“Israel Celebrates Ethiopian Jewish Holiday” LESSON PLAN by Deb Kram LESSON AT A GLANCE Students will categorize each Jewish holiday as either Biblical, Rabbinic, or modern in origin. Then students will learn about Sigd through a video and Jewish text study. Finally, students will be asked to categorize Sigd as either Biblical, Rabbinic, or modern in origin in order to add it to their chart of Jewish holidays. OBJECTIVES • Students will learn or review the origins of Jewish holidays. • Students will be introduced to Sigd, an Ethiopian Jewish holiday. ACTIVITY: Sigd: Israel’s Newest Holiday 1. List the holidays. As a class, list the Jewish holidays and holy days in a given calendar year. Some holidays are Biblically commanded, others were mandated in the Rabbinic period, and still others are outcomes of modern Jewish history. Which of these days are Biblically commanded? [Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simhat Torah, Pesach, Shavuot, Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh] Which are Rabbinically mandated or originate in Rabbinic texts? [Hanukkah, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, Lag B’Omer, Tisha B’Av, minor fast days] Which are celebrated or commemorated as an outcome of modern Jewish history? [Yom Ha’atzmaut, Yom Yerushalayim, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron] Categorize the holidays in a chart that looks something like this: Biblically commanded days Rabbinically mandated days Outcomes of modern Jewish history 2. Introduce Sigd. Explain to students that they will now learn about another Jewish holiday, called Sigd. Sigd is celebrated on the 29th of Heshvan, or Hadar, as the month is known by Beta Yisrael (Ethiopian Jews). This date is seven weeks after Yom Kippur, signifying the renewal of the covenant between God, the Jewish people, and the Torah. [Note: Shavuot, which falls seven weeks after Pesach, is celebrated primarily as an agricultural festival. Its celebration © Behrman House, Inc./Babaganewz/MediaMidrash Page 1 of 2 connected to the receiving the Torah is not explicit in the Torah text, therefore this association was unknown to the Beta Yisrael community, who had no access to the oral tradition.] Watch a video about Sigd at http://mediamidrash.behrmanhouse.com/watch.php?VID_ID=UHRVTaLZQxM. The video indicates that the acknowledgement of Beta Yisrael’s unique holiday has moved them closer to cultural acceptance in Israel. Think of an example of a group of people with a distinct culture who live within a larger social group and try to maintain their identity. What problems do they encounter? What are the some of the issues preventing Beta Yisrael from being absorbed more fully into Israeli society? 3. Text study The current Beta Yisrael ritual act of renewal on a mountaintop that occurs on Sigd is reminiscent of the treaty made for the People of Israel by Ezra and Nehemiah upon the return from Babylonian exile in the 5th century BCE. The holiday originated in the Book of Nehemiah: NEHEMIAH 8:5-6 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood. And Ezra blessed God, the great God. And all the people answered: “Amen, Amen,” with the lifting up of their hands; and they bowed their heads, and fell down before God with their faces to the ground. NEHEMIAH 9: 3 And they stood in their place and read in the book of the Torah of God their God a quarter of the day; and [another] quarter they confessed and prostrated themselves before God their God. What was the context for Ezra’s ceremony in the Book of Nehemiah? Look it up in Tanakh. Now, after watching the video and studying the texts from the Book of Nehemiah, go back to your chart of Biblical, Rabbinic, and modern Jewish holidays. Where would you assign Sigd its place on this listing? Why? © Behrman House, Inc./Babaganewz/MediaMidrash Page 2 of 2 .