion under Ethiopian law.[11]

The Beta Israel population was estimated at approximately 20,000 in 1989, with most of the community having emigrated to Israel in late 1984 and in May 1991.[1] Those departures included Operation Moses in 1984–1985 and Operation Solomon in 1991, during which thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel.[3]

The emigration was not simply a rescue operation carried out on the community's behalf. Community leaders, elders, and activists organized the effort before the best-known airlifts, operating against an official emigration ban and under threat of imprisonment.[12] Israel and North American Jewish supporters also played essential roles.[12] As organizer Susan Pollack stated, "The Ethiopian community is often portrayed as helpless victims waiting for Israel to save them. Nothing could be further from the truth."[12]

Efforts to emigrate continued beyond those major operations. As of 2023, community representatives in Ethiopia described ongoing attempts to reach Israel with NGO and charity assistance.[11] Hundreds of Jews displaced by conflicts in multiple parts of Ethiopia during 2023 arrived in Debre Birhan and other Jewish communities as internally displaced persons.[11] Project coordinator Aklilu Tefera, working with the Beta Israel community and Israeli and American Jewish NGOs, described plans for a village in Debre Birhan intended to include hospitals, schools, and community centers serving both relocating Beta Israel and the wider town population.[11]

Several aspects of Beta Israel history rest on tradition or interpretation rather than independent verification. The Library of Congress study explicitly acknowledges that the precise origins and nature of Judaic influence among the community are disputed, and its suggested pre-Christian timeline is tentative.[1] The community's origins and the authenticity of its religious traditions have also been debated, compounded by the absence of written accounts from within the community explaining how Jews came to Ethiopia.[12]

The name Kayla itself presents unresolved questions. The Library of Congress study identifies it as a name used by outsiders for Beta Israel.[1] Sources vary in spelling — Encyclopedia.com uses "Kayla" while the Jewish Encyclopedia uses "Kaila" — but neither reference explains the term's meaning or whether the outsider label was neutral, derogatory, or merely archaic.[4][5] Other scholarly and historical surveys of Beta Israel make no mention of the name, leaving its precise social register uncertain.[7][2]