Beta Israel

(redirected from Felasha)
Related to Felasha: Ethiopian Jewry, Falash Mura

Be·ta Israel

 (bā′tə)
n.
1. A people of uncertain origin, living since ancient times in what is now central Ethiopia and practicing a form of Judaism. Between 1984 and 1991, most Ethiopian Jews were resettled in Israel.
2. A member of this people.

[Ge'ez beta 'əsrā'el, house of Israel : beta, bound form of bet, house + 'əsrā'el, Israel (from Hebrew yiśrā'ēl); see Israel1.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.