MY FAMILY
THE BETA ISRAEL CURRICULUM
CELEBRATING SIGD
Teachers should now explain the religious practice and significance of the Sigd holiday:
The best-known holiday of the Beta Israel is Sigd,38 a fall festival that is based on an ancient ceremony from the time of the Second Holy Temple39 in Jerusalem. While the Beta Israel was living in Ethiopia, Sigd was celebrated with a particular emphasis on “the desire to bow down before G-d in Jerusalem.”40
Sigd is a distinctly religious holidays, signifying the people of Israel’s acceptance of and adherence to the laws of the Torah. One of the key prayers recited during the Sigd ceremony asks G-d to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to allow the people of Israel to return41 home to their holy city. Every year, as these prayers were uttered, the Beta Israel’s hope of returning to Jerusalem was strengthened. As Kes Efraim Zion Lawi explains, “Sigd is about hope. The hope of living in Israel and rebuilding the temple.”42
Students should now be asked to search the internet for videos, photographs, and further information about the Sigd ceremony, which is reenacted in Jerusalem every year.43 Students should then present their findings to the rest of the class for discussion.
38 The exact transliteration of the Ge’ez word is “Sgd,” but Western texts usually use “Sigd” for ease of An alternate name, Mahelele, is parallel to the Hebrew word mehalelah, “supplication,” which is derived from the Hebrew word Hallel, “praise” – see Shalom, From Sinai to Ethiopia, p. 176, footnote 46.
39 See Book of Nehemiah 8:5–6, 9:3.
40 Ibid
41 Sefer ha-Falashim as quoted in Shalom, From Sinai to Ethiopia, 179.
42 Celebrating the Unique Holiday of Sigd, https://www.jewishagency.org/ celebrating-the-unique-holiday-of-sigd/.
43 For a short video about Sigd, see: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=gCYia7Pegaw.
