surrounder's letter december, 2000 monthly communications about the work of the Winer Foundation.

who is Gesher helping in Ethiopia?

People ask me, "Who is Gesher helping in Ethiopia?" Over 25,000 abandoned Jews (Beta Yisrael) remain stranded in two regions of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa and Gondar. This month I'll tell you about one family and comment on the conditions the nearly 10,000 Jewish refugees left in Addis, Ethiopia's capital city, face daily. Sadly it's a fact that on average Addis Beta Yisrael families have been waiting in extreme poverty at least four to five years to immigrate Israel.

Let me tell you about 27 year-old Achamelech, her 30 year-old husband Malesa, and their two children, one of the many families Gesher supports in Addis. They both grew up and lived in Gondar, about 500 miles north of Addis. After much prayer and soul-searching Malesa decided that the family must sell everything and use the money to travel to Addis in hope of leaving for Israel. When in Ethiopia this year, I asked Malesa, "Why did you sacrifice everything you've worked for to go to Israel?" Malesa told me that he had to step out in faith as a response to God's command. Malesa explained, "It is a call of God and a promise – the time has been reached when our people [must] come in mass to Addis." So they packed up their remaining belongings and made the very difficult one-month journey to Addis. They arrived in Addis tired and ill over four years ago!

Shortly after arriving in Addis, Achamelech received her Jewish family identity card after registering her Shoresh (proof of Jewish blood line) with the local committee. Unlike Ethiopian Jewish tradition that identifies lineage through the father's line, Israeli immigration authorities demand proof of the mother's line to allow aliyah (immigration) to the Jewish homeland. Achamelech's Jewish identity card provides her family with a small supply of teff (grain) each month, medical help when available, and the right to be buried in the Addis Jewish cemetery provided a monthly fee is paid. Achamelech's Jewishness has never been questioned, yet since 1996 she and her family have waited in a political and economic no-man's land as refugees without any permanent home.

Achamelech's descendants lived and worked as farmers in the Quara region for 4 generations until Elsa, her great-great grandmother, moved not far away to a village near Gondar City, the capital of Gondar province.

Her great grandmother, Yemer, lived in Gondar city and at that time her family became traders in clothing to support themselves. After Achamelech married Malesa, he supported the family by his salary as a mechanic in Gondar. However, after coming to Addis, all of Malesa's attempts to work in his field failed. Being young and relatively strong, he gets occasional work as a day laborer at construction sites or working on farms or in fields. But without help from outside Ethiopia, the family cannot survive on Malesa's meager earnings.

I personally asked them both to tell us what their needs were. Here's what Malesa said: "We have a lot of problems. The majors ones are still house rent and food. Electric and water are very expensive. Please tell to our friends all around the world about our problems." Achamelech added: "We do not have good type of clothes and food, not enough vitamins. Our children are retarded because they do not get enough food."

Recently I learned that Achamelech's words have been verified by Ethiopian doctors. A nutritional survey of 4,000 of the Beta Yisrael in Addis Ababa found widespread disease and malnutrition – far above that found in the general Ethiopian population. 55% of children under five were stunted in their growth, 16% were severely underweight (six times the general population), and nearly 60% of children reported being sick in a two-week period. 50% of mothers and 24% of children had goiter (visible enlargement of the thyroid gland), indicating iodine deficiency.

During this holiday season, I need your help. I'm sad to say that the story of Achamelech and Malesa is the rule, not the exception. Here's what I'd like you to consider giving Gesher to help these abandoned Jewish people in Addis.

• For $75, you can house a family of 7-10 members for a month...
  
• For $120, you can feed a family for a month...
  
• For $180, you can feed one person for a year!

Your help will make a difference. Your love and spiritual support for the Beta Yisrael Ethiopians is giving life to those in great need. Today, please prayerfully consider providing a lifeline of hope for Ethiopian Jews by giving a generous financial gift to Gesher.

May the Lord bless you,

Robert Winer, M.D.

P.S. I'd like to invite you to get to know me better. Drop me note in the return envelope and I'll send, as my gift to you, my book, "Ten Commandments for Success: Unlocking Principles of Prosperous Personal, Business, and Family Living from the Life of Moses."