Today, exactly 50 days after Yom Kippur, the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) community celebrates Sigd. Sigd means “prostration” or “worship”, and the Sigd holiday marks the renewal of the covenant with G-d, commemorating the Revelation at Mount Sinai. In Ethiopia, the community would gather and ascend to the peak of a high mountain led by the Kessim and community elders. There, they would pray for the welfare of Jerusalem and confess their sins. When the ceremony ended, they would descend the mountain in song and dance.
Today, with the aliya of Beta Israel to Israel, Sigd is celebrated in Jerusalem. Members of the community gather at the Armon Hanatziv promenade, facing the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, and from there they walk toward the Western Wall.
Photos: Sigd prayers today at the Western Wall Plaza
Prayers to the Western Wall from 140 countries: “For My House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, in keeping with tradition: Prayer notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall over the past six months have been removed and transferred for ritual burial.
25 Elul 5786
September 7, 2026
