麻豆社

Journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunt is a black, Jewish woman. She is is fiercely proud of her dual identity - even as recent political discourse around race has meant that she has been forced to defend her identity in ways she's never had to before. She is on a journey to meet one of the oldest, largest and most resilient communities of black Jews in the world: Israel鈥檚 Ethiopian Jewish minority.

Around 140,000 black Ethiopian Jews live in Israel today following several waves of emigration in the 1980s and 1990s. They left everything they knew behind to flee antisemitic persecution in Ethiopia to go the spiritual homeland they had dreamt of for millennia. But for many, that did not mean they felt welcome - with complaints of discrimination, alienation, and even police brutality.

Nadine joins the community as they celebrate a Jewish holy day unique to their community - Sigd - a festival where Ethiopian Jews remember the acceptance of the Torah, express their yearning for Jerusalem, as well as celebrate their unique culture and identity in modern Israel.

Sitting down in conversation with religious leaders, activists and other members of the community, Nadine explores if she can learn anything about her own sense of self as a Black Jewish woman. And importantly, what can they teach her about accepting her own dual identity in a world that frequently questions it?

Photo: Presenter Nadine Batchelor-Hunt in Israel Credit: Candace Wilson/麻豆社