Ethiopia’s “Black Jews,” the Falashas, have been an object of speculation and curiosity since the late 18th century, when Europeans first became aware of their existence. Nothing is known with any certainty of their origin and early history. The Falashas themselves believe they are descended from Jews who came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, the alleged son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, or else from Jews who came after the destruction of the First or Second Temple. But few scholars believe that the Falashas are ethnically Jews, though the question of how and when they were converted to Judaism remains unanswered; possibly their conversion was the work of Jewish missionaries from Yemen. In any case, their Judaism probably dates from a time when the Mishnah and the Talmud were not yet compiled—that is, before 200 C.E.—since they rely upon the Old Testament and the Book of Jubilees and do not even know of the existence of the Talmud.

The story of the death of Moses which we reprint below is recited by the Falashas as part of their funeral service. Certain peculiarities of the Ethiopic text have been taken to indicate that it derives from an Arabic version of the story, probably dating from the 14th or 15th century when Arabic influence was particularly strong in Ethiopia; ultimately, however, the supposed Arabic text may itself be derived from a Jewish source.

The translation given here is by Wolf Leslau from the Ethiopic text published by Jacques Faitlowitch (Paris, 1906), collated with a manuscript text in the National Library in Addis Ababa; the translation is taken from Dr. Leslau’s Falasha Anthology, just published by Yale University Press for Judaica Research on the Louis M. Rabinowitz Foundation; the text appears here by the publisher’s permission. (A short passage at the beginning, which has no direct relation to the story of Moses’ death, has been omitted.)

Readers interested in becoming better acquainted with the Falashas are referred to Dr. Leslau’s introduction to the Falasha Anthology as well as to his article “The Black Jews of Ethiopia” in the March 1949 issue of COMMENTARY.—Ed.

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Blessed be God, the Lord of Israel, the Lord of all spirit and all flesh. The story of the coming of the Angel of Death to the prophet Moses, the son of Amram and Jochabed. . . .

Moses said to God: “O Lord, I adjure Thee, by Thy name which Thou hast revealed to me and which none knows but I and Thou alone, that Thou tell me the day in which Thou wilt take away my soul.”

God said to Moses: “Listen, Moses, I shall tell thee, though I have told the day of his death to no man, neither to the prophets who were before thee nor even to the angels who approach me. To thee, Moses, I shall tell it: I shall take thy soul away on Friday.”

And every Friday Moses put on burial clothes and purified himself for the arrival of the Angel of Death. After a time Moses forgot about the day [of his death] and ascended Mt. Sinai and prayed to God. Then the Angel of Death appeared and stood before him as a young man of the children of Israel and said to him: “Peace upon thee, Moses!” When Moses heard the voice of the Angel of Death his throat contracted, his tongue was tied, he was unable to utter a word, his knees trembled, and he fell on his face. Then he rose and said to the Angel of Death: “Who art thou that said to me: ‘Peace be upon thee!’ I never heard a voice which frightened me as does thine.” The Angel of Death said to Moses: “Dost thou not know me? Hearken, Moses, to what I tell thee: I am the one who is tasted by women and children; the one who destroys houses and builds graves until the coming of the end of the world. I am Suryal, the Angel of Death.” Moses said to the Angel of Death: “What hast thou come to do?” The Angel of Death said to Moses: “I came to take thy soul and to bring her before God.” Moses said to the Angel of Death: “I adjure thee by the God who sent thee not to take my soul until the third hour of the morning, until I shall go to my wife and children.” God said to the Angel of Death: “Leave him until his time does arrive.” The Angel left him until his time arrived and sat shaded from the sun.

Moses descended from Mt. Sinai and arrived at a parting of the ways; one road led to his wife and one to his mother. He stood between them and thought to himself: Should I go to my wife or to my mother? While he was so thinking he heard a voice from Heaven, saying: “Go first to thy mother.” And he went to his mother. When he arrived at the door he called: “Open to me.” His mother came, opened the door, and saw that the face of her son was sad and his body withered. She said to him: “What has befallen thee, my son? Did the shepherds come to tell thee that thy cattle got lost, or what is it that has happened to thee?” Moses said to his mother: “Who calls me but God, and who frightens me but Death?” His mother said to him: “Will he who spoke with God face to face and mouth to mouth die?” He said to his mother: “Yes, he will die; all the prophets died. Rise, put thy left foot at my left side, stretch out both thy hands and pray to God that He may ease the bitterness of death.” She did what he told her and he kissed her. He parted from her and wept with a great weeping. She said: “Let us not believe in the fashion of this world, and let us look for what is in Heaven.”

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When Moses went to his wife his spirit fainted, his body withered, and he knew not his way. He arrived at the door and said to her: “I am Moses, open, to me.” She arose and opened to him. Moses entered, and she saw that his face was pale and his heart faint. She said to him: “What has befallen thee, my beloved, that thy heart is faint and thy body withered? Hast thou lost thy camels or thy wealth? Moses said to his wife: “Who calls me but God, and who frightens me but Death?” His wife said to him: “Will he who spoke with God die?” He said to her: “Yes, he will die, Abraham died, and all the prophets died.” And Moses said to his wife: “Where are my children?” His wife said to him: “They sleep in their beds.” Moses said to his wife: “Bring them to me.” And she wept with a great weeping. She went, weeping, and said to the children: “Go to your father before he dies, for you shall see him no more.” She awakened them from their sleep and brought them, holding their hands in her right and left hands, and said to them: “Weep over your father, for you and he must part.” They said to her: “Where is our father?” She brought them to their father and said to them: “Look well at your father until you be satisfied, for soon you will be parted.” When they saw their father they fell on their faces and wept with a great weeping. Moses wept with them, and said to them: “We part from upon the earth.” His wife said to him: “Shall we see one another then no more?” He put his younger son Eleazar on his right knee and his older son Gershom on his left and he blessed them. He said to them: “Now we part.” They said: “Now that we part from our father, even he who loved us will deliver us [to others], and he who hates us will banish us.” When Moses heard his children’s words he wept, and Heaven and earth wept with him. God said to Moses: “What makes thee cry? Is it because thou leavest the earth or because thou fearest death?” Moses said to God: “My two children and my wife do make me cry. Her father, Jethro, died; my brother, Aaron, died too; and if I die, to whom will I leave them?” God said to Moses: “When thou wast born and thy mother Jochabed hid thee in a box and threw thee out upon the sea, did I forget thee then? I closed the mouth of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and made it so that his mouth could utter no words, and I made thee so that Tarmut, Pharaoh’s daughter, loved thee much and called thee: ‘My child,’ and thou didst stay forty years. And now rise and take they rod and smite the Red Sea.” Moses arose and smote the sea. Then he went out of the sea and found a big stone that rolled. God said to Moses: “Strike this stone that rolls.” And he struck the stone, and the stone burst asunder. He found in the stone a small worm eating green grass that said: “Blessed be God who did not forget me until this day, while I was in the depths of the sea.” God said to Moses: “Dost thou not see that I forgot not the worm while he lived hidden in a rolling stone in the sea? And dost thou think that 1 shall forget thy children when they pray to me? Thy children will be my security. And now, kiss thy children and thy wife, because those who will take thy soul away draw nigh, and thou wilt enter here no more.” His wife embraced him, and she wept with a great weeping, and Moses wept with her. Then he went out of his house, and he left his wife and children. He walked with a faint heart and a pale face and did not know which way to walk. He met three handsome young men digging a grave. He said to them: “Peace upon you, and may God’s peace be with you.” Then he said to them: “For whom do you dig this grave?” They said to him: “We dig it for a man beloved of God.” Moses said to them: “If you dig it for a man beloved of God I shall help you and shall dig it with you.” When they had finished the grave Moses said to them: “Bring the corpse that we should bury.” The young men said—and they were angels in the appearance of men—“We are afraid that the place will be too small for him whom we would bury, and he is like thee in size, length, and appearance; now enter the grave and measure it for us.” Moses entered the grave and he found there the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death said to Moses: “Peace upon thee, Moses, son of Amram.” Moses said to the Angel of Death: “May the greeting return to thee.” So Moses died, and the angels buried him.

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