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Ethiopian Jews. Israel. And a Hero.

JL;DR SUMMARY Nathan Shapiro was a pivotal figure in the successful relocation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, especially during the crucial events of Operation Solomon in 1991. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

PhilanthropyEthiopian JewsCivil WarOperation SolomonJewish EmigrationAvi WeissHeroesNathan ShapiroAaej

Places mentioned

Jerusalem, Israel
"Three days ago, one of the most prominent rabbis of the modern era, Avi Weiss, and his wife Toby stood in Jerusalem waiting to receive their official citizenship documents."
Ben-Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"Operation Solomon happened on May 24-25, 1991: 35 nonstop flights in 36 hours to take 14,000 Jews from Addis Ababa to Ben-Gurion Airport."
Gondor, Amhara, Ethiopia
"The problem was that most of the Ethiopian Jews the Beta Israel were trapped in the war in Gondor."
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
"The problem was that most of the Ethiopian Jews the Beta Israel were trapped in the war in Gondor. Immobile. They somehow needed to get to Addis Ababa, whereupon they could be transported to Israel."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"Nate Shapiro was born in 1936 in Chicago and raised as a Reform Jew."
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Cairo Item ID 82798
Cairo Source ID 50
Retrieved 2026-05-23 05:30:38 UTC
Curated 2026-05-23 08:30:33 UTC