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Daily Devotional

A Celebration of Heritage

October 10, 2018 - 12:00 am

This Devotional's Hebrew Word


(Oral Tradition)

. . . .all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. — Nehemiah 8:1

Aliyah is Hebrew for “ascentor “to go up.” In biblical times, it was used to describe the pilgrimage all Jews made three times a year to Jerusalem for holy festivals. Today, it refers to immigration to Israel. This is one of 12 devotions exploring aliyah and the fulfillment today of biblical prophecy that God would bring back His children to their ancient homeland, Israel. For more teachings on prophecy, download our complimentary study here.

Every year on March 17, Irish Americans (and even some who are not) celebrate their unique heritage and culture during St. Patrick’s Day. Parades are held; people don green; and in my former hometown of Chicago, they even dye the Chicago River green.

While these celebrations are mostly light-hearted and joyous occasions, they do serve a purpose in helping people remember their ancestral roots. They keep alive the rich traditions and strengthen the tie to their homeland.

For centuries, the Ethiopian Jews have celebrated their Jewish faith and roots in a unique holiday, known as Sigd, which means, “to prostrate oneself.” The celebration is believed to have started in the 15th century when the priests gathered the Beta Israel, “House of Israel” as they call themselves, to strengthen their faith in the face of great persecution.

The priests were inspired by the description in the book of Nehemiah of how the Jews who had returned from Babylon after 70 years of exile dedicated themselves to follow God: “All the people came together as one in the square of the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel” (Nehemiah 8:1).

Prior to the mass aliyah (immigration to Israel) of Beta Israel, which began in the 1980s, generations of Ethiopian Jews would walk for days to a mountaintop where thousands would join in prayer and the reading of the Torah. Following the afternoon prayers and blowing of the shofar, the entire community would descend from the mountain for a joyous feast.

In this way, the Ethiopian Jews celebrated and remembered their connection to Jerusalem and renewed their commitment to Jewish unity.

Sigd is now an official holiday in Israel celebrated by all Jews, and Ethiopian Jews who have made aliyah to Israel gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to commemorate this day. It is truly an inspiring and spiritual experience.

Although the holiday of Sigd is one that Ethiopian Jews have exclusively celebrated for centuries, it is a holiday, in which many Jews who make their home in Israel today can relate. Jews in Israel have gathered from Europe, America, Russia, Iran, and countless other countries of their birth. Uniting in Jerusalem is the answer to our prayers, because all of us were once strangers in a strange land.

The holiday of Sigd commemorates the struggles all who resettle went through to arrive in the Holy Land. It also reminds us about the love that God will always have for His children, wherever they may be found.

Download our complimentary devotional, Prophecy: God’s Word to Us & God’s Word on the End of Days, from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s teachings on this topic of great significance for Christians and Jews.

     

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