Chag Sigd Sameach! (Happy Sigd -- a Jewish holiday taking place this year on November 8th through 9th).
Sigd (ስግድ or סגד) is a festival taking place 7 weeks after Yom Kippur, historically marked by Beta Israel Jews (Jews from Ethiopia). They have encouraged Jews worldwide to take on this observance, and we are excited to join a growing movement of communities heeding that call. In this conversation, Lex and Rena Yehuda explore the festival of Sigd, and how it might be able to transform our collective Jewish relationship to the calendar -- and to diverse groups of Jews, across difference -- in meaningful ways.
[1] Learn more about Sigd via resources from the organization Be’chol Lashon!
[2] For a beautiful piece related to this holiday, written by Shula Mola, click here.
[3] Lex references IsItAJewishHoliday.com. Check it out here — we’re not sure if they include Sigd, but let’s all take a look on November 8th-9th and advocate for it to be added, if not!
[4] Because of Sigd’s relationship to the 7 weeks of counting the omer, in a different part of the calendar year, Rena Yehuda referenced two capstone projects by students in the UnYeshiva. Explore them at these links: Omerathon (Sandra Razieli), Omer Journey (Karen Levine)
[5] Rena Yehuda references the poem In Lakech, by Luis Valdez. You can read it, and learn more about it, at this link.
[6] For the full Trans calendar, head here.