it's almost ምህላ #sigd!
CW: mentions of food, fasting, and anti-black racism
this year sigd sundown tuesday 22 november – sundown wednesday 23 november
sigd is a beta israel (ethiopian jewish) holiday, 50 days after yom kippur. it's a time of communal self-examination and collectively recommitting ourselves to torah, mirroring the individual self-examination of yom kippur and the 50 day distance between pesach and shavuot
while this is a beta israel holiday, ALL jews are explicitly invited and encouraged by beta israel qessotch (religious leaders) and rabbis to observe. the beta israel position is that sigd was a holiday celebrated by all jewry in ancient jerusalem, regrettably forgotten by us outside the beta israel community; but fortunately preserved by them for our collective benefit
just as the beta israel community has adopted many customs from rabbinic judaism such as celebrating hanukah and laying teffilin, those of us in non- beta israel jewish communities are implored to make this a two-way street of cultural exchange and mutual respect, preserving and honoring the beta israel contribution to wider jewish life and practice. read more about that here:
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Is-world-Jewry-ready-for-another-holiday-381276
sigd customs include wearing white; a half-day fast beginning at sunrise; ascending a mountain to ritually commemorate receiving the torah at mount sinai; reading psalms and liturgy on the mountain; and descending the mountain to break fast at midday with dabo (an ethiopian crumbly bread), dancing, and revelry
(reminder that you are obligated to NOT fast if it would cause you physical or psychological harm! there are alternatives to food-and-water fasts, such as caffeine fasts and technology fasts)
@opensiddur have an archive of prayers, prayer-poems, and songs for the yontif (holiday):
https://aleph.land/@opensiddur/109380513763133305
the word ምህላ (sigd, or סיגד) means "prostration" or "supplication" in ግዕዝ (ge'ez an ancient ethiopian liturgical language) and in imperial aramaic (סְגֵד)
some of the central themes of sigd are the rebuilding of the temple and an end to exile. we'd be remiss not to mention the racism and violence beta israel jews — and those of their descendants who were coerced into converting to christianity, pejoratively called falash mura — face both when trying to immigrate to israel, and after they arrive there.
no borders!
no nations!
መልካም የስግድ በዓል!
חג סיגד שׂמח!
happy sigd!