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Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
A mong the many moments of culture shock Avezu Fanta had
upon arriving to the United States in 2019, the copious bagels
present at Jewish events was just one noteworthy difference.

In the three years Fanta has spent in Philadelphia as Hillel at
Temple University’s Israel Fellow, the 31-year-old has since accli-
mated to American Jewish culture, despite the ample differences she
grew up with in Israel after emigrating from Ethiopia when she was
7 months old.

“I was against bagel brunch in the beginning; now I love bagel
brunch,” she joked.

Bagels were, of course, only the beginning of Fanta’s exploration
10 DECEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
of the relationship between American
Jewish and Israeli Jewish cultures.

During her tenure at Temple, she’s
been tasked with sharing her own
Israeli Jewish culture, introducing
both Jews and non-Jews to Israel’s
ways of life.

As she begins her final semester with
the Hillel in January, her mission has
shifted: Temple University students,
as well as most American college stu-
dents, need to learn how to talk about
Israeli politics.

“A lot of people don’t understand
how to [have] conversations about
Israel, and this is why you have so
much antisemitic rhetoric and lan-
guage,” Fanta said. “The majority of
the language that’s antisemitic, I think,
it’s around Israel, and it’s around Israel
because it’s ignorance.”
When Fanta arrived at Temple
University in August 2019, the goal of
her fellowship was to bring a diverse
voice from Israel to Philadelphia and
to share Israeli Jewish culture with the
Temple student body, as well as grow
appreciation and understanding for the
Jewish state.

In May 2021, following an escala-
tion in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
Fanta’s strategy to speak with students
changed. She began holding conver-
sations with students, Jewish and
non-Jewish, about how to engage with
the conflict. Last semester, Fanta held a
weekly “Kol Yisrael” class to talk about
the nuances of Zionism.

“The only criticism they have around
Zionism is around the conflict,” Fanta
said of some students. “But also it was
around how we, as the Jewish stu-
dents, can stand with Israel but also
say, ‘We don’t support the Israeli gov-
ernment and what’s happening in the
West Bank.’”
Fanta is familiar with bringing
thoughtfulness to complex conver-
sations around Jewish identity. An
Ethiopian Jew raised in Israel, Fanta
has her own unique perspective on syn-
thesizing a whole Jewish identity.

As a child, Fanta came to Israel as
part of Operation Solomon, a May 1991
covert military operation in which 35
Israeli aircrafts airlifted more than 14,000
Ethiopian Jews to Israel in about 36 hours.

Growing up, she and her seven sib-
lings spoke little with her parents about
their Ethiopian identity in the context
of Israel. Her parents had dreamt for
their teenage and adult lives of coming
to Israel; because Fanta and her siblings
had achieved their parents’ dream, they
felt they were not able to complain
about identity or being a minority in
Israel. That’s not to say Fanta wasn’t con-
flicted about her identity. As a teenager,
Fanta had a “little identity crisis,” feel-
ing that her Ethiopian and Israeli iden-
tities were at odds with one another.

When she joined the Israel Defense
Forces, later to become a medic and
a lieutenant, she met other Jewish
Israeli minorities, including Russian
Israelis who were at ease with their
dual nationalities.

“It’s really a part of me,” Fanta said of
her Ethiopian ethnicity. “Like cultur-
ally, I grew up in an Ethiopian home; I
cannot disconnect from that.”
Talking about ethnicity and nation-
ality in Israel is different than in
the United States, Fanta said. While
American Jews prefer to establish dis-
creet identities across denominations
and ethnicities, and use language
around race and oppression to reckon
with the country’s racism and antisem-
itism, in Israel, there’s less discourse
about identity.

Instead, Fanta said, identities in Israel
are divided into Jewish and non-Jewish
first, with further breakdowns for vari-
ous minorities. Most of the time, how-
ever, Israelis aren’t as concerned with
the various taxonomies. That mindset
is reflected in Fanta’s teaching and her
interest in speaking with both Temple’s
Jewish students and non-Jewish
students. Her openness to talk about Israel to
so many demographics is part of what
has made her an effective Israel Fellow,
according to Hillel at Temple assistant
executive director Mallory Kovit.

“She can have a conversation with
anybody; she could talk to anybody
about anything,” said Kovit. “She’s
not going to shy away from a conver-
sation.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Hillel at Temple University
Avezu Fanta



nation / world
Menorah From Iconic 1931 Photograph Returns to Germany
A brass menorah from a famous photograph taken during the rise of the Nazis made
its way back to Germany for a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony in Berlin attended
by the country’s president, JNS.org reported
“This light is a strong societal symbol against hatred,” German President Frank-
Walter Steinmeier said. “Each of us must stand up against every form of antisemitism.”
During Chanukah in 1931, Rachel Posner, wife of Rabbi Akiva Posner, photo-
graphed the family menorah on the window ledge of the family home in the north
German port city of Kiel. In the background can be seen the Nazi party’s regional
headquarters with a large swastika flag.

On the back of the photo, which came to stand for the looming threat to European
Jewry, Rachel Posner wrote: “‘Death to Judah.’ So the flag says. ‘Judah will live forever.’
So the light answers.”
Yehuda Mansbach, the couple’s grandson, “wept openly” after lighting the candles
at Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the president of Germany, on Dec. 19. The
Posners’ granddaughter, Nava Gilo, 68, also attended.

Detroit Pistons Wish Kyrie Irving a Happy Chanukah
The Detroit Pistons wished Brooklyn Nets star guard Kyrie Irving a happy Chanukah
on Dec. 18, the first night of the holiday, JTA reported
The Pistons appeared to be trolling Irving, who recently shared an antisemitic film
on Twitter and initially refused to apologize. The scoreboard displayed both a spinning
globe and a Chanukah graphic with a menorah while he was at the free-throw line.

The former references previous comments the controversial All-Star has made
about the earth being flat. The latter appeared to be a pointed reference to the recent
antisemitism scandal.

Irving was suspended for eight games in November after he tweeted an Amazon
link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a documentary that promotes
the false idea that Jews were heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, denies the
Holocaust and says Black people are the real Jews.

Irving initially refused to apologize but ultimately did so multiple times.

German Woman, 97, Convicted of Complicity in 10,500 Nazi Death Camp Murders
A 97-year-old German woman whose trial for aiding Nazi crimes was briefly
derailed when she fled last year was convicted of complicity in 10,500 concentration
camp murders, JTA.org reported.

Irmgard Furchner was 95 when she was arrested and charged with crimes related to
her work as a secretary at the Stutthof concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland
during World War II. Tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time, she
was sentenced on Dec. 20 to two years of probation, in what is likely to be one of the
final convictions related to crimes committed during the Nazi regime.

Furchner initially resisted prosecution, fleeing by a taxi from her old-age home on
the first day of her trial; she was soon apprehended. Furchner also had not commented
on the charges against her until recently, when she spoke briefly during her final court
appearance earlier this month.

“I am sorry for everything that happened,” she said, in a statement that local news
reports said had been a surprise. “I regret that I was in Stutthof at that time. That’s all
I can say.”
Unilever ‘Resolves’ Legal Battle With Ben & Jerry’s Board Over
Israel Sales
An extended legal battle over ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s operations in Israel
appeared to come to a close as its parent company announced it had reached an
agreement with the brand’s independent board of directors, JTA.org reported.

Unilever was embroiled in months-long litigation with the Ben & Jerry’s board
over Unilever’s sale of the brand’s Hebrew and Arabic licenses to an Israeli com-
pany that would sell the products in both Israel and the West Bank against the
board’s wishes. Those sales will now continue uninterrupted.

The terms of the agreement are confidential, a Unilever representative said.

Unilever sold off the brand’s Israel license to dodge the Ben & Jerry’s board’s
attempts, dating to summer 2021, to prevent the ice cream from being sold in
“occupied Palestinian territories” — a move that was met with severe backlash
from many Jewish and pro-Israel groups. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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