LIVING HISTORY
Yossi Vassa is an Ethiopian-Israeli stand-up comic who has been confronted with hardships and tragedy that most 29-year-old Americans would struggle to imagine. At age 9, he and his family were among thousands of Ethiopian Jews resettled in Israel thanks to Operation Moses. They journeyed on foot for 440 miles to a Sudanese transit camp, where they waited for a year before being airlifted to Israel. Vassa’s grandmother and his two younger brothers died from diseases contracted on their journey to the camp.
Though his story if full of sorrow and heartbreak, Vassa tells it with humor in his one-man show, “It Sounds Better in Amharic: From Ethiopia to the Holyland,” co-written and directed by Shai Ben Attar.
“I think of it as a unique drama,” Vassa said. “At the beginning we tried to define it as theatrical standup, but it’s not just standup. There’s also a dramatic, sad story.”
“It’s easier for people to understand difficulties through humor,” Vassa added. “It’s easier to communicate, especially when talking about something that is very strange and sensitive.”
The show transcends Vassa’s story, exploring larger issues of immigration, social integration and personal identity, while also investigating personal change, courage and humanity.
“I changed very much, and it’s a good thing. Don’t be afraid to change,” Vassa said. “At the end of the show I say that I’m open to change because I’m changing all the time.”
An optional Shabbat dinner with vegetarian and Ethiopian flair precedes the performance.
Bnai Keshet, 99 So. Fullerton Ave., Montclair; Feb. 27, Shabbat dinner at 7:30 p.m., $10; reservations and payment for dinner required at synagogue office by Feb. 25., performance 8:30 p.m.; free, reservations required. (973-746-4889 or [email protected])
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
