Join Dr. Chrysandra Brunson on this empowering episode of The Calling, where we delve deep into the unique journey of Brhan Worku, an inspiring Ethiopian Jew who has made aliyah to Israel. Discover how Brhan’s early life instilled in her the drive to become a spokesperson for her heritage, spreading a message of unity across cultures. Explore the weight of identity and the significance behind her name as she inspires people to live out their God-given dreams.
Welcome, everyone, to The Calling’s radio show to all the dreamers. I’m your radio host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling, and it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that so many people are afraid to go after the dreams that Jesus has put inside each one of our hearts because they are afraid to fail. And that is just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream, and we’re not living it out. We are wasting it, and we do not want to die with regret. That’s why at The Calling, we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to, after God’s calling on their lives, treat the best kind of eternal legacy possible to have immediate impact on ourselves and our families. And we love to do this through so many different avenues, through custom tools, programs, workshops. but especially through this radio show where we bring on world-renowned guests to share how they’re going after their god-given dreams and how you can do the same you guys so honored to have all the way from israel the one and only brhan worku and brhan welcome to the show thank you thank you i’m really excited to be here and
BRHAN WORKU :
I’m so happy and thrilled to be in this podcast. And I’m waiting to share my dreams, my way of life. And yeah, thank you for being here.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, we’re just so honored, Brhan, to be able to hear the story of yours that is just an epic tale and what you’ve been able to live through and how you have truly been able to go after God’s dreams on your life. Brhan, your name sounds so familiar to people. For those that may not know exactly where they heard it from, can you just share a little bit about your background and some of the leadership roles that you have held?
BRHAN WORKU :
Yes. So my name is Berhan Brun. It means dawn, the first light in the morning. I was born to a Jewish family in Ethiopia and in Addis Ababa in 5.55 a.m. In the Israeli culture, it’s like this number represents luck and protection. And… So that means bran, the first light in the morning. It means that after that, you have a lot of blessings and opportunities will open up in your life. So my parents gave me that name. And after that, we moved to Israel. We made aliyah. We call it when Jews returning home to their homeland, we call them this aliyah. And yes so that’s that’s the meaning of my name it’s amharic name and i was born in ethiopia i moved to israel when i was a baby in 1998 and i’m the oldest sister to six siblings and i grew up most of my life in israel and i had this always growing up in uh junctions of which identity i’m holding first am i israeli first ethiopian first jewish first uh black woman first what is the identity that i’m holding first you know and it’s a question it’s a question that i was holding um a lot of time in my life And today, I’m in a more peaceful and center and aligned to what am I defining? What am I saying that who I am? So for me, first of all, I’m Jewish. I’m Jewish, but I’m also coming with heritage of the Ethiopian Jewry that has a lot of history and People don’t know it outside Israel. And sometimes among Israelis, people don’t know the Ethiopian Jewish history. And I’m here to say people that Jews are more diverse than what they think. And also their Jewish story, it’s bigger than what they think.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right. I mean, this is such an epic tale. And for you to be the one and especially just the power of your name and knowing that God has such a he has such providence and provision over what we are called. And I love that you’re highlighting that in such a prophetic truth. And your last name means gold. Is that correct?
BRHAN WORKU :
Right.
CHRYSANDRA :
So I’m a golden light. Yes. We can’t wait to hear all about this, Ron. And you also are a new bride as of recent. I got married. Well, we are very excited for that. We want to hear your love story. Can you just say, you know, just in your very beginnings, Brhan, when you were little, how did God just start dropping in your heart to know that you were meant to be a spokesperson today for the nations, for Israel, for just your faith? How did you start to know that when you were a little girl?
BRHAN WORKU :
Wow, that’s a good question. I feel that the connection that I have with the traditions that I’ve been taught since I’m a child and to hear the stories that my parents were telling me every Saturday, every Shabbat. So we were gathering together, the family, my parents and my siblings, and my dad would start to share how was his Jewish life in Ethiopia back then in the village. And also my mom was sharing her Jewish life story, what she was observing, what she wasn’t aware of when she came to Israel, because it’s different. And I was like, wow, that’s so interesting. How come I’m not learning this in school? Because in school you’re learning about the Holocaust, about the… Sephardic, Yemenite, Moroccan, Eastern Jewish history, but not really about the Ethiopian Jewish history. Maybe one paragraph in the history books that I’ve learned in school, maybe today it’s changed. And that made me think, wow, like my story, it’s not really been told. And I was… I was more and more exposed to it. And going to places that I could learn about more Ethiopian Jewish stories, asking people who came earlier to Israel, Ethiopian Jews who came earlier to Israel to ask them, what was their tradition? What was our tradition? What we are doing? And And when the war started, I suddenly saw on social media that there were a lot of misconceptions about Ethiopian Jews and about Black Jews in Israel. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, do not tell my story. I know what is my story. I know what are my traditions, what is the history of my people. You can’t change that in the name of trying to make Israel look bad. But I’m not saying Israel is a perfect place. We have a long way to do improvement and treatment to all the citizens here and also to Ethiopian Jews. But they tried to portray Israel as like the ugly person who’s racist and so many lies on social media. And I was like, well, we’ll stop with those lies. And this is why I started to create content and to do lectures about Ethiopian Jews and give this information to shift the narrative and to bring the empowerment that my community has.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow. Well, Ron, I think that we’re just all in awe and we want to be able to know this history, know this background. I know that there’s so much to dive into, but just summary version, Ron, on what is the history of being an Ethiopian Jew so that we can be educated? What would be your wisdom for all of us to know today?
BRHAN WORKU :
the Ethiopian Jewish history has a long, long history in Ethiopia. First, how Ethiopian Jews came to Ethiopia. So there are several myths or assumptions about what the leaders of our community the spiritual leaders called kahanuch kohan in christ in english means they saying that after the first temple destruction jews went to egypt and from egypt they went through the nile river where the source is is the lake tana and Lake Tana is basically in Ethiopia. So Jews came from Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Egypt. They ended up in Ethiopia. And one of the biggest, one of the biggest differences in the Ethiopian Jewry compared to the rest of the world is that they were preserving the life, the Jewish life that was the closest in the Bible. So it wasn’t… So we were missing the part of the Mishnah, Talmud, all the oral Torah, oral observations that were moved from a father to a son. We missed that because when they decided to write it down, we were not there in the part of the history. This is why our traditions are more closer to the biblical times. and therefore they were very strict about purification and Jewish life as it was written in the Torah and not assimilate with non-Jews and to preserve their Jewish lives and they even had a time where they had a kingdom in Ethiopia like a Jewish kingdom in Ethiopia But after that, Christianity came over all over Ethiopia and then the status of Ethiopian Jews changed.
CHRYSANDRA :
I think we all have goosebumps, Ron, from this history and the origins and to know that we’re all supposed to be part of, you know, the history of all of this is our inner fabric of all of our souls. And this is such a huge part of history that we all need to know and also just learn from to know that it is so closely tied to the original traditions that are very sacred and holy and truly are life changing. Brhan, we have so much more that we want to be able to dive into. We can’t wait to hear about your love story as well. And even just tackling into October 7th and just seeing how you really have been able to live through history. Everyone, we have Brhan Worku. We’ll be right back. Twist and shout with Lee & Co. They are the premier oldies band delivering the rock and roll vibes you’ve been missing. Great songs, great memories. Book them at LeeAndCo.com. Hi guys, this is Chrysandra Brunson, host of To All The Dreamers. I am so happy to introduce personal training, nutritional guidance, and behavioral change coaching. Healthy, happy, and heavenly for your wellness, spirit, soul, and body. Contact Mimi Kroger at healthyhappyandheavenly.com. Continue to grow in the calling God has for you through ORU online. You can earn your degree without changing your busy schedule. 100% online and 100% on your time. Learn more today. ORU.edu slash calling. At Ignite Brilliance Coaching, you will get 34 years of science teaching, a decade of university-level instruction, and over 10 years of instructional coaching to empower educators with the tools, mindset, and confidence to thrive. Contact Ignite Brilliance Coaching on Facebook. This is The Calling on Crawford Broadcasting, the show where marketplace leaders share their stories of faith, bridging the gap between your career and your God-given calling. Listen every weekday or become a sponsor and help other people live out their God-given calling. We are back. Thank you for listening to all the dreamers radio show. I’m your radio host, Dr. Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling. It is such an honor to be with all of you today. And we have the most beautiful inside and out world renowned Brhan Worku, a spokesperson around the world, being an Ethiopian Jew and just such a strong woman of faith. And Ronnie, you were telling us about the history of how the Jews were in Ethiopia and what that lineage looked like. And we are just so honored. And we have so many questions. We need to write all of these things down. We don’t want to miss out, though. We want to know, you were just recently married. And how did you meet your Boaz? And what did that look like?
BRHAN WORKU :
Ooh, I’ll give you the juicy story.
CHRYSANDRA :
A juicy story, exactly.
BRHAN WORKU :
actually i was participating in a panel for creating content um positive content about israel not something that it’s harsh and like a controversial like my content is very positive and very empowering some of them like given like boundaries to people but like most of it is given good and and good vibes And I was participating in a panel and he saw me online and he was like, wow, who is this Ethiopian Jewish woman who is speaking good and she has English? And he is an American Jew who moved also to Israel. And he saw that I’m participating in the panel in one of my stories, but he couldn’t go in because he wasn’t invited. So he asked a friend of us, like a common friend, how can I get a ticket to come inside? And he drove all the way from very far to Tel Aviv to come to this event. And he went in straight into my face. And he saw me like there. And I was a little bit stressed because I needed to speak in a panel. I was like thinking, what do I want to say? How do I how I’m going to say this? And then it’s a little bit more speed. Yeah. And then a handsome guy comes to you and is like, hey, how are you? And the rest is history.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, yeah. That is so special. And from you, are you where are you located at in Israel?
BRHAN WORKU :
I’m located in Jerusalem.
CHRYSANDRA :
Okay. And so Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is about a two-hour drive, depending on traffic, would you say?
BRHAN WORKU :
Yes. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah, at least. So that was quite the drive to come all the way down to see you. That’s very special. Well, we all wish you a huge congratulations and are so excited for you guys. Thank you. love story to play out run on this pursuit of just living in israel and being able to know this is what god’s called you to can you just tell us you know persevering through some of these the hardest of times uh to continue to feel free in your speech to go after your calling in israel how have you been able to persevere through those giants
BRHAN WORKU :
For me, the hardest time in my life was October 7th, where it was devastating, shocking. traumatizing although i i didn’t have personally someone from my family that happened to him something thank god but like i know friends who passed away and i know friends of friends and each one of us in israel were affected by this and for me i was really like asking god hashem We call him in Hebrew How can this happen? How is this? Your evil Can happen to us And I was crying a lot And I was sad And I was addicted to the news To see Which body they found And what about the hostages And I couldn’t really function But when I was like, okay, there’s something big that’s happening with a reason that I don’t understand. And what can I, what can I really do now is to help others is to help others, to help my community and to help my people. So what we did is, you know, a lot of people felt helpless because you couldn’t go to the army. I wasn’t in the army, so I’m not qualified to go to the army or to join the battle. So what could you do instead of watching TV? So for me, I remember this is, first of all, I was going to funerals of people that I didn’t know, just in order to respect the fallen people, the fallen soldiers. from my hometown and also making food for soldiers because there were a lot of uh judo reserve people who was weren’t in the army for a long time and then they joined in order to help so there was a lot of times they didn’t have food or the army wasn’t prepared for that amount of people that joined. So me and my sister were taking traditional Ethiopian food from moms in our community and we’re sending them to bases. And the soldiers were so happy and to see this deep understanding throughout the time that we need to be united. Like it doesn’t matter who you are, what’s your political opinions. I feel today also in the States and also in Israel, it was really severe. Pre-October 7th, like if you’re holding one opinion and someone is not agreeing with you, you wouldn’t talk. You wouldn’t be in the same table in a dinner together. And I feel like it’s also common in the States with everything with political issues and controversial topics that goes into society. But we need to understand that we need to hold different opinions and still be together. We need to hold… a profound love because if God loved me unconditionally no matter what I’m doing so who am I not to love someone who he created right and I understood from this that the experience that we came here to this world is to express love and to spread love because that brings light right
CHRYSANDRA :
Right. Well, we just can’t even imagine just walking through that and having to see and know so many individuals and knowing that the Israeli Jewish community is so interconnected and everyone is family. And, you know, we have so many questions, but we just sit in pause of reverence and of respect for everyone that did pass. But just knowing that the resiliency of Israel as a nation and as a people, as a family, us all around the world, rising together as one to know that you guys are and we are stronger together and the nation of israel is stronger and we stand with israel that’s america and that’s individuals and leaders around the world so thank you for your leadership brhan we we can’t wait to have you back we are coming up towards the end of our show we don’t know where time goes uh but brhan that was so quick um Well, before we do go, I know it goes by so quick. We know that people are tuning in and they are, there’s one listener in particular, and they are just so afraid to go after what God’s called them to. And they don’t think that they really can. Brhan, what would be your words of wisdom to that person of why it is so important for them to go after it and how they can do it?
BRHAN WORKU :
Wow, that’s a question that I was thinking about it a lot. like what is why am i not going through what hashem god gave to me like my qualifications my good things why i’m not going with that and and pursuing it and i feel like there’s a an inner disbelief in ourselves and we should bring that faith in ourselves Right. And see in your eyes, what are you good at? And say this to yourself and appreciate yourself. I feel like a lot of people lacking that. So they’re not going to do what they really want and what the presence that God, Hashem gave them. Because they’re like, oh, what if I’m going to do mistakes? What if I’m not really that good? They’re hesitating themselves because they’re not seeing how much precious they are. Not because they need a degree, they need a fancy job, because their existence… Very simple, their existence… And once you appreciate your existence, you can tap into this inner belief that I’m valuable to pursue my dreams. I’m valuable to do what I love truly. Yes. It’s a daily practice of seeing in what I’m good and to appreciate who I am. Right.
CHRYSANDRA :
to have you back sooner t everyone get in touch wit be able to be part of thi of really just sharing the message of being, the history of being an Ethiopian Jew, as well as just standing with Israel and also just inviting you to come speak around the world.
BRHAN WORKU :
Yes. So you can, first of all, I’m available on social media platforms. If it’s TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Bhran Worku. And I have there my email. If you have questions, if you want me to come to your community, I’m here. Let’s do a good change in this world.
CHRYSANDRA :
Thank you so much, Bhran. And we’re honored to have you. Everyone, go follow her right now. Be part of this movement. I am so happy to call her one of my new dearest friends and sisters and cannot wait to continue to see her change the world and know that you’re supposed to be part of this movement too. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? That is the question that God’s asking each one of us. That answer is what you’re meant to do. Till next time dreamers, keep dreaming big.
