From Operation Moses to Being Moses: A Full Circle Established By An Emerging Leader: Her View on Combatting Racism

sometimes we need to be saved. sometimes we are the savior.

this is the case for pnina tamano-shata.

once, a shoeless refugee taken to israel via operation moses in 1984, now, in 2020, in moses-like fashion, a leader traveling back to ethiopia to bring her people to their promised land.

as reported in algemeiner, she is traveling back to ethiopia to bring 500 jews to israel. this is part of operation rock of israel set to bring the remaining jews in ethiopia back to israel.

she was a moses in the making. her background is remarkable and set the stage for her destiny. she has a law degree and worked many years as a television reporter before joining the government. she was elected as a member of the knesset, and in 2020, arose to become the first ethiopian minister in israeli government history.

currently, she holds the minister of immigrant absorption position. this ministerial position is important because immigrants exercising the right of return need to be incorporated into the country. this absorption includes learning hebrew as well as learning how to live in israeli society.

her story goes beyond helping her people from her homeland. as a government leader, she is involved in other international affairs. recently, she has made efforts to immigrate other communities to israel. she has joined the efforts to bring another 722 bnei menashe, indian jews, back to israel.

the following is her commentary about herself, “a lot of people think i’m militant, because i fight against racism and discrimination. they think it comes from feelings of oppression or anger. but most of my battles stem from love for this society. even though i come from the ethiopian sector, i’m first of all the minister for all new olim [immigrants]. we’re all brothers, and everyone has a place around the fire,” she says. israelhayom

in sum, she is force. lawyering skills, communication skills, journalism skills combined with passion. she is a moses in the modern world. a moses who must dance with complicated issues of racism and discrimination. her leadership on the issue is laid out in her philosophy. everyone is a stakeholder in society. everyone shares in the warmth of a society. everyone shares the lights and sparks of a society.

be well!