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Ono Academic College commemorated the Sigd holiday with a program of lectures and music in the Kiryat Ono Campus’ Shulich Auditorium.
Sigd, is an ancient Jewish holiday going back to the biblical times of the prophets Ezra and Nechemia. While having been lost to the Jewish people, it was lovingly preserved by Ethiopian Jewry for Millenia until they could share this gift with the rest of Am Yisrael. Sigd is celebrated on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan 50 days after Yom Kippur.
The holiday symbolizes introspection, purification, and renewal. In Ethiopia, Sigd was celebrated through a process of purification, fasting, ascending a high mountain, reading from the Torah, and then enjoying a festive community meal.
About 200 people attended the event, which was co-sponsored by Ono’s International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry, the Program for the Advancement and Integration of Ethiopian Israeli Students, the Religious Zionism Administration and the Student Union. Students from the college’s Business Administration and International Occupational Therapy program also participated.
The event began with a musical performance by Abatte Barihun, who combined the musical styles of Bete Israel, Ethiopia, Israel, and jazz.
Dr. Samuel Schwartz, Director of Resource Development and International Programs at Ono moderated the event, and celebrated Ono’s publication of two books, a collection of person and research articles written by the fellows of its Beit Midrash for the study of Bete Israel Holy Scriptures and Prayers and a compendium of stories, poems and illustrations, produced together with the Creating Memory foundation, that processed the untold trauma endured by Ethiopian Israeli immigrants and the second generation following their immigration to Israel.
Dr. Michal Shapira, Senior Lecturer and Director of the School of Marketing and Digital programming noted that she brought her class to participate in the event because of her belief in the importance of telling the story of Bete Israel. She shared how she met Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, the event’s keynote speaker, and how they bonded over a common, repeated experience of having their Jewishness doubted, he because of his dark skin, and she because of her blonde hair.
Adv. Zev Kaso, founder and director of the program for the advancement and integration of students of Ethiopian descent, gave a presentation on the topic of “The Sigd Festival: Past, Present, and Future.” Presenting pictures of his childhood in Ethiopia, he explained the social aspects of the holiday. He described how he would ascend a mountain in the Ambover village near Gondar, together with his community, bearing rocks on their heads to demonstrate submission to God.
Afterwards, Abatte Barihun returned to the stage for another musical interlude.
Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, founder and chair of the International Center for the Study of Ethiopian Judaism, spoke on the topic of “A Spiritual Journey from the Mountain in Ethiopia – to the Heart of Israeli Society.”
He noted how Ethiopian Jewry balances between the forces such as God, faith, the Jewish people, the nations of the world, making a living and love. This perspective guards against being judgmental. He quoted, Prof. Tova Hartman, the Dean of Ono’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, who frequently says that we need to be quiet to make space for the voice of the other and truly hear it.
Rabbi Dr. Shalom shared an amusing, but poignant personal anecdote about an experience being the cantor for the central Sabbath service in a Hasidic synagogue in Switzerland. He was worried how the congregation would react to his black skin so for the entire service, he covered his face and body in his tallit, only revealing his true identity during the last prayer. The community’s Hasidic Rabbi gasped, in Yiddish, “Oy veyz mir/Woe is me” but then but then immediately followed by saying, “Du bist nisht afrikaner, nor a poylishe yid/. You are not an African, but instead a Polish Jew.”After this, the two became very close, because they both internalized the Jewish and in particular, Bete Israel consciousness of submission to God.
Rabbi Dr. Shalom concluded with the group study of the most frequently uttered Geez-language Bete Israel prayer, Yitbārek Egzi’abher. The participants developed an understanding of how the passage praises the one God who revealed Himself at Sinai, gave the Torah and the Ten Commandments, and affirmed that there is no other deity or power besides Him. It emphasizes exclusive devotion to God as the sole creator, redeemer, and source of mercy.
Following the lecture, the participants enjoyed festive Sigd meal prepared by Ms. Fanta Prada, the proprietress of the Ballinjera restaurant who is a graduate of both Ono and its Beit Midrash for the Study of Bete Israel Holy Scriptures and Prayers.
