"Sigd Is Very Meaningful in My Work"

The holiday of Sigd, celebrated this year on 16 November (29th of Cheshvan), plays a major role in ENP’s work in empowering Ethiopian-Israelis and strengthening their sense of pride in their heritage. Each year, many participants of ENP’s SPACE program celebrate the holiday in school with traditional food, garb, and other Ethiopian-Jewish traditions. “Sigd is very meaningful in my work,” says Rachamim Melaku, one of ENP’s regional supervisors. “In schools where SPACE operates, our participants lead Sigd holiday events as part of school-wide celebrations, which is a very meaningful experience for them. The celebration includes an explanation about Sigd and the meaning of the prayers, usually by a spiritual leader, as well as traditional food and garb. As a regional supervisor, I have noticed how empowering this day is for our teens, especially seeing as they are the ones to organize and carry out the event."

For Rachamim, a certified rabbi, Sigd is a day in which he connects to Zionism and a special day of prayer for the Third Temple and for those Jews who have not yet reached the Land of Israel. Sigd, celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur, represents Ethiopian Jews’ yearning for Jerusalem and has its origins in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which cover the Return to Zion 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile.

Rachamim has fond memories of celebrating Sigd in Ethiopia and still remembers the special atmosphere felt among Jews in his village starting a month before the day of Sigd. "We believed and felt in our hearts that by going up the mountain we are going to Jerusalem," Rachamin recalls. "For me that day held a spiritual atmosphere of extreme joy. Our parents would buy us things they normally wouldn't, which obviously made us kids that much happier. I once asked my mother 'why is it that on Sigd you grant our every request?!' and she replied something that I remember to this day: 'We let you do most everything you want and buy you things we normally cannot afford so you know that this day is special and mostly so that you pray in happiness. A happy man prays a happy prayer, and that is the best prayer.'"

But Sigd need not be celebrated by Ethiopian Jews alone. Declared a national holiday in Israel in 2008, Sigd is now commemorated by an increasing number of Israelis of all backgrounds. Jews in the Diaspora, too, can celebrate this special day. "Sigd can be celebrated by Jewish people everywhere, not just Ethiopian Jews," says Rachamim. Indeed, Sigd is above all a celebration of Jerusalem and of community, both universal themes that can be embraced by Jews everywhere.

With each passing year, ENP sees the growing impact of Sigd on ENP participants and their pride in their heritage and is proud to share this unique tradition with ENP’s supporters in Israel and abroad. ENP welcomes you to explore, embrace and celebrate Sigd in your communities.