Sigd Festival

Our Edot unit of study about the history and culture of the Beta Yisrael of Ethiopia culminated yesterday morning when we re-enacted an abridged version of their annual Sigd Festival on our Isaiah campus.

As soon as the first students entered the classroom a little before 9 a.m., they were directed to one of four tables on which were spread out dresses and tunics and vests of all colors, similar to what Beta Yisrael members might have worn in Ethiopia for a special occasion.

One table was devoted entirely to the white robes and turbans and colorful, fringed umbrellas that are the traditional garb of the Kessim (their religious leaders)...

...while two tunics and plastic swords and daggers awaited the two "shiftas" (highway robbers) who would be "attacking" our group as we "climbed the mountain."

As the classroom began to fill with the "actors" and costumes were donned...

... as scripts were looked over and "kessim" could be seen walking past "shiftas..."

... a (relatively) quiet calm "kissed the crowd" and within 15 minutes we were ready to begin our procession down to the courtyard between the Talmud Torah Building and the Temple House.

Very quietly, we all proceeded through the upstairs school hallway, then down the stairs where we gathered by the courtyard gate.

From the courtyard, we began to go down to Risa Road, singing "Am Yisrael Chai" (the "African" version) as we descended.

Led by our three Kessim (singular, Kes), we then began our "climb up the mountain," as we listened to a CD recording of a song written by Shlomo Gronich called "Ha'Masa l'Eretz Yisrael" ("The Journey to the Land of Israel"), which describes the hazardous trek the Beta Yisrael had to take in 1984, in order to reach Israeli cargo planes waiting for them in the desert of Sudan, to take them to the "Promised Land." The song describes the dangers - extreme heat in the day and cold in the night, lack of food and water, and "shiftas attacking with swords and daggers."

As we began our ascent, we passed through a "Beta Yisrael village" where a young basket weaver was plying her trade along the path.

Even before leaving the mountains of Gondar Province, there was hidden danger lurking in the underbrush...

...two shiftas were waiting to pounce on our unsuspecting group, though all the valuables they might come away with were the little bits of food we took for our journey.

Still listening to the song on the CD, we climbed the highest "peak" of our "mountain."

Finally, we reached our destination (not Jerusalem, but the Oneg Room!). There, we all stood facing east as our three Kessim led us in reciting two prayers and a song taken directly from the Torah (or the Orit, as the Beta Yisrael call it) - the Sh'ma, V'Ahavta and Mi Chamocha. Following the Mi Chamocha song, we sat on the rug (while parents sat on chairs set up behind us), as the Kessim read the first 8 verses of Chapter 8 from the Book of Nehemiah, recalling how Ezra the Scribe gathered all the people in Jerusalem to hear the words of the Torah.

We then came to the verse in the Book of Nehemiah where the name of this Festival is derived from - "And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their bodies and faces to the ground." The Ge'ez word "sigd" ("seged" in Hebrew) means "prostration or bowing down."

The final verses read by the Kessim read, "And Nehemiah and Ezra the Scribe and the Levites that taught the people said unto all the people - This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then Ezra said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither should you be sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:2-8)

At this point in the Sigd Festival, the Beta Yisrael, who would fast all morning before climbing the mountain, would "break their fast."

We broke our fast just like the members of the Beta Yisrael, with slices of Yemarina Yewotet Daabo (Honey Yeast Bread)...

... and with pieces of Dabo Kolo (Sweet Snack Bread) which we prepared in class last Sunday. To wash it all down we drank traditional Ethiopian beer (OK, it was apple juice).

While we were still eating and drinking, the students performed the Proverb Skits they had written several weeks ago (with the Proverb posters they painted  during our previous week day sessions as backdrops). These skits taught the value the proverb was created to teach, by setting the proverb in a modern-day context.

WHEN TWO ELEPHANTS FIGHT, THE GRASS BENEATH THEM IS BENT AND BROKEN

IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE WAY, EVEN A PLAIN IS LIKE A JUNGLE

SLOWLY, SLOWLY, THE CHICKEN’S EGG WILL GET ON ITS FEET AND WALK

ONE STRING BRAIDED WITH OTHERS IS STRONG ENOUGH TO TIE DOWN A LION

When the skits had all been performed, it was time to celebrate with traditional drum circles and shoulder dancing. Unfortunately, we had no drums or drummers to form the drum circle, so instead I played the YouTube videos of the drum circle and shoulder dance that I had shown in class the previous Sunday (see November 6th post to view them). With the shoulder dance video playing on the screen we had set up, I tried to get my students and even their parents to join me in trying out the shoulder dance. But while the students did a wonderful job getting into character for the rest of the Sigd Festival, they somehow couldn't even be "noodged" (one of my favorite Yiddish words!) into trying it out by me or my TAs.

That's OK - our Festival was just about over, and it was time to remove the costumes and throw them and the props into a large, plastic bin I had set to the side in the Oneg Room for that purpose. As parents and students moved into the Sanctuary to join the other 3rd-6th graders for tefillah, my very able TA's began the clean-up process, while some parents stayed behind to help as well. A very big thank you goes to Jill and to Tom for helping out!!!

As a post note, the Sigd Festival is always held on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. This year, that date falls on November 18th when we are scheduled to hold our very first JQuest session on Shabbat morning! I'm hoping to see you all then.

In the meantime, pack your bags and put on your traveling clothes. We're about to take a big jump in time and space, from 20th century Ethiopia back about 2100 years to 167 B.C.E., when a group of very unhappy Jews living in Judea are about to begin a revolt against a seemingly overwhelming enemy, with very long-lasting results for the culture and beliefs of our Jewish People!


 Post Note:  During the weekday sessions following our Sigd Festival, I asked the students to write down their responses to the following two questions:

What did you learn about the Beta Yisrael that you found interesting and would like to share with others?

Which activity did you enjoy the most during our unit of study about the Beta Yisrael and/or during the Sigd Festival?

I used their responses to create a documentary bulletin board in the hallway outside our classroom. I invite you to come up and read their responses.

Final Preparations for the Sigd Festival

Since mid-October, when we began our unit of study about the Beta Yisrael edah (Diaspora community) of Ethiopia, we've accomplished quite a bit in our exploration of its history and culture:

• Watched YouTube videos to learn what little we know of their early history, and much more about their recent history in the 20th century in Ethiopia, and their rescue by Israeli forces in 1984 (Operation Moses) and 1991 (Operation Solomon);
• Read "The Storyteller's Beads" novel, learning their versions of Biblical stories and how their Christian neighbors called them 'Falasha' - aliens or strangers - believing that they turned into hyenas at night, could poison food by just looking at it, and were the embodiment of the buda (the evil spirit);
• Listened to CD's to hear their religious chants; 
• Practiced speaking Amharic (their everyday language) and read a line from the Book of Enoch in their ritual language, Ge'ez;
• Tried out our skills as basket weavers to develop an appreciation of their craftsmanship;
• Discovered how their proverbs reflected their environment and values, writing skits in which we created scenarios to teach those values in more modern day settings; and
• Prepared a sweet dough snack called Dabo Kolo which they ate to break the fast during the Sigd Festival 

Our final project this past week was to design four posters - one for each of the proverbs we discussed in class. These posters will serve as scenery backdrop for the skits the students will be presenting during the Sigd Festival this coming Sunday, the culminating event for this unit of study.

First there was a brainstorming session within each group, to figure out how best to depict the proverb they were assigned:

Then it was time to execute the ideas generated during the brainstorming session.

There were a lot of materials I had set out for the students to use, and part of the brainstorming session involved figuring out which materials would best convey their assigned proverbs.

Since the Gondar Province where the Beta Yisrael lived is mostly composed of mountainous jungles, it wasn't surprising to see most of the groups using the plastic vegetation I had set out. The problem was figuring out the best way to make sure the relatively heavy foliage would remain on the poster board after it was hung up. One group decided to staple it on...

...while another group put their faith in scotch tape.

While some students were dealing with how to get the foliage to stay on the poster board, others were already beginning to create life forms found in the jungle relating to their assigned proverb.

Here's a body of water to break up the jungle scene - do you think there's enough glue to attach it?!

Once they had decided on the design of their posters and the materials to use, the students all worked so well together to execute their ideas.

They quickly figured out who would perform each task.

The result was quite impressive.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the Sigd Festival on Sunday. May the day live up to its name so we can look forward to good weather for our "climb up the mountain."

Post note:  Following our Sigd Festival, I brought the posters back to the school building, and hung them up on one of our Edot hallway bulletin boards. If you didn't get a chance to see them at the Festival, you can now see them outside our classroom:

Preparing Dabo Kolo

Yesterday morning, we continued to explore several cultural elements of the Beta Yisrael edah - specifically, some aspects of its music, dance and food.

After a review of what we had learned to date about the Beta Yisrael history, I focused in on how some historians believe the group had likely separated from the main body of the Jewish community immediately prior to the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.. This is how they explain the fact that the Beta Yisrael celebrate all the holidays mentioned in the Torah, but not Hanukkah. The Maccabean Revolt took place over 400 years following the Babylonian Conquest of Jerusalem, so the Beta Yisrael wouldn't have known about it.

On the other hand, the Beta Yisrael celebrated a holiday around this time of year which no other Jewish community in the world celebrated - the Sigd, which is a combination of Yom Kippur and Shavuot in a way. On Yom Kippur there is personal introspection and request for forgiveness of sins which is then followed by 50 days of communal introspection. This culminates, on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, in a day of fasting followed by joyous celebration. In 2008, the Sigd was added to the list of Israel's national holidays.

There are quite a number of descriptions of how the Sigd was celebrated in the Gondar Province of Ethiopia where most of the Beta Yisrael lived. It's a mountainous region, and the descriptions share how on the morning of the Sigd the entire community would fast and then climb to a higher altitude. There, they would listen to their religious leaders, the Kessim, read excerpts from the Book of Nehemiah that describe how Ezra the Scribe gathered all the returned Babylonian exiles in Jerusalem each week, to read to them from the Torah. Then the Beta Yisrael would break their fast with breads and stews and beer. During the remaining hours of the day they would celebrate joyously with singing and dancing until it was time, at dusk, to descend back to their villages.

At this point, I shared with the class that we will be re-enacting our own Sigd Festival on the Isaiah campus this coming Sunday, November 12th. I reminded them of how we've already begun to prepare for it by learning about the Beta Yisrael proverbs and writing skits based on four of them. I described how after the community broke their fast, they sang and danced all afternoon in joyous celebration of the Torah and our Covenant with God. Since our Sigd Festival on Sunday will take place during our regular Sunday session, we'll obviously be re-enacting a very abridged form of it, but a joyous one, nevertheless.

In order to give the students a taste of the music and dance of the Beta Yisrael, I shared two brief YouTube videos - the first shared a Beta Yisrael drum circle, and the second shared a shoulder dance - the Beta Yisrael borrowed both from their African neighbors. We all had a lot of fun copying the beat of the drums on our tables and then standing up to try to follow the dancers performing the shoulder dance (it's not as easy as it looks!).

Then I shared a YouTube of a Sigd Festival that took place in 2009 in Israel (one year after it became a national holiday there), to give the students an idea of what the Sigd Festival looks like. The video shows a group of Beta Yisrael leaving Pardes Hannah in the early morning hours, going by foot (for elderly and disabled by bus) "up" to Jerusalem where they continued the celebration with other Israelis.

When the lights came back on in our classroom, Ella and Kyra, my two wonderful Avodah T.A.'s, handed out a packet to each student. The packet consists of a copy of the Ge'ez alphabet and a sample quotation from the Book of Enoch. We read the transliteration of a line from the sample, noting that several words were very similar to Hebrew (e.g., the Hebrew word for blessing is "b'racha," and the Ge'ez word is "barakat"). A final page of the packet shared common Amharic greetings, which we all practiced on each other. We'll be greeting each other at the "top of the mountain" at our own Sigd Festival on Sunday with these phrases.

Our final activity of the session was to prepare a special treat that the Beta Yisrael eat to break their fast - Dabo Kolo. These have been described as "flat peanut-shaped" pieces of sweet dough, and it's hard not to like them - in fact, students in previous years have gobbled them up!

Since it's somewhat tricky getting the dough to the right consistency, I prepared it at home. Each student took a golf-sized piece and rolled it and kneaded it a bit.

Then they had to roll it into a long "snake" form, about 1/2" thick. It was tricky, since the dough is very elastic and kept "shrinking" each time it was rolled out.

Eventually (after a couple of minutes or so of rolling), the dough stopped "shrinking."

Then it was time to take an ordinary pair of scissors and cut the "snake" into several pieces about 1/2" thick.

Each piece would become a "Dabo Kolo" (literally, "sweet bread" in Amharic).

After the pieces were cut, you had to press down on each with your thumb to create the "flat, peanut" shape.

Each student developed his/her own style for pressing the dough.

Once the pieces of dough had been "pressed," they were placed in a plastic bowl.

The bowls began to fill up very quickly.

Pretty soon, once everyone developed his/her own rhythm, the tables were busy with students rolling the dough, cutting it and pressing it. Thankfully, I had prepared a lot of dough. For the final 20 minutes of our session, before going up to the Sanctuary for tefillah, there was a Dabo Kolo assembly line at each table. By the time we went upstairs, there were 11 plastic bowls filled to the brim with Dabo Kolo waiting to be fried on a hot pan.

The Dabo Kolo has now been fried by me at home (with a few pieces missing - I had to taste a few and for a very important second  opinion my husband, Peter, had to do the same!). And still there is so much more left for us to enjoy when we "break our fast" at the top of our Isaiah campus "mountain" this coming Sunday.

Now, there is just one more project to complete to be ready for our Sigd Festival - making posters to serve as backdrops for the "Proverb" skits which the students will be acting out. We'll make these posters during our two weekday sessions. Stay tuned!