Thoughts on the Holiday of Sigd

When I was a student in Israel in the early 1970s, I often heard Israelis describe a

curious shift in identity. In their countries of origin, they had simply been known as “Jews.” But once they arrived in Israel, they suddenly became Yemenites and Moroccans, Iraqis and Egyptians, French and Germans, “Anglo‑Saxons,” and Americans. Since those days, Israel has absorbed still more communities: Jews from the former Soviet Union and the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. The country truly embodies the ingathering of exiles, enriched by the cultural heritage each group brings.

In a recent posting, I mentioned that the month of Marcheshvan has traditionally been called Mar—“bitter”—because it contains no holidays. Yet since 2008, Israel has officially recognized an Ethiopian Jewish holiday on the 50th day after Yom Kippur, the 29th of Marcheshvan: Sigd. It joins other holidays imported by immigrant communities, such as Mimouna at the end of Passover (from Morocco and North Africa), Saharana (from Kurdish Jews), Novy God (from Jews of the former Soviet Union), and even Thanksgiving, courtesy of American olim. This year, Israel will observe Sigd on November 9. The holiday comes from the traditions of the Beta Israel—sometimes called “Falashas,” a term meaning “emigrants,” given to them by other Ethiopians. Their history in Ethiopia is long but largely preserved through oral tradition. The exact circumstances of their arrival are unknown, though theories abound. What we do know is that they remained steadfastly committed to the Torah of Moses, unaware of later biblical books until Christian missionaries introduced them. They had no knowledge of Rabbinic Judaism—the Mishnah, Talmud, or halachic literature—and so developed their own practices based solely on biblical texts. Like many Jewish communities, they endured persecution and decline; once numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they were nearly wiped out before Israel agreed to recognize them as Jews and rescue them through Sudan. Thousands died along the way. For centuries they prayed to return to Jerusalem and the Temple, and upon arrival many wept to learn that the Temple had long since been destroyed. One of the most compelling voices of this community is Rabbi Dr. Sharon Shalom, who came to Israel alone at age eight during Operation Bat Galim, a Mossad‑IDF rescue mission. He studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion, mastered Rabbinic tradition, earned a PhD in philosophy at Bar‑Ilan University, and now serves a congregation in Kiryat Gat while teaching at Bar‑Ilan and Tel Aviv universities. His book From Sinai to Ethiopia is an extraordinary attempt to chart a halachic path for Beta Israel—honoring their ancient practices, including Sigd, while integrating them into Israeli society. He has created a kind of Shulchan Aruch based on the Orit, their Ge’ez translation of the Torah from the Septuagint, and seeks points of flexibility within Rabbinic sources to preserve Ethiopian customs. His hope is to help younger generations maintain pride in their heritage rather than assimilate entirely into Israeli culture. Our sages refer to Shavuot as Atzeret, the conclusion of the 49‑day Omer after Pesach. In the fall, we also celebrate an Atzeret on the eighth day of Sukkot. The rabbis explain that it might have been placed fifty days after Sukkot, but pilgrims could not safely travel to Jerusalem during the rainy season when the roads are muddy and the rivers swollen.. Beta Israel adapted this idea by counting fifty days not from Sukkot but from Yom Kippur, creating the holiday of Sigd. The word sigd comes from a root meaning “to bow down in worship,” found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic; a Hebrew term for mosque, misqad, shares the same root. Sigd is rooted in a passage from Nehemiah that I discussed recently when writing about joy on Rosh Hashanah. Ezra and Nehemiah gathered the Jews who had returned from Babylonia and read the Torah aloud. While I focused then on the instruction not to mourn but to rejoice, to feast and celebrate, Rabbi Shalom highlights another dimension: Sigd as a continuation of Yom Kippur’s spiritual work. He points to the passage where the people begin to weep as they realize their failure to follow God’s teachings. They prostrate themselves and praise God. He writes that personal repentance alone is insufficient to merit pilgrimage to Jerusalem. According to Beta Israel tradition, Yom Kippur must be followed by seven weeks of introspection. On the fiftieth day, the community reenacts Yom Kippur—this time as a collective that has undergone repair. Rabbi Shalom identifies five meanings of Sigd:

1. It recalls the giving of the Torah at Sinai.

2. It commemorates the events in Nehemiah and the return to Zion.

3. It reminds Beta Israel to remain faithful to the mitzvot despite hardship.

4. It expresses repentance through fasting and prayer.

5. It fosters unity and reconciliation within the community.

Traditional observance involved laundering holiday clothes, slaughtering animals for the feast, and immersing in a river. The ceremony took place on a high hill. Some carried heavy stones symbolizing their sins. Priests read from the Orit in Ge’ez and translated into Amharic or Tigrinya. Near the end, worshippers asked forgiveness, knelt, prostrated themselves, and lifted their palms to heaven. The shofar sounded, and they cried out: “Just as we have merited celebrating this holiday this year, so may we merit celebrating it next year in Jerusalem.” Afterward came singing, dancing, and a great feast in a broad tent. In Israel, Sigd has taken on new meaning. It gathers the Beta Israel community, connects young people to ancestral customs, and educates the broader public. Rabbi Dahlia Marx describes the modern observance: originally held at the Kotel, since 1984 it has taken place on the Sherover Promenade in Talpiyot. Visitors come to learn about the community. When asked why not at the Kotel, an elder explained that redemption is not yet complete. From the promenade, one looks down upon the Temple Mount—a symbolic reminder that we still aspire to reach the Jerusalem on high. Many young people of the Ethiopian community have never experienced Sigd in Ethiopia, so the celebration now aims to instill pride and continuity. Rabbi Marx writes, “This is perhaps the story of Zionism as a whole—a culture founded on yearning for an unattained land that achieved its dream; that fulfillment, conversely, led many powerful symbols and ceremonies to lose their power and has forced us to give them new meaning or to adopt new symbols.” And perhaps that is why Sigd feels so moving. It is a holiday built on longing — the same longing that carried Jews from Yemen, Morocco, Poland, Russia, and yes, Ethiopia, to a land they had only imagined. It reminds us that Jewish time is not just dates and rituals. It is memory, yearning, and the quiet hope that next year, we will be a little closer to home.