AN ETHIOPIAN JEWISH CELEBRATION Slated for The Center for Jewish History

Sigd: An Ethiopian Jewish Celebration, an evening of holiday music, rituals and artifacts from the American Association for Ethiopian Jews collection, is slated for Sunday, December 18 at 5:00 p.m. at The Center for Jewish History. Presented by American Jewish Historical Society and The Ethiopian Congregation Chasida Shmella.

According to Jewish Ethiopian custom, Sigd commemorates the giving of the Torah and the ancient communal gatherings on Mount Sinai. Thousands of Jews traveled on foot every year from Gondar Province to the village of Ambober where the joyous celebration included prayer and fasting. Each year, the Sigd celebration offers a unique experience. This year, Chassida Shmella partners with AJHS to celebrate with a display of selected items from AJHS' American Association for Ethiopian Jews collection, a ritual led by the Kessoch (Ethiopian spiritual leaders similar to rabbis), a musical performance, and a special reception featuring Ethiopian food.

Tickets: $25 general; $15 AJHS members, seniors, students at events.cjh.org/event/sigd-an-ethiopian-jewish-celebration or by calling 212-868-4444. The Center for Jewish History is located at 15 West 16th Street in Manhattan.

The Center for Jewish History in New York City illuminates history, culture, and heritage. The Center provides a collaborative home for five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The partners' archives comprise the world's largest and most comprehensive archive of the modern Jewish experience outside of Israel. The collectionsspan 1,000 years, with more than 5 miles of archival documents (in dozens of languages and alphabet systems), more than 500,000 volumes, as well as thousands of artworks, textiles, ritual objects, recordings, films, and photographs. The Center's experts are leaders in unlocking archival material for a wide audience through the latest practices in digitization, library science, and public education. As one of the world's foremost research institutions, the Center offers fellowships, a wide array of exhibitions, symposia, conferences and lectures. The Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate, and is a partner of the Google Cultural Institute. The Center for Jewish History is home to the Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, The David Berg Rare Book Room and The Collection Management & Conservation Wing. Public programs create opportunities for diverse audiences to explore the rich historical and cultural material that lives within the Center's walls.

The American Jewish Historical Society is the oldest ethnic, cultural archive in the United States. AJHS provides access to more than 25 million documents and 50,000 books, photographs, art and artifacts that reflect the history of the Jewish presence in the United States from 1654 to the present. It is the future of the American Jewish past. Read more here