From a certain poetic perspective, the story of the Beta Israel of Ethiopia is the story of two brothers, sons of the wise King Solomon. One was named Rehoboam and he grew up in Israel. Upon Solomon’s death, the people of the kingdom would come to him en masse, demanding that he promise to be a kinder, gentler king than his father. Rehoboam refused, with euphemistic scorn – “my little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!” (1 Kgs. 12:10) – and ten tribes of Israel would leave him behind. Rehoboam would establish the kingdom of Judah and found a line of Davidic monarchs who would rule it for centuries.