Chag ha-Sigd

Chag ha-Sigd/ חג הסיגד   is an official Israeli holiday. It's a holiday celebrated on כ"ט בחשוון which is 50 days after Yom Kippur. This year it is celebrated on November 30th.  On this day, the Ethiopian Jewish community fasts, go up to Jerusalem and prays.  In the afternoon, the community breaks its fast and celebrates.  This link gives you a feel for how the holiday is celebrated.

Ethiopian Jewry made incredible sacrifices to come to Israel.  They were beaten, robbed, tortured and killed on their journeys through the desert to get to Sudan.  They spent years in refugee camps waiting to make aliyah.  When they finally reached Israel, they went through a tremendous culture shock living in a modern country.   In this video, former Member of Knesset Shlomo Molla tells of his life in Ethiopia and his dangerous, barefoot trek through the Sudanese desert on his way to Israel. 

The book   אבא חום/ Brown Father was written by נעמי שמואל /Naomi Shmuel.  Shmuel made aliyah from England and her husband made aliyah from Ethiopia.  This is Shmuel’s first book which she wrote to help her son Daniel, who was then in a preschool, deal with the fact that his skin color was different from the other children.  It tells the true life story of Daniel’s father who grew up in Ethiopia, where everyone's skin color is brown .  We learn about his life growing up in a village in Ethiopia and his dangerous trek to Israel.  This is a wonderful book that describes Ethiopian Jewry in simple language, accompanied by lovely pictures. Ages  4-8.

נעמי שמואל/ Naomi Shmuel is a writer, anthropologist, and parenting coach.  She has worked for many years with olim from Ethiopia. Shmuel has written books for all ages from pre-schoolers to adults.

ילדת הקשת בענן/ The Rainbow Child is  probably Shmuel’s most well-known  and popular book.  Meskerem grew up in Katzrin and has just moved to Herzliya.  The daughter of an American father and an Ethiopian mother, she is having a difficult adjustment. She misses her friends and family in Katzrin. She  also has to deal with the fact that the children in her class have never met an Ethiopian Jew. In this book, she learns to understand who she is and where she comes from. Ages 9-11.

Here are two other books that I highly recommend-

מבצע אחים/ Operation Brothers  by רונית לוינשטיין-מלץ  /Ronit Levenstein-Meltz tells the amazing true story of a secret Mossad  (the national intelligence agency of Israel) operation to bring Ethiopians Jews to Israel.  This fictionalized story tells of   the heroism of the Ethiopian Jews (code name “The Brothers”) as well as that of  the Mossad agents during the 1980s. This is one of my favorite Israeli children’s books.  It is so well written and researched.  This book grabs you from the very beginning and keeps your interest throughout, even though you know how the story will end.  Ages 10-13.

היום האחרון של פורים/  The Last Day of Purim by the husband and wife team of  יוסי ואסה וירדן ואסה/ Yossi  Vasa and Yarden Vasa.  Yossi, an Ethiopian Jewish boy, is celebrating his first Purim ever.  He wants to dress up as a ninja like his friend Ofir, but how can he convince his parents to spend money on a costume when there is so little money to go around?  The story, written by Yossi Vasa, is based on Yossi's childhood memories. The pictures were drawn by Israeli-born Yarden Vasa.

 היום האחרון של פורים is a graphic novel (a novel in comic- strip format) which presents   visual storytelling at its best.  The drawings add so much to the story of Yossi's family's life in Ethiopia, their trek to Israel and their adjustment to living in Israel.  This is not only a story of the Ethiopian Jewish experience but the story of all olim who move to Israel and must adjust to a new language and culture. Ages 11+.

Tip no. 5  In the last few years,  I’ve seen a huge selection  of  Hebrew board books  become available for babies and toddlers. It’s never too early to get a book in a child’s hand and luckily these board books can take a lot of wear and tear!

This cute boy comes from a long line of book lovers!