Legese reviews the history of Ethiopian Jewry, especially the Jews of Tigray, and their attempts to immigrate to Israel over the years. He explains that each generation’s steadfast adherence to the Torah’s commandments and their success in transmitting them to the next generation is what enabled the Ethiopian Jews to return to Israel.

As child, Legese learned Hebrew. His teachers came from the province of Gondar. The students sat in the classroom according to their level of knowledge: those who knew the Hebrew alphabet sat on a chair and those who didn’t sat on the floor. In the 1950s, an educational reform in the country enabled the residents of the province of Tigray to acquire a general education. Legese relates how he and the Jewish community opposed general studies out of suspicion that this was a ploy to cause them to convert. They claimed that they had already studied the laws of the Torah. He displays his book of the Kesims’ laws and prayers and talks about the book’s history.

Legese relates that he and three other students wrote a letter to Mr. Yonah Buagala demanding that he open a Hebrew school in the province of Tigray. Legese read aloud Mr. Yonah Bugala’s positive response to the general assembly on the Sigd festival in 1952. On this occasion, with the help of donations, Legese founded an organization called “The Ten Commandments of Oeiryt.” It was active for ten years. The organization’s purpose was to help poor people in the community and to promote the dream of immigration to Israel. The organization helped to establish a school and synagogue, and brought Jewish tourists to Tigray. Four members of the organization immigrated to Israel and provided them with direct and constant contact with Israel. In 1972, a permit was received for 30 families to immigrate to Israel. Legese and his organization were responsible for selecting the families.

After the Derg party deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, Legese was appointed as a judge and governmental clerk. He describes the structure of the legal system. As part of his job as a judge, he was responsible for resolving family disputes, thefts, and various breaches of law. He also used to investigate incidents such as theft of bulls. Legese talks at length about the tumultuous political climate during the years that the Derg regime fought four rebel groups. He talks about how he maneuvered between the various political forces and his clandestine work with them.

During this period, he began to receive letters from Ferede Aklum, who was staying in Sudan, informing him that a path had opened to migrate from there to Israel. He used his authority to issue exit permits from the province to 50 Jewish families under the guise of going to weddings, and then to another 60 families under the guise of going to comfort mourners. When he saw that he was successful, he perfected his method and issued many permits to members of his community. They travelled from the province of Tigray via the province of Welkait to Sudan and from there to Israel.

The regime eventually discovered his activities and he was arrested and imprisoned. In jail, he was interrogated, physically tortured, and threatened with a gun held to his head. He was imprisoned in especially harsh conditions because he was accused of treason against his country. During this time he began to pray and to observe the Jewish commandments. He describes daily and social life in the jail, which included many folk tales. Legese eventually managed to convince the investigators, with the help of his correspondence with Israel that he had been in constant contact with Israel for 20 years, but not for the purpose of immigrating there. After eight months, he was released and returned home.

During the following six months, Legese recovered and picked up the pieces of his life. He and his family joined a group of 300 people who set out on a journey full of trials and tribulations to Sudan. From there, they immigrated to Israel.