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in the country. Among them were many highly educated professionals, well-known scientists, and acclaimed artists and musicians, whose expertise and talents are contributing significantly to Israel’s economic, scientific, academic, and cultural life. The 1980s and 1990s witnessed the arrival of two massive airlifts of the ancient Jewish community of Ethiopia, popularly believed to have been there since the time of King Solomon. While the transition of these 50,000 immigrants from an agrarian African environment to an industrialized Western society will take time, the eagerness of their youth to adapt will hasten the absorption of this long-isolated Jewish community. Religious Diversity Since biblical times, the Jews have been a people with a monotheistic faith, Judaism, embodying both a religious and a national component. By the 18th century most of the world’s Jews lived in eastern Europe, where they were confined to ghettos and had little interaction with the societies around them. Within their communities, they managed their own affairs, adhering to the body of Jewish law (Halakha) which had been developed and codified by religious scholars over many centuries.
Jerusalem: Hassidic Jews in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood • The Ministry of Tourism