Sigd (
ስግድ, 'Prostration', , also romanized Sig'd,[Shai Afsai, "Past in the Present: An inside look at Sigd — the holiday of Ethiopian Jewry — and the struggle to secure its survival," Ami Magazine, December 5, 2012, p. 80.] Siged or Seg'd
Date
Previously, Sigd was celebrated on the 29th of
Kislev, and after a calendar reform in the mid-19th century it was moved to its present day, 50 days after
Yom Kippur.
[The reform was made by the monk Aba Wudja see Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews, p. 156.]
Etymology
The word
Sigd itself is Ge'ez for "prostration" and is related to
sgēd "to prostrate oneself (in worship)".
[Shai Afsai, "Past in the Present: An inside look at Sigd — the holiday of Ethiopian Jewry — and the struggle to secure its survival," Ami Magazine, December 5, 2012, p. 80.] The
Semitic root sgd is the same as in
mesgid, one of the two Beta Israel Ge'ez terms for "synagogue" (etymologically related to
masjid "
mosque", literally "place of prostration"), and from the same Semitic root we also have the Hebrew verb לסגוד
lisgod, "to worship".
Significance
There are multiple oral traditions about the origin of Sigd. One tradition traces it to the 6th century, in the time of King Gebre Mesqel of Axum, son of King Kaleb, when the war between Jews and Christians ended and both communities separated from each other.
[Ben-Dor, The Sigd of Beta Israel, p. 141; on the separation see Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews, p. 23 and Kaplan, The Beta Israel, p. 39.] Another traces it to the 15th century as a result of persecution by Christian emperors. One other tradition states that the Jews in Persia, following the destruction of the
First Temple would climb a mountain, face Jerusalem, and pray to be allowed back.
The first mention of Sigd is from the 15th century.
[Ben-Dor, p. 141.]
Sigd symbolizes the acceptance of the Torah. The Kahen have also maintained a tradition of the holiday arising as a result of persecution by Christian kings, during which the kahənat retreated into the wilderness to appeal to God for His mercy. Additionally, they sought to unify the Beta Israel and prevent them from abandoning the Haymanot (laws and traditions) under persecution. So they looked toward the Book of Nehemiah, taking inspiration from Ezra's presentment of the "book of the law of Moses" before the assembly of Israel after it had been lost during the Babylonian exile.[Shai Afsai, "What is Sigd?", Times of Israel, November 12, 2014.]
Historicity
While it is widely thought that Sigd is a holiday particular to Ethiopian Jews, Rabbi
Sharon Shalom posits that it was once known to all Jews but was preserved only by the Ethiopian Jewish community,
based on Shir HaShirim Rabbah 7:4:
Event
Traditionally in commemoration of the appeals made by the Kessim and consequent mass gathering, the Beta Israel would make pilgrimages to Midraro, Hoharoa, or Wusta Tsegai (possibly marking locations of relief from Christian persecution) every year to reaffirm themselves as a religious community.
[Ashkenazi, Michael, and Alex Weingrod. Ethiopian Jews and Israel. Transaction Publishers, 1987.] Ascending up the mountain ritually commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
[Shkalim, Esther. A Mosaic of Israel's Traditions. Devora Publishing Company, 2006. pg. 128. ]
Today, during the celebration, members of the community fast, recite Psalms, and gather in Jerusalem where Kessim read from the Orit (the Octateuch). The ritual is followed by the breaking of the fast, dancing, and general revelry.
Official national holiday in Israel
In February 2008 MK
Uri Ariel submitted legislation to the
Knesset in order to establish Sigd as an Israeli national holiday,
[ Israel National News Ethiopian Jewish Sigd Festival to Become National Holiday. February 1, 2008.] and in July 2008 the Knesset "decided to officially add the Ethiopian Sigd holiday to the list of State holidays."
[ Yedioth Ahronoth Ethiopian Sigd Made Official State Holiday. July 2, 2008.] According to an opinion piece in the
Jerusalem Post newspaper, however, "While the qessotch Kessim and Beta Israel rabbis are pleased that the Sigd became an official Israeli state holiday in 2008, they would also like the holiday to become an integral part of the yearly Jewish holiday cycle and be embraced by more Jews, at least in Israel, rather than remain a holiday primarily celebrated by the Jewish community from Ethiopia."
[Shai Afsai, “Is world Jewry ready for another holiday?” Jerusalem Post, November 9, 2014. Afsai’s "The Sigd: From Ethiopia to Israel," from which this piece is drawn, appears in the Fall 2014 issue of CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly.]
Israeli President Isaac Herzog celebrated Sigd with the Ethiopian Jewish community on the Armon Hanatziv Promenade in November 2021. In his speech, he hailed Sigd as “a holiday of victory” and praised the Ethiopian Jewish community for its proactive efforts to immigrate to Israel.
See also
-
Public holidays in Ethiopia
Further reading
-
Jon G. Abbink, "Segd Celebration in Ethiopia and Israel: Continuity and Change of a Falasha Religious Holiday", Anthropos, Vol. 78, 1983, pp. 789–810.
-
Shai Afsai, "Past in the Present: An inside look at Sigd — the holiday of Ethiopian Jewry — and the struggle to secure its survival," Ami Magazine, December 5, 2012, pp. 78–85; "The Sigd: From Ethiopia to Israel," CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Fall 2014.
-
Shoshana Ben-Dor, "The Sigd of Beta Israel: Testimony To A Community In Transition" in Michael Ashkenazi and Alex Weingrod (Editors), Ethiopian Jews and Israel, Transaction Publishers, 1987, , pp. 140-159.
-
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, "Seged, a Falasha Pilgrimage Festival", Musica Judaica, Vol. lII, 1, pp. 42–62.
-
Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Music, Ritual, and Falasha History, Michigan State University Press, 1986, .
-
Wolf Leslau, Falasha Anthology, Yale University Press, 1951.
-
James Arthur Quirin, The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews: A History of the Beta Israel (Falasha) to 1920, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992, .
External links
