The Jerusalem Post, May 19, 2004 reported that the Chief Rabbinate Released an Ethiopian Music CD: “A Collection of Songs for our Brethren, the Immigrants from Ethiopia”, contains 14 tracks. This is an effort to reach out to the Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel, and is being distributed by the Rabbinate to Ethiopian immigrants there.

The JP also reported that “According to Rabbi Eliyahu Maimon, Director of the Chief Rabbinate’s Conversion Courts, the production of the CD is aimed at “reconnecting Ethiopian immigrants to contemporary Judaism as it is practiced in Israel and preserving the very important traditions they brought with them from Ethiopia.” The Jerusalem Post went on to write:
“Past experience, particularly from the 1950s and 60s,” he added, “shows that when attempts are made to erase the old traditions of an immigrant group, it can impair their successful absorption in the country, and that is something we wish to avoid at all costs …We very much hope that this will help, in some small way, to improve their absorption here in the country.”