Tsion Cafe in Harlem is the only restaurant in New York City specializing in Ethiopian Jewish food, highlighting a blend of African and Jewish histories. Owner Beejhy Barhany, a member of the Beta Israel community from Ethiopia, fled political violence in her childhood. After moving to New York City in 1999, she became a cultural ambassador by establishing the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation in 2003. The foundation promotes Ethiopian Jewish culture through various community activities, including cooking classes and film screenings.
Barhany's work as a chef, writer, and organizer has taught Americans that the stories of Africans and Jews have done more than coincide over time. They're inseparable.
Barhany grew up in Ethiopia in the Beta Israel community, a group of Jews that has lived there since ancient times, and numbers around 168,000 in Israel and 2,500 in the United States.
In 1980, when Barhany was a child, she and her family left for Sudan on foot in the middle of the night, fleeing political violence.
In 2003, she established the Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation, which celebrates Ethiopian Jewish culture through cooking classes, Shabbat dinners and film screenings.
#ethiopian-jewish-food #cultural-heritage #harlem-history #beta-israel-community #culinary-ambassador
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