Scholarship Fund for Ethiopian Jews

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Scholarship Fund for Ethiopian Jews
The Scholarship Fund for Ethiopian Jews (SFEJ) is an American non-profit and tax-exempt charity. SFEJ is dedicated to the development of a pool of talented, well-educated and highly motivated Ethiopian Israelis, who are committed to serving their own community, as well that of all Israel. We strive to promote the emergence of leaders who will ultimately enable the community to become fully integrated into Israeli society. The rescue of Ethiopian Jews began in the 1980s, and reached its peak in 1991 in the dramatic airlift ("Operation Solomon") of more than 14,000 in the course of a single day.
More than 120,000 Ethiopian Jews, comprising approximately 1.5 per cent of the population, have now been brought to Israel. Not unexpectedly, their integration into Israeli society has been fraught with problems. Coming from a largely agrarian, pre-industrial society, the Ethiopian Jews were plunged into a modern, industrial society, without the resources needed to cope with the transition. Much has been written about Israel's "security fence," a device designed to separate Israelis from their Palestinian neighbors. Israel's Ethiopian Jewish community has been separated from its neighbors not by a physical fence, but by a virtual fence of prejudice against, and discomfort with those who appear different. SFEJ seeks to break down this virtual fence by helping to create a core of Israeli professionals who will serve as role-models for younger Israelis, Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian alike. Our mission is to keep the promise that was made to our brothers. It is not enough to change their address; we are obligated to help them become a vital part of Israeli society.
In the belief that education is the single most effective tool for the integration of the Ethiopian community into Israeli society, SFEJ was founded to raise funds for the promotion of post-secondary education among Ethiopian Israelis. Funds provided by SFEJ have assisted almost 4000 Ethiopian Israelis to achieve the education required for successful integration into the economic and social reality that is modern-day Israel. In the course of the past several years, a more urgent need has become evident. Perhaps the most disruptive factor affecting the Ethiopian-Israeli community has been the abrupt transition from a patriarchal society, in which the father was the bread-winner and the undisputed authority-figure in the family, to the current reality, in which the father lives on welfare, and in which, because of the language-barrier, the children serve as mediators between their parents and the larger society. An important consequence of this disruption is the presence of some 5000 youth at risk. The efforts of the SFEJ are now focused upon the rehabilitation of these youth.

Scholarship Fund for Ethiopian Jews
19202 Black Mangrove Court
Boca Raton, FL 33498