But now, pressed for cash, he agreed to part with it for $1,200. In previous negotiations, the priest had demanded more than $10,000 to release the book. Senebato and two of his cousins made their way to northern Ethiopia earlier this year amid the civil war raging there, acting on a tip from Ethiopia-based friends of their grandmother: The Christian priest who had possessed the book for years had been arrested and needed money to get out of jail. “When I posted the picture of the book in the family WhatsApp group, people went nuts, it’s like a long-lost relative had returned,” said Ayanawo Ferada Senebato, Mashiha’s 43-year-old grandson and a journalist and activist promoting causes linked to Ethiopian Israelis. The family now hopes to restore the book and use it to strengthen their community’s fading identity. In March, an unusual set of circumstances finally allowed the family to be reunited with the document, a rare but tangible relic from the rich traditions of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
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