Chag HaSigd

There are no written sources about the origins of Ethiopian Jews and the historical time they came to Ethiopia. For the most part, history has been preserved orally and has been passed down from generation to generation. The journey of  Ethiopian Jews through Sudan is one of the historical, important, and special journeys of the Jewish people in general and of the Ethiopian community in particular. It is intertwined with longings for the Land of Zion, an aspiration to realise an old dream of emigrating to Jerusalem, to build and understand it and to unite with the Jewish people in our country…

During the years of exile, Ethiopian Jews suffered persecution and harassment because of their Judaism and were even sometimes pressured to convert to Christianity. Despite being apart from the rest of the Jewish communities, they fiercely observed Jewish mitzvot and customs and always retained the longing for Jerusalem. One of the customs of the community that has been preserved for generations is the Festival of Sigd…