Kes Raphael Hadane, known as the Liqa Kahenat (High Priest) of the Beta Israel community, passed away Sunday at age 97, only a day after his wife, Alemitu. The couple, who were married 77 years, were laid to rest in Beit Shemesh.
Hadane was born in a village in the Bagmadar District of Ethiopia and was orphaned while still a child. In 1954, he began studying Hebrew and rabbinical Judaism, and was then hired by the Jewish Agency to teach Hebrew and Jewish studies. In 1976, he was ordained the "liqa kahenat" (high priest for a given region) and served as a rabbinical judge. In 1985, he made aliyah.
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When he moved to Israel, he began working on behalf of the country's Ethiopian immigrant community. Among other things, he oversaw negotiations about the rabbinate's demand that Ethiopian Jews undergo conversion, which outraged the Ethiopian immigrants, who said they were Jewish and had no need to convert. Eventually, Sephardi rabbi and spiritual leader of the Shas movement Rabbi Ovadia Yosef adopted that position.
Because of Hadane's position in the controversy, he was declared a persona non grata by members of the Ethiopian community. Later, he made another controversial decision when he recognized members of Ethiopia's Falash Mura group as part of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) community and worked to bring them to Israel.
For years, Hadane presided over the memorial ceremonies honoring the Ethiopian Jews who died en route to Israel.
Hadane's children continued on the path of public service. One of his sons, Rabbi Yosef Hadane, served as chief rabbi for Ethiopian Jews in the Chief Rabbinate until 2017.
Beit Shemesh was shocked to hear of the deaths of Kes Hadane and his wife.
"For years, the couple worked on behalf of the Ethiopian community, lending their hand to any person who needed help and kindness, expecting nothing in return, and founded the wonder Ethiopian Jewish synagogue on Bar-Ilan [street]," Beit Shemesh News reported.
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