Three decades after being imprisoned and tortured in Ethiopia, Rabbi Yehudah Salah, 50, made history on Monday by becoming the first Ethiopian rabbi officially recognized in Tel Aviv, and has been placed in charge of the citys Ethiopian community. As a young man in his native country, Salah worked as an aliyah agent for Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry. His activities led to his arrest and imprisonment for six months in Ethiopia, during which he was subjected to brutal torture. He immigrated to Israel in 1982, and after marrying, moved to England to study law at the University of East London. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! The Ethiopian community has an issue integrating into Israeli society, Salah said Monday. The younger generation tries to integrate but sometimes finds itself falling in to bad company. Our aim is to support the youth and set parameters for it. We have much work to do in the city, especially in the Jaffa area, where we must combat drug and alcohol problems among the younger population. Salah said there were more than 400 Ethiopian families in need of support in Tel Aviv alone. Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau cannot reach the Ethiopian community as he has his own job to do, Salah said. What is needed is a person who understands Ethiopian culture and customs, who speaks the same language and who shares the same past. They [Ethiopians] need to be shown the way to integrate into quickly into Israeli society.
After receiving his degree, he returned to Israel to serve in the Israel Defense Forces in the engineering corps. Now a father of three, Salah is known for his work in recent years with the Tel Aviv-based Aviv Hatorah organization, which helps Ethiopian immigrants adjust to Israeli society.
