Long before she was a professional chef and restaurateur, Ethiopia-born Israeli-raised Beejhy Barhany would hold Shabbat dinners in her New York apartment for anyone who wanted to eat. “On Friday night, there was always food at Beejhy’s,” she recalls.
At every one of her Friday night dinners, guests would enjoy some traditional yemarina yewotet dabo – the Ethiopian honey-and-milk-bread equivalent to challah. And Barhany will be demonstrating how to make it at this year’s Limmud.
Barhany can remember the excitement of being a seven-year-old girl making the three-year exodus from her birth country to Israel back in 1983.
“It was exciting going to the promised land, to Jerusalem, the land of our forefathers, where we could unite with our fellow Jews from all over the world. And with that idealism, people did whatever it took to fulfil it. They left all their belonging, their homes, their land.”
Such was the determination to be in Israel, it took her family three years to make Aliyah, the epic journey including a lengthy stay in Sudan. From there, a cousin who worked with the Mossad eventually arranged transport to Israel, and they drove from Sudan to Kenya, Uganda and Europe before flying to Israel.
“We made it to Israel,” she says. “It was a dream come true for everybody.”
Even before she made it to the promised land, Barhany was helping her mother, grandmother and aunts with food preparation, gradually learning the various techniques, the wonders of hospitality, generosity and tradition. Cooking and hospitality, she says, are attributes with which she “was born”.
“In every Ethiopian household, when you welcome somebody to your house, they are not going to leave without being fed.”
Out of those Shabbat dinners she held in New York’s Harlem, where Barhany moved 20 years ago, a nonprofit organisation was born. In 2003 she founded BINA Cultural Foundation, empowering the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) community within America by educating on Ethiopian Jewish culture and heritage, diversity and inclusion, and bridging between the black African-American and other Jewish communities. When she took part in panel discussions at cultural events, people would eagerly ask her about Ethiopian food. As an extension of BINA, she opened Tsion Cafe in Harlem that, beyond a typical eatery, could be a hub for culture, history and food.
Tsion Cafe's excellent Ethiopian flavours
“I am a proud Ethiopian, black Jewish woman, Israeli now New Yorker,” she says. “I embrace all those identities, and I try to bring them on a menu so people understand who I am. And I'm trying to bring happiness on a plate – something optimistic to the world,” she says, referring to “chaotic” global events. “Food is a wonderful gateway to opening people’s minds and understanding about other cultures or heritages.”
After October 7, Barhany decided to make Tsion kosher certified and vegan. The café had already suffered several attacks, including swastikas daubed all over the exterior, threatening phone calls and boycotts. Curiously, one swastika on their awning remains visible.
“It’s still there to remind people,” says Barhany. “October 7 has definitely pushed it to the edge for us to fully embrace who we are and become kosher,” she says, her voice warm yet steely. “I couldn't deny who I am, even though we've been attacked because of our Jewish identity and affiliation being Israeli. So I just wanted to go 100% and say, ‘yeah, this is who I am, and I'm going to invest in it, and I'm going to welcome my brothers and sisters.’ I wanted to emphasise my Jewishness.”
She adds: “There’s a lot of cowardly people, but the eatery is not political. Everybody is welcome. On our website, I amplify my identity, my Israeliness, my blackness, I don't shy away from it. And they felt this is a good target.”
She recalls the many phone calls even prior to October 7, the caller threatening to “erase all dirty Jews off the map”. They called the police and ask them what to do in response to the harassment, and the NYPD patrolling around the restaurant. But Barhany wasn’t intimidated. In fact, it emboldened her resolve.
“We couldn't really be deterred by it. It pushed me to shine upon my Jewishness even more. That's what it did to me.”
She continues: “We've been preserving our Jewish identity for thousands of years. I couldn't possibly, here in America – the land where everybody's supposed to practice freely and be respected whatever religion they want to practice – hide who I am. If you're proud of your Jewish identity, celebrate it and embrace it. Don't shy away from it. Don't be scared. We are stronger than that. We are resilient people.”
Going fully vegan was a move to decrease the restaurant’s carbon imprint, as she collaborates with local farmers, ensures produce is as seasonal as possible and offers food that’s healthy and nourishing for everyone.
“We make everything from scratch,” she says. “We take pride, and we are conscious of the different things we cook, and the way we do it.”
In the restaurant, they serve a Yemini malawach (a flaky pastry), alongside Sudanese and Mediterranean food, Ethiopian flatbread injera and Nigerian jollof rice.
“I blend all these delicious flavours and ethnic foods, because this is who I am,” says Barhany.
This winter will be her first at Limmud. In addition to doing a live demonstration of the traditional Ethiopian doba bread for Shabbat, she will be talking about Sigd – a holiday focused on the yearning for the return to Israel that celebrates unity and diversity – that was preserved by the Ethiopian Jewish community for thousands of years, before being brought back to Israel where it is now celebrated as a national holiday.
Tsion Cafe, Harlem
“I wanted to reach out to a different demographic, different people in a different continent, to teach them about Ethiopian Jewish food, stories, traditions and cooking.” She calls it a wonderful beginning introduction” to embracing the entire Jewish diaspora.
“It's a wonderful opportunity for me to engage with different Jewish people, learn from them and teach whatever I know. We are celebrating the beautiful mosaic of the Jewish world as a whole.”
Instagram: tsioncafe
