Extra Curricular Lesson: Operation Solomon
Lesson Plan by Zion Ozeri, Edited by Joshua Feinberg

Backpack, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel, 1991 © Zion Ozeri

Look closely at this photograph:

• What thoughts and emotions does the photograph evoke for you?
• What do you imagine to be the relationship between these two people? What clues do you see in the picture?
• What do you notice about the expressions on their faces? How do you interpret their expressions? What might they be feeling?
• Before reading links below, describe this photograph and tell a story, your own Midrash, based on what you see.

Read the following links to The Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center about Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewry) and Operation Solomon as well as this link to a BBC article.

• How does your description compare with the descriptions of the event in these links?

For more on Ethiopian Jewry and Operation Solomon, see here:

Today in History: IDF Airlifts 14,500 Ethiopian Jews to Israel - IDF
Operation Solomon: from Ethiopian Jews to Ethiopian Israelis - The Jewish Museum London
Special Video of Operation Solomon, the 1991 Airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel | JDC Archives

Read the following text from the Prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 16:14-15
(14) Assuredly, a time is comingdeclares GOD when it shall no more be said, As GOD lives who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, (15) but rather, As GOD lives who brought the Israelites out of the northland, and out of all the lands to which they had been banished. For I will bring them back to their land, which I gave to their ancestors.

For discussion:

• Paraphrase this text. What does it mean?
• What is the importance of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) in this text?
• What is the relationship between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael in this text?
• What lesson does this text teach us about our relationship with Eretz Yisrael and our responsibilities to it?
• How does the photograph above relate to this text?
• Please share an image or any additional thoughts that reflect the ideas expressed in the photograph and/or text.

Follow-up activities:

• Take a photograph that reflects a particular relationship between two family members. How will you capture their dynamic visually? Find a text that speaks to this relationship and image.
• Research and prepare a presentation about a particular instance or period of immigration to Israel (such as the First, Second, or Third Aliyah; North African or Yemenite Aliyah, Aliyah of Jews from the former Soviet Union, etc.).
• Who came to Israel at this time?
• Why did they come?
• How did they get there?
• What help did they have? What obstacles did they face?
• What was their experience like in Israel after they arrived?