Tireu Melesse is one of the many pioneer mothers among the Beta Israel in Quadra village.
She fought a good fight to get to the Promised Land in 1900s. During the Communist regime in Ethiopia, when the government refused to let the Jews leave Ethiopia, she managed to go to Sudan in 1985 to come to Israel after Operation Moses. But her father was left behind in the village of Tumet. So she was divided and returned back to Ethiopia, hoping to convince him to come with her.
Unfortunately, her father was sick and stayed in Ethiopia until he passed away. Tireu and Menalu’s (Gedamu) father passed away. So she decided to walk to Gondar over three weeks with her children and husband .
Finally, in 1990, she made Aliya to Eretz Israel with all of her 10 children and husband.
They settled in Lod, near the Tel Aviv Airport and remained there until she passed away last week. She is the woman who fought for us to come to Israel from Egypt in 1993.
So, our children call her Safta (grandmother) because she was like a Safta for everyone. Menalus’s mother was denied her Aliya because of our Messianic belief and leadership in Israel. So our children think Tireu replaced for them their grandmother in Ethiopia.
Of course, Tireu was like a real Safta for our children and even for us. She was so kind and generous and suffered a lot by interior ministries because of our faith and leadership in Israel. She passed away last week with cancer in the age of 78.
We missed her and our hears are broken for the loss of our Safta. She was loved by many Beta Israel communities in Israel, especially in the Lod area. May her memory be blessed forever. Amen.