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In May 1978 Benjamin (Teadrous)
Aklom was born in Addis Ababa as his mother
and father were fleeing Ethiopia with a
Mossad agent. Benjamin’s father worked
with the Mossad to smuggle Ethiopian Jews
to Israel in the early 1970s. The Communist
government caught him and sentenced him
to death. However, he was rescued from
an Ethiopian prison by the Mossad, and as
they were approaching the airport in Addis
Ababa, Benjamin’s mother gave birth. She
and newborn Benjamin returned to her village and his father
continued on to the Sudan.
In the Sudan, Benjamin’s father worked
with Jewish Agency emissaries and Israeli
government officials to bring Ethiopian Jews
to Israel. This clandestine mission was the
forerunner to the larger Operation Moses
rescue mission in 1984.
At the age of seven, Benjamin, his uncle and
his mother, who was an English teacher,
came to Israel in the very last stages of
Operation Moses. Their first home in Israel
was the Jewish Agency’s Absorption Center
in Kfar Saba. With a Student Authority
Scholarship supported by the Jewish
Agency, Benjamin’s mother received her
BA degree in sociology while caring for
Benjamin and his uncle. Today, she is a
successful community social worker.
Benjamin, now in his third year of biology
studies at Bar Ilan University, is also
receiving a Student Authority Scholarship.
His dream is to conduct academic research
on the restorative medical properties of
indigenous Ethiopian plants. In addition, his
dedication to volunteerism and helping his
community led to his big brother role for
an exceptionally bright Ethiopian teenager
involved with drugs. “I took him under my
wing and support him emotionally. I listen to
him and encourage him, and he is now back
on the right track.”
Benjamin is also head of the Ethiopian
student organization at his university. “I raise
awareness of Ethiopian culture through
sharing our heritage with students from all
over the country.” Among his many activities,
Benjamin organized a memorial ceremony
for the over 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died
in the Sudan on the way to Israel. |
