My earliest memories are of my mother telling me stories about our ancestors in Ethiopia—from the persecution they faced for being Jewish to their hopes that their descendants would one day live in the Jewish homeland.

Each year, a story returned about Sigd, the unique holiday for Ethiopian Jews, also known as Beta Israel, centered on our yearning to return to Jerusalem.

The Ethiopian Jewish community commemorated the day with prayers on a mountaintop, symbolizing the biblical story of Moses receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. It reaffirmed my community’s connection to the broader Jewish world after nearly two millennia of exile.

But with the majority of Ethiopian Jews now living in Israel, Sigd has evolved into a day of thanksgiving. It has been an official holiday recognized by the St

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