Renewal Of The (TORAH/Mosaic) COVENANT Between YAH Almighty and HIS SPECIALLY CHOSEN PEOPLE, ISRAEL as per The Holy Biblical Books of Ezra & Nehemiah

Children of Israel – by birth and by adoption

Sigd 2018 began:

in the evening of Tuesday 6 November

 

and ended:

in the evening of Wednesday 7 November.

SHALOM!

 

Sigd / סיגד

Mehlella, also Amata Saww or in its popular name Sigd, also spelled Sig’d, is one of the unique holidays of the Beta Israel community. Since 2008, it has been recognised as a state holiday for all Israelis.

It developed due to the harsh persecution faced by the Ethiopian Jews.

The Ethiopian Jewish Community are known as: ” BETA ISRAEL.”

 

A Jewish community in Ethiopia — the Beta Israel (House of Israel) — has existed for at least 15 centuries.

Because of low literacy levels, a tendency to rely on oral traditions, and nomadic lifestyles among most Ethiopians prior to the 20th century, historic material about this community is scant and unreliable. However, a tentative story can be pieced together from written records of Ethiopian rulers as well as testimony from the Beta Israel themselves.

Origins of the Community

Most likely, the Beta Israel arrived in Ethiopia between the first and sixth centuries, coming as merchants or artisans from various countries in the region.

Scholars once believed that during the Middle Ages the Beta Israel were a homogeneous group living under unified, autonomous Jewish rule. Yet new discoveries have shown that the truth is far more complex. It seems the Ethiopian Jewish community was for the most part fragmented both physically and religiously, with each Beta Israel village appointing its own spiritual and secular leaders. There was little contact between Beta Israel communities, and usually no overarching leadership uniting them.

Sometimes the Beta Israel were treated well by the Ethiopian monarchy, but at other times they suffered persecution. Many fellow Ethiopians refer to the Beta Israel as falasha(a derogatory term meaning outsider), In 1624, the ruling king’s army captured many Ethiopian Jews, forced them to be baptized, and denied them the right to own land. According to local legend, some members of the Beta Israel chose suicide over conversion.

Religious Life

Since the Beta Israel community existed in isolation from other Jewish communities around the world, they developed a unique set of religious practices — in some ways quite different from what is typically considered “Jewish.”

For example, an order of Ethiopian Jewish monks was founded in the 15th century to strengthen the community’s religious identity and resist Christian influence. This monastic movement introduced an organized approach to religious practice, creating new religious literature and prayers, and adopting laws of ritual purity.

Historians learned about the community’s religious life in the 19th century from the writings of Joseph Halevy, a French Jew who visited the area in 1867. He provided the first eyewitness account of Beta Israel life from a European Jewish perspective.

Halevy described a community that followed legal sections in the Hebrew Bible and observed laws of purity surrounding menstruation, birth, and death. They observed Shabbat and believed in values such as respecting elders, receiving guests, and visiting mourners. They referred to the Torah as Orit (possibly from the Aramaic term for the Torah, Oraita), and kept their Torah scrolls covered in colorful cloths in houses of prayer or in the homes of one of the kessim (priests).

Like today in Israel, Ethiopian Jews celebrated Sigd, a festival which commemorates the giving of the Torah. On this holiday, community members would fast, climb the highest mountain in the area, and listen to the kessim chant passages of the Hebrew Bible, particularly the Book of Nehemiah. In the afternoon they would descend, break their fast, and rejoice in their renewed acceptance of the Orit.

Ref: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-history-of-ethiopian-jewry/

It is a day of reflection and recommitment to Israel’s COVENANT with YAH (or ELOHIM) Almighty  and fulfilment of the TORAH’S Commandments.

It is a day of FASTING and PRAYER as well as PRAISE and WORSHIP that has been preserved by the Ethiopian Jewish Community (around the world) from the times of Ezra and NehemYAH/Nehemiah.

For centuries the Kessim/Spiritual Leaders would read Holy Biblical Scriptures (including Chapters in Exodus, such as those about the receiving of the TORAH on Mount Sinai) and pray in relation to the return to Jerusalem.

A Central theme of Sigd (also written as Sig’d) is the yearning to return to YAHrushalayim/Jerusalem and to the Holy Temple. This is why Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian Jews from all corners of Israel and the rest of the world to gather and be led by the Community’s Kessim. The prayers to return one day have been replaced by the Prayers of Thanksgiving  for the Miraculous IN-GATHERING of the Ethiopian Jewish Community which has taken place over the last few decades.

The Meeting Point is usually the: ARMON HANATZIV’S PROMENADE overlooking the South of the Temple Mount. Tradition has it that this is the point at which Avraham/Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar (Beresheith/Genesis 22:4) as he and his son, Yitzchak/Isaac were on the way to Mount MORIYYAH or MoriYAH (a.k.a Moriah) where YAH commanded Avraham to sacrifice or offer up his specially begotfen son, Yitzchak.

 

Exodus 20 Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Ten Commandments

20 Then Elohim spoke all these words:

² “I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

³ “Never have any other god. ⁴ Never make your own carved idols or statues that represent any creature in the sky, on the earth, or in the water. ⁵ Never worship them or serve them, because I, Yahweh your Elohim, am El Kanna. I punish children for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. ⁶ But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments.

⁷ “Never use the name of Yahweh your Elohimcarelessly. Yahweh will make sure that anyone who carelessly uses his name will be punished.

⁸ “Remember the day of worship by observing it as a holy day. ⁹ You have six days to do all your work. ¹⁰ The seventh day is the day of worship dedicated to Yahweh your Elohim. You, your sons, your daughters, your male and female slaves, your cattle, and the foreigners living in your city must never do any work on that day. ¹¹ In six days Yahwehmade heaven, earth, and the sea, along with everything in them. He didn’t work on the seventh day. That’s why Yahweh blessed the day he stopped his work and set this day apart as holy.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live for a long time in the land Yahweh your Elohim is giving you.

¹³ “Never murder.

¹⁴ “Never commit adultery.

¹⁵ “Never steal.

¹⁶ “Never lie when you testify about your neighbor.

¹⁷ “Never desire to take your neighbor’s household away from him.

“Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.”

The People’s Reaction

¹⁸ All the people heard the thunder and saw the lightning. They heard the blast of the ram’s horn and saw the mountain covered with smoke. So they shook with fear and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let Elohim speak to us, or we’ll die!”

²⁰ Moses answered the people, “Don’t be afraid! Elohim has come only to test you, so that you will be in awe of him and won’t sin.”

²¹ The people kept their distance while Moses went closer to the dark cloud where Elohimwas.

General Rules for Worship

²² Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the Israelites: You’ve seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ Never make any gods of silver or gold for yourselves. Never worship them.

²⁴ “You must build an altar for me made out of dirt. Sacrifice your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep, goats, and cattle on it. Wherever I choose to have my name remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you build an altar for me made out of stones, never make it with cut stone blocks. If you use a chisel on it, you will make it unacceptable to me. ²⁶ Never use stairs to go up to my altar. Otherwise, people will be able to see under your clothes.”

 

 

Deuteronomy 29 New International Version (NIV)

Renewal of the Covenant

29 ^[a]These are the terms of the covenant the LORD YAHUVEH commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

² Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the LORD YAHUVEH did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. ³ With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. ⁴ But to this day the LORD YAHUVEH has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. ⁵ Yet the LORD YAHUVEH says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. ⁶ You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD YAHUVEH your ELOHIM.”

⁷ When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. ⁸ We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁹ Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. ¹⁰ All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD YAHUVEH your ELOHIM—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, ¹¹ together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water. ¹² You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your ELOHIM, a Covenant the LORD YAHUVEH is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as HIS people, that HE may be your ELOHIM as HE promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴ I am making this Covenant, with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵ who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD YAHUVEH our ELOHIM but also with those who are not here today.

¹⁶ You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. ¹⁷ You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. ¹⁸ Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD YAHUVEH our ELOHIM  to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

¹⁹ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The LORD YAHUVEH will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the LORD YAHUVEH will blot out their names from under heaven. ²¹ The LORD YAHUVEH will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law/TORAH.

²² Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD YAHUVEH has afflicted it. ²³ The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the LORD YAHUVEH overthrew in fierce anger. ²⁴ All the nations will ask: “Why has the LORD YAHUVEH done this to this land?Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the LORD YAHUVEH , the ELOHIM of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶ They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the LORD YAHUVEH’S anger burned against this land, so that HE brought on it all the curses written in this book. ²⁸ In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD YAHUVEH uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

²⁹ The secret things belong to the LORD YAHUVEH our ELOHIM, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

 

Sigd is an Amharic word meaning:

“prostration” or “worship”

It is the commonly used name for a holiday celebrated by the Ethiopian Jewish community on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Marcheshvan (a.k.a Cheshvan, Heshvan). This date is exactly 50 days after Yom Kippur, usually falling out in late October or November, and according to Ethiopian Jewish tradition is also the date that YAH (or ELOHIM) first revealed HIMSELF to Moses.

In the Roman Gregorian Calendar Year 2018, Sigd begins at sundown on Tue, 06 November.

 

This is a good time or the appropriate time of the year to read the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah!

 

Mehlella, also Amata Saww or in its popular name Sigd, also spelled Sig’d, is one of the unique holidays of the Beta Israel community. Since 2008, it has been recognised as a state holiday for all Israelis

 

 

The name of the holiday is derived from the Hebrew word for prostration, “sgida”.

During Sigd, 50 days after Yom Kippur (similar to the holiday of Shavuot, celebrated 50 days after Passover),

• the community marks the renewal of the covenant between the Jewish people, YAH Almighty and HIS TORAH.

• On Sigd, Ethiopian Jews pray to YAH and plead to return to Zion.

The community also holds Communal Introspection – in addition to the individual Self-examination during Yom Kippur – because, according to tradition, in order to be worthy to return to YAHrushalayim/Jerusalem from exile, the public must engage in Communal Introspection and Repentance.

Sins of the community members are forgiven during Yom Kippur and the following 50 days.

On the 50th day, following communal introspection, the community returns to the Yom Kippur experience with prayers and a fast.

 

 

Nehemiah 8 New King James Version (NKJV)

Ezra Reads and Explains the Law

8 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. ³ Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate ^[a]from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁴ So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with theirfaces to the ground.

⁷ Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place. ⁸ So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

⁹ And Nehemiah, who was the ^[b]governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for thisday is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

¹¹ So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.

 

The prayers in the Holy Biblical Scriptures can be used when praying on “SIGD!”

 

Note: “Jeshua” a.k.a “Joshua” is “Yahushua” (mentioned in Zachariah 3)

 

Nehemiah 9 Names of God Bible (NOG)

A Day of Fasting and Confession

9 When the Israelites assembled on the twenty-fourth day of this month, they fasted, wore sackcloth, and threw dirt on their heads. ² Those who were descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood and confessed their sins as well as the wicked things their ancestors had done. ³ They stood in their places, and for one-fourth of the day, they listened as the Book of the Teachings of Yahweh their Elohim was read, and for another fourth of the day, they confessed their sins and worshiped Yahweh their Elohim.

A Day of Prayer

⁴ Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chanani stood on the stairs built for the Levites and cried loudly to Yahweh their Elohim. ⁵ Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up, and thank Yahweh your Elohim:

Creation

From everlasting to everlasting your glorious name is praised
    and lifted high above all blessing and praise.
⁶ You alone are Yahweh.
You made heaven, the highest heaven, with all its armies.
You made the earth and everything on it,
    the seas and everything in them.
You give life to them all, and the armies of heaven worship you.

Abraham

⁷ You are Yahweh, the Elohim who chose Abram
    and took him from Ur of the Chaldeans
        and gave him the name Abraham.
⁸ You found that his heart was faithful to you.
You made a promise^[a] to him to give the land of the Canaanites, Hittites,
    Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites to his descendants.
You kept your promise because you are fair.

The Exodus

⁹ You saw how our ancestors suffered in Egypt,
    and you heard them crying at the Red Sea.
¹⁰ You performed miraculous signs and did amazing things to Pharaoh
    and all his servants and all the people in his land
        because you knew how arrogantly
            they were treating our ancestors.
You made a name for yourself, a name which remains to this day.
¹¹ You divided the sea in front of them
    so that they could walk through the sea on dry ground.
You threw into deep water those who pursued your people
    as someone throws a stone into raging water.

Wandering in the Wilderness

¹² You led them during the day by a column of smoke
    and during the night by a column of fire to give them light
        to see the way they should go.
¹³ You came from heaven to Mount Sinai
    and spoke with them from heaven.
You gave them fair rules, trustworthy teachings,
    and good laws and commandments.
¹⁴ You taught them about your holy day of worship.
You gave them commandments, laws, and teachings
    through your servant Moses.
¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven to satisfy their hunger
    and made water flow from a rock to quench their thirst.
You told them to take possession of the land
    that you swore you would give them.
¹⁶ But they—our own ancestors—acted arrogantly.
    They became stubborn and wouldn’t obey your commands.
¹⁷ They refused to listen.
    They forgot the miracles you performed for them.
    They became stubborn and appointed a leader
        to take them back to slavery in Egypt.
But you are a forgiving Elohim,
    one who is compassionate, merciful, patient,
        and always ready to forgive.
You never abandoned them,
¹⁸ even when they made a metal statue of a calf for themselves
    and said, ‘This is your god who took you out of Egypt.’
They committed outrageous sins.
¹⁹ But because of your endless compassion,
    you didn’t abandon them in the desert.
        The column of smoke didn’t leave them during the day,
            but it led them on their way.
        The column of fire didn’t leave them during the night,
            but it gave them light to see the way they should go.
²⁰ You gave them your good Ruach to teach them.
You didn’t keep your manna to yourself.
You gave them water to quench their thirst.
²¹ You provided for them in the desert for 40 years,
    and they had everything they needed.
Their clothes didn’t wear out, and their feet didn’t swell.

Conquest of Canaan

²² You gave kingdoms and nations to the Israelites
    and assigned them their boundaries.
        So they took possession of the land of Sihon,
            the land of the king of Heshbon,
                and the land of King Og of Bashan.
²³ You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky.
You brought them into the land you told their parents to enter and possess.
²⁴ Their children took possession of the land.
You defeated for them the Canaanites, who lived in the land.
You handed the Canaanite kings and their people over to them
    to do whatever they wanted with the Canaanites.
²⁵ The Israelites captured fortified cities and a rich land.
They took possession of houses filled with all sorts of good things,
    cisterns, vineyards, olive trees,
        and plenty of fruit trees.
            So they ate and were satisfied and grew fat.
                They enjoyed the vast supply of good things you gave them.

Israel’s Rebellion

²⁶ But they were defiant and rebelled against you.
They threw your teachings over their shoulders
    and killed your prophets who warned them to turn back to you.
        They committed outrageous sins.
²⁷ You handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer.
    When they began to suffer, they cried to you.
You heard them from heaven.
You gave them saviors to rescue them from their enemies
    because of your endless compassion.
²⁸ As soon as they felt some relief,
    they were again doing what you considered evil.
You abandoned them to their enemies, who conquered them.
They cried to you again, and you heard them from heaven.
You rescued them many times because of your compassion.
²⁹ You warned them in order to bring them back to your teachings,
    but they became arrogant and would not obey your commandments.
They sinned by not following your regulations.
    If anyone follows them, he will find life in them.
But they gave you the cold shoulder,
    became impossible to deal with, and wouldn’t listen.
³⁰ You were patient with them for many years.
You warned them by your Ruachthrough your prophets.
    However, they wouldn’t listen.
        So you handed them over to the people in the surrounding nations.
³¹ But your compassion is endless.
    You didn’t destroy them or abandon them.
        You are a merciful and compassionate El.

The Present

³² And now, our Elohim, you are the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring El.
    You faithfully keep your promises.
Do not consider all the hardships
    that we have been going through as unimportant.
        The hardships have come to our kings, leaders, priests, prophets,
            ancestors, and all your people
                from the time of the kings of Assyria until now.
³³ But you were fair about everything that has happened to us.
    You have been faithful, but we have been wicked.
³⁴ Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors didn’t obey your teachings.
    They didn’t pay attention to your commandments or the warnings
        that you gave them.
³⁵ When they lived in their own kingdom and enjoyed the many good things
    that you gave them in a vast, fertile land
        which was set in front of them, they didn’t serve you
            or turn away from their wicked lives.
³⁶ Look at us now. We’re slaves!
    In the land you gave our ancestors,
        they could eat its produce and enjoy its good things.
            But now we’re slaves!
³⁷ The many products from our land go to the kings you put over us.
    This is because of our sins.
        These kings have control over our bodies,
            and they do as they please with our livestock.
                We are in agony.^[b]

An Agreement in Writing

³⁸ “We are making a binding agreement and putting it in writing because of all this. Our leaders, Levites, and priests are putting their seals on the document.”

 

Nehemiah 10 Names of God Bible (NOG)

10 ^[a]The following people sealed the agreement: Governor Nehemiah (son of Hacaliah), Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchiah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah. These were the priests.

⁹ These were the Levites: Jeshua (son of Azaniah), Binnui (of the sons of Henadad), Kadmiel, ¹⁰ and their relatives Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

¹⁴ These were the leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

²⁸ The rest of the people took an oath. These people included the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the inhabitants of the land for the sake of Elohim’s Teachings. Their wives, sons, daughters, and everyone who is capable of understanding also took an oath. ²⁹ They joined their relatives, the nobles, in binding themselves with a curse and an oath to follow Elohim’s teachings given by Moses, Elohim’s servant. They also bound themselves to follow all the commandments, rules, and regulations of Yahweh our Adonay.

 

Today, since most members of the Ethiopian Jewish community have made Aliyah to the State of Israel, during the holiday members of the community travel to Jerusalem and visit the Wailing Wall and the promenade in the city’s “Armon Hanatziv” neighbourhood.

The holiday serves as an annual gathering of the entire Ethiopian community, and its members view it as an opportunity to strengthen the connection with their roots and culture.

The Kessim (Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders), dressed in their traditional robes, carry the TORAH Scrolls while holding multi-colored umbrellas. They stand on an elevated stage, read excerpts from the Holy Biblical Scriptures and recite prayers before members of the community, also in Hebrew. Public officials attend the celebration and greet the audience, and many of the community members continue to fast until late in the afternoon.

The Knesset legislated the Sigd Law-2008, declaring the 29th of Marcheshvan as a National holiday. 

 

Video: The Ethiopian Jewish Community Celebrates Sigd (in Israel)

 

 

Ezra 9 Names of God Bible (NOG)

Ezra Leads the People in Prayer

9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have failed to keep themselves separate from the neighboring groups of people and from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. ² The Israelites and their sons have married some of these foreign women. They have mixed our holy race with the neighboring groups of people. Furthermore, the leaders and officials have led the way in being unfaithful.”

³ When I heard this, I tore my clothes in distress, pulled hair from my scalp and my beard, and sat down in shock. ⁴ Since the former exiles had been unfaithful, everyone who gathered around me there trembled at the words of the Elohim of Israel. I sat in shock until the evening sacrifice. ⁵ At the evening sacrifice I got up from my misery, and with my clothes torn, I knelt down, stretched out my hands to Yahweh my Elohim in prayer, ⁶ and said,

 

 

Ezra 10 Names of God Bible (NOG)

The People Take Action/The People’s Confession Of Sin

10 While Ezra was praying, confessing these sins, crying, and throwing himself down in front of Elohim’s temple, a large crowd of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him. They also began to cry bitterly. ² Then Shecaniah, son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, interrupted by saying to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our Elohim by marrying foreign women who came from the people around us. However, there is still hope for Israel. ³ So we must now make a promise to our Elohim to get rid of all foreign women and the children born from them, as my lord Ezra and the others who tremble at the commandments of our Elohim have advised us to do. We must do what Moses’ Teachings tell us. ⁴ Get up! It’s your duty to take action. We are with you, so be strong and take action.”

⁵ Then Ezra got up and made the leaders, priests, Levites, and all the rest of Israel swear to do what they had said. So they took an oath. ⁶ Then Ezra left the front of Elohim’s temple and went to the room of Jehohanan, son of Eliashib. Ezra didn’t eat any food or drink any water while he was there. He was mourning because these former exiles had been so unfaithful.

⁷ Then he sent a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the former exiles must gather in Jerusalem. ⁸ If any of them didn’t come within three days as the leaders and the older men had advised, then they would lose all their property and be excluded from the community of former exiles. ⁹ Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered within three days in Jerusalem. On the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the courtyard of Elohim’stemple. They were trembling because of this matter and shivering because of the heavy rain.

¹⁰ Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, and now you have added to Israel’s guilt. ¹¹ Confess to Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors what you have done, and do what he wants. Separate yourselves from the people of this land and from your foreign wives.”

¹² Then the whole assembly shouted in reply, “Yes! We will do as you say. ¹³ But the crowd is too large, and it’s the rainy season. We can’t take care of this outside. Besides, there are so many of us who are involved in this sin that it can’t be taken care of in a day or two. ¹⁴ Let our leaders represent the whole community. At a set time, everyone who has married a foreign woman must meet with the leaders and judges of each city until our Elohim’sburning anger has turned away from us in this matter.”

¹⁵ (Only Jonathan, Asahel’s son, and Jahzeiah, Tikvah’s son, opposed this. Meshullam and Shabbethai, the Levite, supported Jonathan and Jahzeiah.)

¹⁶ The former exiles did this. Ezra the priest chose men who were heads of families. He chose one from each family division. (They were all listed by name.) They sat down on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷ By the first day of the first month, they had finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.

¹⁸ Among the descendants of the priests, the following were married to foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, a descendant of Jeshua (who was Jozadak’s son) and his brothers. ¹⁹ They shook hands as a pledge that they would get rid of their wives. They sacrificed a ram from their flock as an offering for guilt because they were guilty.

Those Who Were Guilty of Marrying Foreign Women

²⁰ From the descendants of Immer:

Hanani and Zebadiah

²¹ From the descendants of Harim:

Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah

²² From the descendants of Pashhur:

Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah

²³ From the Levites:

Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer

²⁴ From the singers:

Eliashib

From the gatekeepers:

Shallum, Telem, and Uri

²⁵ From the other Israelites:

From the descendants of Parosh:

Ramiah, Izziah, Malchiah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchiah, and Benaiah

²⁶ From the descendants of Elam:

Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah

²⁷ From the descendants of Zattu:

Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza

²⁸ From the descendants of Bebai:

Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai

²⁹ From the descendants of Bani:

Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth

³⁰ From the descendants of Pahath Moab:

Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh

³¹ From the descendants of Harim:

Eliezer, Isshiah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, ³² Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah

³³ From the descendants of Hashum:

Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei

³⁴ From the descendants of Bani:

Maadai, Amram, Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasau

³⁸ From the descendants of Binnui:

Shimei, ³⁹ Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, ⁴⁰ Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹ Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴² Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph

⁴³ From the descendants of Nebo:

Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah

⁴⁴ All of these men had married foreign women. Some of these women had given birth to children.^[a]

Note that in Biblical terms, marrying foreign women meant marrying those not from the of Avraham/Abraham, Yitzchak/Isaac and Ya’akov/Jacob a.k.a Y’israel/Israel.

However, today, marrying foreign women implies marrying a non-believer in YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH! It means marrying the Bride of Satan instead of YAHUSHUA’S Bride.

So, on Sigd, you would repent of choosing the wrong partner for life/spouse a.k.a not YAH’S Will for you, if that’s your situation. The reason is that two cannot walk together except they agree! LIGHT and DARKNESS cannot mix!

 

Video: Sigd

 

 

Nehemiah 9 New King James Version (NKJV)

The People Confess Their Sins

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with ^[a]dust on their heads. ² Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ³ And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.

⁴ Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the ^[b]stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. ⁵ And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, andPethahiah, said:

“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!

“Blessed be Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
⁶ You alone are the Lord;
You have made heaven,
The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.

⁷ “You are the Lord God,
Who chose Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name Abraham;
⁸ You found his heart faithful before You,
And made a covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.

⁹ “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And heard their cry by the Red Sea.
¹⁰ You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they acted ^[c]proudly against them.
So You made a name for Yourself, asit is this day.
¹¹ And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
As a stone into the mighty waters.
¹² Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.

¹³ “You came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
¹⁴ You made known to them Your holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to go in to possess the land
Which You had ^[d]sworn to give them.

¹⁶ “But they and our fathers acted^[e]proudly,
Hardened^[f] their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
¹⁷ They refused to obey,
And they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And ^[g]in their rebellion
They appointed a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.

¹⁸ “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
¹⁹ Yet in Your manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
²⁰ You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
And gave them water for their thirst.
²¹ Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.

²² “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into ^[h]districts.
So they took possession of the land ofSihon,
^[i]The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
²³ You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
²⁴ So the ^[j]people went in
And possessed the land;
You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
²⁵ And they took strong cities and a rich land,
And possessed houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And ^[k]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

²⁶ “Nevertheless they were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets, who^[l]testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
²⁷ Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.

²⁸ “But after they had rest,
They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
²⁹ And ^[m]testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted ^[n]proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
^[o]Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
³⁰ Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And ^[p]testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
³¹ Nevertheless in Your great mercy
You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.

³² “Now therefore, our God,
The great, the mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the ^[q]trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
³³ However You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But we have done wickedly.
³⁴ Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
³⁵ For they have not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

³⁶ “Here we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
³⁷ And it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.