Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia on his own at the age of nine. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion – a Hesder Yeshiva in Alon Shvut – and has rabbinic ordination. He is also a graduate of “Rabbanut Yisraelit”, under the auspices of the Hartman Institute and Oranim College. Serves as a Captain in the IDF Reserves.
Dr. Shalom has a broad education in theology and philosophy. He is a graduate of “Beit Morasha” – a beit midrash and kollel in Jerusalem – and a graduate of Bar Ilan University’s Institute for Advanced Torah Studies, where he was in the Ph.D. student track. He has an M.A. from Bar Ilan University’s Talmud Department, while his final project dealt with the topic of “Circumcision in the Beta Israel Community”. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Bar Ilan University’s Department of Jewish Philosophy, while the topic of his doctoral dissertation was “Judaism of Fate – Theology and Religious Practice in the Beta Israel Community”.
He is a senior lecturer at Ono Academic College, teaches at Bar Ilan University, and serves as the Rabbi of the “Kdoshei Israel” community in Kiryat Gat.
In 2012, Dr. Shalom published his book – From Sinai to Ethiopia: the Halachic World and Ethiopian Jewish Thought, which includes “Shulchan Orot” – the halachic guide for the Beta Israel community. It was also translated into English. In addition, he is involved in writing a curriculum on the topic of Ethiopian Jewry and its culture for Jewish educational institutions in the United States.
