Call Me Gebyanesh

Her family had just moved to Jerusalem from Ethiopia, and already she was feeling unsettled by how different everything was. This was only made worse when her teacher could not pronounce her name—and wouldn't really even try. "We will call you Rakhel," the teacher said. That isn't my name, Gebyanesh thought. But she said nothing.

From then on, she was Rakhel at school an...