Cry of the Giraffe

About The Book

One girl's harrowing trek from exile and slavery to hope in a new land -- all based on a true story. In the early 1980s, thousands of Ethiopian Jews fled the civil unrest, famine and religious persecution of their native land in the hopes of being reunited in Yerusalem, their spiritual homeland, with its promises of a better life. Wuditu and her family risk their lives to make this journey, which leads them to a refugee camp in Sudan, where they are separated. Terrified, 15-year-old Wuditu makes her way back to Ethiopia alone. "Don't give up, Wuditu! Be strong!" The words of her little sister come to Wuditu in a dream and give her the courage to keep going. Wuditu must find someone to give her food and shelter or she will surely die. Finally Wuditu is offered a solution: working as a servant. However, she quickly realizes that she has become a slave. With nowhere else to go, she stays -- until the villagers discover that she is a falasha, a hated Jew. Only her dream of one day being reunited with her family gives her strength -- until the arrival of a stranger heralds hope and a new life in Israel. With her graceful long neck, Wuditu is affectionately called "the giraffe." And like the giraffe who has no voice, she must suffer in silence. Based on real events, Wuditu's story mirrors the experiences of thousands of Ethiopian Jews.

About Judie Oron

Judie Oron is a journalist, lecturer and award-winning author who was born in Montreal, moved to Israel in 1967 following the Six Day War and returned to Canada in 2004. Judie's articles have appeared, among others, in The Jerusalem Post, Lifestyles Magazine, The Canadian Jewish News, Australia's Christian Woman and Christian Daily, Weekly Press Pakistan, The Jerusalem Report and Baycrest Foundation Publications. Her award-winning novel, Cry of the Giraffe, is based on the true story of her daughter Wuditu's experience as a slave in Ethiopia and tells the story in Wuditu's voice. The novel has been re-published in English in several countries in the Indian Subcontinent and is now available in Hebrew (Hakibutz Hameuhad-Sifriat Poalim, Publications, 2013). Judie studied Anthropology at McGill University and African Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She worked as a feature writer at The Jerusalem Post, including a four-year stint as a weekly columnist. From 1984 - 86, Judie acted as Director of The Jerusalem Post's three charitable Funds. After the exposure of the secret airlifts of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan to Israel (Operation Moses), Judie opened a fourth Fund, Operation Homecoming, for the immigrants, 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.