Alexis Joffe – Year 11

Sigd at Emanuel

Sigd is an Ethiopian Jewish holiday which is celebrated on the 29 Cheshvan, exactly fifty days after Yom Kippur. It is a day that celebrates the Ethiopian Jews’ connection to Yerushalayim and commitment to Jewish unity. Sigd also commemorates the renewal of the brit/covenant between Jews, God and the Torah and serves as a reminder for those Ethiopians, who have not been able to make Aliyah, of the importance of maintaining tradition, no matter how difficult.

Our Va’ad Chaggim, created an interactive booklet to educate our peers about this chag, which is recognised as a state holiday in Israel. The booklet included information about the history of Sigd, how it’s celebrated and information about the Ethiopian Jews living in Israel today. The booklet also included interesting videos and interactive activities for the students to complete so they could better understand what Sigd is, in an engaging way, allowing them to think about and connect their Judaism and way of life to this chag, while celebrating Ethiopian Jews and understanding their traditions.

We think it is important to share a different aspect of Judaism. Judaism is practised in many different ways by many different people and it can only enrich us and our Emanuel community to learn about Jewish traditions such as Sigd.