Friday evening is erev Sigd; 29 Cheshvan 5785 in the Jewish calendar begining on November 29 in the 2024 Gregorian calendar. This holiday, preserved in the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) tradition, became a national Israeli holiday in 2008. Despite celebrating many Israeli holidays in the United States of America, Sigd was not among them. I learned of Sigd as my insistence on bringing my full self into my Judaism grew beyond the confines of Ashkenormative settings with too many moments conveying that I am not enough. Sigd was one small way to hold my Jewishness with threads towards other cultural identities, including an African-ness historically severed from everyday familial consciousness, like many affected by the transatlantic slave trade.
So, when Jews of Color Sanctuary launched in 2019, it happened during a small community event celebrating Sigd. The following year I was living in Israel and excited to celebrate Sigd again. The large gathering typically planned for the Tayelet promenade overlooking Jerusalem was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It was challenging to find revised events as a visitor who is not a member of the Beta Israel community. I thought all of Israel would be celebrating, but found no outward signs. If you didn’t know it was Sigd, you wouldn’t know it was a holiday. Asking folks at my yeshiva revealed a belief that the holiday was cancelled. I was shocked because we had just gone through the high holy days which were changed, but not cancelled. I had even heard many stories of events like weddings, b-mitzvot, brit milot still happening. Why was it easy to believe that Sigd would just be skipped?
I thought of how some are happy to have a Martin Luther King Day off of work but don’t hold any part of the day in observance. Sigd appeared to be a national holiday in name with more to the story. Researching for the Jews of Color Sanctuary launch revealed a desire of Beta Israelim for all Jews to celebrate Sigd. I sensed a pride in having preserved this history for Judaism. That invitation made me feel brave in my previous observance. Now, far away from home, when I thought I would attend events out of many scheduled throughout Israel, I couldn’t find one. I was heartbroken and angry.
I took the day off of school and dedicated myself to figuring out something! Before traveling to Israel, I had found a North American Beta Israel organization. Through those attempts to connect with Jewish people of color in Israel before I arrived, I met a person who invited me into celebration and later became a friend. As with many things in life, despite the tragedy in the moment, I am grateful for gifts acquired through the journey.
I think of Sigd as a holiday of return. During Rosh Hashanah this year, I thought a lot about where I am returning to? More and more, my sense of return is less about a physical journey than an internal one, something I may spend a lifetime figuring out. In thinking about all of the things that had to come together to make me into the person I am today and bring me to the moment and place where I am at this very moment, gives me a lot of gratitude about the interrelationship between things. Without the events that caused my parents to meet, I would not be here. My reaching for Sigd as a way to hold my full self within Judaism happened along a trajectory that continues to reveal itself… or maybe, is my path of return. I am grateful that I have company along the way as I continue to figure it out.
I invite you to join me. One exciting opportunity is the Bilhah Zilpah Homecoming this Sunday December 1. We will prepare to welcome Bilhah and Zilpah for their return to the Torah during parashat Vayeitzei (and a little celebration of Sigd / JoC Sanctuary anniversary). Bilhah and Zilpah offer a rich lens to explore biblical experiences that remain a reality today, such as surviving marginalization, being in sisterhood, and striving towards abolition.
Wishing you a meaningful Sigd with engaged learning about the holiday and the Beta Israel. The image opening this post is by Hirut Yosef who emigrated from Ethiopia to Israel and has also lived in Turkey, the USA, and elsewhere. Hirut uses her art to explore the relationship between Ethiopia, Israel, and other places she has lived, as well as return in a variety of ways. May your return take you where you need to be.
Shabbat Shalom v’Chag Sigd Sameakh
Jews of Color Sanctuary 