[1] He led the efforts to improve the living conditions of the Beta Israel in Ethiopia by expanding education, providing medical facilities, increasing agricultural production and promoting religious freedom.

He attended the University of Heidelberg in Germany for two years and completed his international studies at the Asher Institute for Jewish Education in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Alliance Francaise Universelle in Paris, France.

His work drew the attention of religious leaders and government officials in Israel, as well as Jewish organizations worldwide, particularly with regard to his goal of aliyah for all Ethiopian Jews.

Later that same year, Bogale, his son, Zecarias Yona, Rahamim Elazar and Baruch Tegegne traveled to Montreal, Canada, at the invitation of the Council of the Jewish Federations, to address that organization's General Assembly.

Because of his devotion to his people and his persistence in freeing them from oppression, Bogale has often been compared to Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Theodor Herzl.

Fluent in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, French, Italian, German, Tigrinya, Oromia, Geez and Amharic languages,[6] he introduced the Beta Israel community to the first Hebrew-English-Amharic calendar, published every year from 1954 to 1978.

[7] Bogale was an early proponent of Ethiopian Jews praying in Hebrew instead of the ancient Semitic language, Ge'ez, as he felt that it was no longer appropriate for those seeking to be a part of the broader Jewish community.