My Falasha Son

My Falasha Son (yes I know the term is not PC... but he had no problem with it, so I'll go with that) The proper term'' for the Ethiopian born Jews is 'Beit Yisrael'

I was doing that gig I wrote about earlier today, and it was pretty lousy, one of those 'what am I doing here' musical appearances. It was the opening act of a weekly hippie gathering, folks tend to show up around 8, but I was to play for the early birds at 6:30 or so. So it was not the best scenario, plus I was sharing the stage with a new buddy who plays as well as he can, but is limited, so it limited what I was able to do.. blah blah blah, I just didn't feel too great about it. These things happen. Not a disaster, simply a 'what am I doing here?'.

But there was one young guy who was totally into it, laughing at the jokes, reacting strongly, singing a bit, giving back a lot of energy. He's a young, tall, dark skinned, handsome, funny extrovert, and we ended up talking after the gig. At one point, I can't exactly remember the context, I said something in Hebrew, and he goes, Áta m'daber ivrit? (You speak Hebrew?) We start talking a bit in Hebrew and we're both kind of blown away by that. Turns out this young man, Itai, was born in Israel to a newly arrived 16 year old Falasha (Ethiopian Jew) who promptly gave him up for adoption. She just wasn't ready to have a baby.

He got adopted by a couple who was living there, Mom was Australian, Dad was Yemenite Jew whose family had their own wild (and tragic) entrance to Israel a generation before. Itai spent his first 6 years in Israel, then the family moved to Australia where he grew the rest of the way up. Now he's 20, quite optimistic, wants to do good things, work with kids, teach, make a difference. Kind of reminded me of me, once upon a time, and the more we talked about it, it got stranger and stranger. I said, 'I'm your white daddy' and that's what he called me the rest of the evening, getting a laugh each time.

His adoptive dad's family is from Yemen, and I married Jamila from Yemen. When he spells his name into the phone, it auto corrects as 'Itch' and that's his nick name. Mine was Erch. They sometimes call him 'Itchy' I've been called Erchie (hated it, by the way). He makes music, is very personable, got a big streak of empathy for other people and I could relate to him in so many ways... like family. Fun family, road family, real family, one of those things that's hard to describe. He's about my height, but built more like one of those Ethiopian distance runners you see running the marathon... but beefier having grown up in the west. But he's got that look.

I asked if he has tried to find his mother and he said last year he was in Israel for an extended period and began the process, but for one reason and another didn't follow through, 'I guess I just wasn't ready' He says that when he sees her, even if it's from across the lake, he'll break down and cry. Says that he will always be grateful to her for carrying him inside her as a 15 year old, and for giving him the life that he now enjoys. Do it man, find your mother, give her that gift of knowing that you came out so great. You're ready.

I told him that he is like a history lesson of modern Israel. he is personally connected to the two big movements that brought the dark skinned Jews to a safe homeland. On his biological side and his adopted side, the ancestors had to walk out of a country of origin in order to get transport to Israel. And he's this vibrant Aussie, well adjusted, charismatic and charming. He's got that spark. Highlight of the night...