In the past nine years, Dr. Morris Hartstein has examined more than 7,000 Ethiopian Jews and helped 17 Ethiopian doctors receive training in Israel.

“Most of the people I met then and until today, have never been to a doctor,” Hartstein said. He has become the de facto eyecare provider for approximately 8,000 Jews in Addis Ababa and Gondar who are waiting to move to Israel.

The Ethiopian civil war has had a terrible impact on the Jews, Hartstein said. There is blatant anti-Semitism that’s only getting worse.

“Many of the Jews have become refugees within Ethiopia, caught in the middle of the fighting. They are in grave danger,” he said.

Photo: Dr. Morris Hartstein doing an eye exam in Gondar. Courtesy of Operation Ethiopia