Yona Bogale

Yona Bogale (1908–1987) was the first leader of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel.

Biography

In the 1920s, Yona Bogale was sponsored by Jacques Faitlovitch 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 in 1932, he taught in the Faitlovitch school, eventually becoming the principal. During the Italian occupation, he went into hiding to avoid the persecution of educated Ethiopians.

After Ethiopia regained independence, Bogale worked as head of the translation department in the Ethiopian Ministry of Education for twelve years. Then with the Jewish Agency, Bogale opened and supervised more than 20 Jewish schools in Ethiopia. In 1955, Bogale and Taamrat Emmanuel became the lead advocates for the Beta Israel community in the wake of Faitlovitch's death.

Bogale left Ethiopia in late 1979 and immigrated to Israel with help from the American Association for Ethiopian Jews. Bogale then began consolidating support for the Beta Israel to make aliyah. Notably, on Nov. 15, 1979, Yona Bogale, Zecharias Bogale (his son), Rahamim Elazar and Baruch Tegegne travel to the General Assembly of the Council of the Jewish Federations in Montreal. Bogale spoke during the plenary session to the 2,500 North American Jewish leaders in attendance. Following his presentation, delegates passed a pro-Beta Israel resolution – becoming the first major Jewish organization to support saving the Ethiopian Jewish community. Five years later, the first wave of immigration began with Operation Moses.

Legacy

Bogale was fluent in Hebrew, English, French, Italian, German, Tigrinya as well as Amharic. He was the author of an early Hebrew-Amharic dictionary. In the 1950s, he introduced the Beta Israel community Hebrew-Jewish calendar. Bogale 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.

Death

Bogale died in 1987 in Petah Tikva. His burial was attended by over 4,000 mourners including, then Speaker of the Knesset, Shlomo Hillel and held at the Givat Shaul Cemetery.

Appearances

Bogale's work is depicted in a 2009 Israeli documentary "I had a Dream - The Story of Yona Bogale" by Teztee Germay.

Honors

In 2007, the Rehovot City Council voted to name a local school after Bogale.