SOSTEJE was established in 1991 at Oxford 
University, England, as an international association 
devoted to research on the Beta Israel/Ethiopian 
Jewry in Ethiopia, Israel and elsewhere. 
In order to promote this aim, the Society 
sponsored several international conferences,
at which international authorities presented
papers, as well as students of Ethiopian Jewry:
 • Venice, Italy, 1993
 • Jerusalem and Beersheba, Israel, 1995
 • Milano, Italy, 1998
 • Paris, France, 2001
 • Addis Abeba, Ethiopia 2004
 • Firenze, Italy, 2007
The next conference will take place in Gondar, Ethiopia, 2009.
SOSTEJE has contributed to the body of knowledge on 
Ethiopian Jewry by producing three books from the 
conference proceedings.
In addition, the Society sends out  periodic newsletters, 
which update  members on the state of research on 
Ethiopian Jewry and include lists of recent publications. 
At every conference, SOSTEJE puts out a complete 
bibliography. 
For over a decade, SOSTEJE's President was 
Prof. Emanuela Trevisan Semi, of Venice University, Italy. 
In October 2004, Dr. Shalva Weil of the Hebrew University,
Israel was elected President. In May 2005, an Israeli branch 
of SOSTEJE was established as an official association 
(amuta no. 580444388) and SOSTEJE's headquarters 
moved to Jerusalem.