Longing for Zion: Awaiting Aliyah sheds light on a unique chapter in the modern history of the Jewish people. It tells the story of the remainder of Ethiopian Jewry, who left their villages and Christian past, returned to a Jewish way of life, established vibrant Jewish communities, and fought for their Jewish identity and their right to make aliyah – to immigrate to Israel.

From 1990 to 2013, in the compounds that housed these communities waiting for aliyah, tens of thousands of people returned to Jewish faith and practice. For them, this was the key that opened the gates of aliyah.

The author writes: “This book depicts their living conditions and captures expressions of faith, hope, prayer, longing for Zion and Jerusalem, patience, and stubbornness that lifted their spirits throughout the painful years of waiting. It illustrates how more than 50,000 people managed to return to Judaism, many of whom also immigrated to Israel, despite obstacles and fierce opposition. They swam against the current and reached their goal.”