Religionיוסף הדנה

Yosef Hadane

Yosef Hadane is a rabbi who served as chief rabbi of the Ethiopian community in Israel and was the first Ethiopian Israeli ordained as an Orthodox rabbi.

born 1949First Ethiopian Israeli Orthodox rabbiChief rabbi of Ethiopian JewsAdvocacy for Falash Mura immigration

Occupation: rabbi

Yosef Hadane was born in 1949 in Ethiopia

Yosef Hadane was born in 1949 in the village of Ambober in the Begemder province of Ethiopia. His father, Raphael Hadane, was a Kes. He studied at the Jewish Agency school in his village and then at a government school in Gondar.

He was sent with Yeshayahu Ben Baruch to a rabbinical school in Turin, Italy. He planned to return to Ethiopia, but because of political unrest he moved to Israel in 1972. He later studied at the Torah VeHora'ah yeshiva in Yad Eliyahu under Rabbi Eliyahu Sharim and was ordained in 1979.

In 1979 he also began working for the Ministry of Religious Services. He worked to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel and helped his own family immigrate in 1985. With his brother Emanuel, he argued for the right of the Falash Mura to immigrate, and he criticized the Petah Tikva rabbinate over its treatment of Ethiopian Jews who wished to marry.

In June 2016 the ministry told him he would have to retire as chief rabbi of the Ethiopian community. Tzohar said this was because of his support for the Falash Mura, while the ministry said he had reached retirement age. After public protest he received a 6-month extension, and he left the post in 2017. Reuven Wabashat replaced him.