ofskfe: Ethiopian Jews celebrating Sigd in Jerusalem, 2004. Sigd is a holiday unique to the Et
ofskfe: Ethiopian Jews celebrating Sigd in Jerusalem, 2004. Sigd is a holiday unique to the Ethiopian Jewish community, commemorating both the giving of the Torah and the communal gatherings held in Jerusalem in the days of the first temple. In Ethiopia, the day was marked with a half-day fast and a pilgrimage to the top of the nearest mountain. There, the community’s religious leaders (Keis) would chant from the Torah and lead the community in prayer. With the mass migration of the Ethiopian Jewish community in the 1990’s to the holyland, celebration of the Sigd festival shifted to Jerusalem. -- source link