Overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Temples once stood, thousands of people dressed in white gather each year as a symbol of the community’s enduring faith and the fulfillment of generations of longing. The air hums with music, prayer, and the rhythmic beat of drums. Elderly women sway beneath embroidered umbrellas, Torah scrolls gleam in the sunlight, and families embrace in a sea of joy, memory, and gratitude.
They gather to commemorate Sigd, one of Israel’s most moving and lesser-known Jewish holidays, celebrated on the 29th of Cheshvan (Nov. 19-20, 2025), fifty days after Yom Kippur. For the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jewish community, Sigd is more than a holiday. It is a declaration of faith, a remembrance of exile, and a celebration of return.
For centuries, isolated from the wider Jewish world, the Jews of Ethiopia preserved their faith with remarkable devotion. Living in remote mountain villages, they dreamed of Jerusalem, the city of God and the heart of their prayers. Once a year, the community would ascend a high hill, fasting, praying, and renewing their covenant with the Lord, just as their ancestors had at Mount Sinai.
They called this sacred gathering Sigd, a word derived from segida, meaning “prostration” or “worship” in Ge’ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopian Jewry. Facing toward Jerusalem, the Kessim, or spiritual leaders, would read from the Scriptures, lead communal confession, and call the people to reaffirm their commitment to the Torah and to God’s promises.
When the fast ended, celebration erupted with music, feasting, and dancing that carried into the night. It was both repentance and renewal, yearning and joy, a foretaste of the day they longed for: the return to Zion.
That dream came true within living memory. In the late twentieth century, through remarkable rescue operations such as Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel. For many who now gather each year in Jerusalem, the sight of the city’s skyline fulfills the prayers once uttered from Ethiopian mountain peaks.
In 2008, the Israeli Knesset officially recognized Sigd as a national holiday, marking it as a day of heritage and unity across the nation. While not a public day off, schools, synagogues, and communities throughout Israel hold ceremonies and educational events in its honor.
At its heart, Sigd is a reminder that faith is never passive. It is active, a rising up, an ascent toward something greater. The Ethiopian Jewish community teaches us that longing for God’s promises is not a weakness, but a source of strength.
As Israel continues to gather her scattered sons and daughters, Sigd invites us all to join in gratitude, to celebrate the faithfulness of God who keeps His covenant from generation to generation.
Melkam Sigd bahal, Happy Sigd!
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