On the Occasion of the Sigd Holiday, Director of Ono Ethiopian Center Shares Ethiopian Jewish Wisdom Relevant to Our Time

Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, the founding director of Ono Academic College’s International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry, recorded greetings on the occasion of the Sigd Holiday, the unique festival which Beta Israel returned to world Jewry. 

Rabbi Shalom noted that at this difficult time, we are all looking for an anchor, for answers, for guidance, for tools to deal with the horrific national tragedy which the People of Israel have suffered.  He suggested that we look to the secret of the Traditional Ethiopian Jewish holiday of Sigd for inspiration.

According to tradition, the Sigd holiday was enacted by Ezra and Nehemiah in Jerusalem during the days of the return to Zion after the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem, and represents a ceremony of renewing the covenant between the People of Israel and God on the one hand, and between one Jew and another, on the other. The Sigd holiday falls 50 days after Yom Kippur and connects between the private accounting of the soul which we conduct on the first holiday and a public accounting of the soul which we do on the second. The holiday of Sigd is a special occasion giving us the opportunity to imagine another world, a better world, a world that gives hope, that gives us the strength to get up and recover, to keep walking and never stop.

To watch the entirety of Rabbi Shalom’s Sigd greetings in Hebrew, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1CKmSnDmjQ