Judie Oron

Readings

For Grades 9 and up:
1. Talks about Cry of the Giraffe: The book tells the story of Wuditu, a black Ethiopian Jewish teenager who was separated from her family in a violent incident in a refugee camp in Sudan. She is forced by soldiers to trek back to Ethiopia and there she inadvertently becomes a slave. Her family has tried to find her and been told that she is dead. But, unknown to them, Wuditu is alive and toiling without pay and under terrible circumstances in a war-ravaged town in the north of Ethiopia. Apart from the dangers inherent in her position, Wuditu is guarding a secret and is terrified of what will happen to her if it ever becomes known.

Three long years after she was separated from her family, a stranger comes to town and reveals Wuditu’s secret. As a result, she is beaten and threatened and she runs out of hope. But soon another stranger arrives in town, a journalist who has adopted Wuditu’s younger sister, Lewteh. “If my sister was dead, I would know it,” Lewteh tells the journalist, who is the author, Judie Oron. “I can still feel her breathing,” Lewteh insists. In a whirlwind and dangerous rescue mission, Judie goes to Ethiopia to search for Wuditu, finds her, pays for her freedom and takes her into her family.

As in the book, the readings chronicle Wuditu’s story, in her voice. It is the voice of a slave - the diary of a young girl who is trapped in a place where escaping might be more dangerous than remaining in captivity.

For Grades 6 and up
2. Talks about Ethiopian Jewry: Today, there are 120,000 black Ethiopian Jews in Israel and my talks about this community chronicle their history, their exotic culture, the dangerous route they took to be reunited with their brothers and the terrifying rescue operations – Operation Moses and Operation Solomon - that brought them, on wings of eagles, to their ancient Homeland.

Special Equipment:

A PowerPoint Presentation is available. If required, I would need a projector and screen or white wall.

Book Sales:

For most audiences, books would be available for purchase and autographing.

Workshops

Some school and library workshops focus on the story of Wuditu, the heroine in Cry of the Giraffe. We hold discussions about modern day slavery – how can this happen to a beloved child? When it does, what does modern-day slavery look like? Where is it happening? Students are encouraged to write or tell their own variation of the story, taking into account local Ethiopian conditions and lore and even to speculate, what could they have done differently in Wuditu’s place?

Other workshops focus on the world of the Beta Israel – the exotic, black, Ethiopian Jewish tribe featured in Cry of the Giraffe. How they got to Ethiopia; the kings and queens who ruled the highlands during the Medieval period; their colourful beliefs about the ‘zaroch,’ the mysterious, mythical spirits who lived in the underworld and affected their lives and their health; the community’s centuries of longing for an ancient homeland; and the dangerous and dramatic way they were able to fulfil their dreams.

Special Equipment:

If a PowerPoint Presentation is requested, I would need a projector and screen. For writing exercises I would ask the students to bring writing materials.

Book Sales:

For most audiences I can arrange to have books available for purchase and autographing.

Biography

Judie Oron is an author and journalist who was born in Montreal and moved to Israel in 1967. She returned to Canada in 2004 and has been working since then as a freelance writer and lecturer. Judie’s articles have appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Canadian Jewish News, Lifestyles Magazine and Baycrest Foundation Publications.

Judie studied Anthropology at McGill University and post graduate research in African Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. During the 1970s and 1980s, she worked as a feature writer at The Jerusalem Post, including a four-year stint as a weekly columnist.

In 1985, Judie was appointed Director of The Jerusalem Post’s three charitable Funds. After the exposure of the secret airlift of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel (Operation Moses), Judie opened a fourth Fund at The Jerusalem Post, called ‘Operation Homecoming,’ for Ethiopians who were arriving in the country with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Judie left The Jerusalem Post to organize and direct a group of concerned professionals that assisted Ethiopian Jews to find their way to Israel.

Judie took into her family and raised two Ethiopian Jewish sisters, one of whom she came across in Addis Ababa. Upon learning that another sister was missing, she went alone to the north of Ethiopia to find and release her from slavery.

Through her daughters, Judie has acquired scores of Ethiopian relatives and has therefore seen a side of their absorption that few people outside the community have experienced. She is a passionate researcher of Beta Israel history, lore and trek stories and has lectured in Hebrew and English on: Beta Israel history and social culture; Beta Israel medical practitioners (the culture of the ‘zar’ or dybbuk); absorption issues; her work in Ethiopia; and her experience as a parent of Ethiopian girls in Israeli society.