Among the Sigd celebrations of the journey home is the reminder of Haymanot Kasau - editorial
Amid the prayers and festive clothing was another familiar sight – the photograph of Haymanot Kasau, the young Ethiopian Israeli girl who disappeared in Safed in February 2024.
On Monday, thousands of Ethiopian Israelis congregated at Jerusalem's Tayelet Haas Promenade to observe Sigd, a day of celebration and remembrance. Dressed in white and headed towards the Old City, families joined the community's spiritual leaders, the kessim, who led prayers from the hilltops overlooking the city their ancestors had long dreamed of seeing.
Sigd, observed 50 days after Yom Kippur, commemorates the renewal of the covenant between the Jewish people and God. It also celebrates the remarkable journey of Ethiopian Jews in preserving their faith and identity, and the arduous paths that brought many of them to Israel. This history should be an integral part of Israel's national story, with the courage of those who crossed dangerous terrain, the sacrifices of families, and the traditions they carried becoming familiar to every Israeli schoolchild.
While Sigd has been a national holiday since 2008, many Israelis still encounter it primarily through photographs and television reports. Schools could enhance their teachings on its traditions, and municipalities and cultural institutions could make the celebrations accessible to families beyond the Ethiopian community.
The celebrations were filled with warmth, family, and tradition, as well as a somber reminder of the disappearance of Haymanot Kasau, a young Ethiopian Israeli girl who vanished in Safed in February 2024 when she was nine years old. Her family, who immigrated from Ethiopia, continues to search for her, with her photograph prominently displayed among the posters at the ceremony. The kessim also held up a large poster of Kasau during the prayers.
As the community celebrated their journey home, the photograph of Haymanot Kasau served as a painful reminder of a child who remains missing. Her parents have repeatedly expressed frustration with the authorities, calling for a more serious examination of any credible new information and regular updates on the investigation. However, the most crucial message carried by Kasau's photograph was that a child's disappearance should not be seen as ordinary by the wider Israeli public.
The Ethiopian Jewish community has kept her name visible, and others should stand alongside the family, listen to their concerns, and refuse to allow her absence to seem like a routine part of life.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
