Wikipedia

Haymanot

Haymanot(Ge'ez:ሃይማኖት) is the branch ofJudaismwhich is practiced by theBeta Israel,also known asEthiopianJews.

Haymanot
A Kes holds an Ashkenazic-style Torah scroll in the synagogue ofGondar(1987)
Regions with significant populations
Ethiopia
Israel
Scriptures
Mäṣḥafä Kedus
Languages
Geʽez, Amharic, Hebrew

InGeʽez,TigrinyaandAmharic,Haymanotmeans 'religion' or 'faith'. Thus in modern Amharic and Tigrinya, it is common to speak of theChristianhaymanot,the Jewishhaymanotor theMuslimhaymanot.InIsrael,the term is only associated with Judaism.

Religious leaders

edit
  • Nabiyy"prophet",related to the Arabic and Hebrew wordsnabīandnavírespectively, used in Jewish and Islamic writing to refer to prophets.
  • Hakhem - A wise man, who is skilful inTorah study,and can be an intermediary in the community for religious dispute, similar to aChacham.
  • Kahenor Kes"priest", spiritual leader, similar to aKohenand analogous to arabbi
  • Abba,honorific title, used to describe holy men who often stay in solitude.
  • Liqa Kahnet,"High Priest", literal translation- at the top of theKahanim
  • Debtera,itinerant holy man
  • Shemagle,elder

Texts

edit

Mäṣḥafä Kedus(Holy Scriptures) is the name for the religious literature. The language of the writings isGeʽez.The Beta Israel lack a firm distinction between "canonical" and "non-canonical" religious texts.[1]The religious texts of the Beta Israel include:

Ethiopian Jews did not have access to theTalmudor other post-biblical Jewish texts, and traditionally practiced a purely Torah-based Judaism.[3][4]

Prayer house

edit
Main article:Synagogue

The synagogue is calledbet maqdis,masgid,orṣalot bet.

  • Modern Synagogue in the city ofNetivotinIsrael
  • Kahenreading from the Orit
  • Kahen delivering a lecture in Gondar, 1921
  • Kahen leading a prayer.

Dietary laws

edit
Main article:Kashrut

Dietary lawsare based mainly onLeviticus,DeuteronomyandJubilees.Permitted and forbidden animals and their signs appear onLeviticus 11:3–11:8andDeuteronomy 14:4–14:8.Forbidden birds are listed onLeviticus 11:13–11:23andDeuteronomy 14:12–14:20.Signs of permitted fish are written onLeviticus 11:9–11:12andDeuteronomy 14:9–14:10.Insects and larvae are forbidden according toLeviticus 11:41–11:42.Birds of preyare forbidden according toLeviticus 11:13–11:19.Gid hanashehis forbidden perGenesis 32:33.Mixtures of milk and meatare not prepared or eaten but are not banned either: Haymanot interpreted the versesExodus 23:19,Exodus 34:26andDeuteronomy 14:21literally "shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk" (like theKaraites). Nowadays, underRabbinicinfluence, mixing dairy products with meat is banned.

Ethiopian Jews were forbidden to eat the food of non-Jews. A Kes (priest) eats only meat he has slaughtered himself, which his hosts then prepare both for him and themselves. Beta Israel who broke these taboos were ostracized and had to undergo a purification process. Purification included fasting for one or more days, eating only uncooked chickpeas provided by the Kes, and ritual purification before entering the village. Unlike other Ethiopians, the Beta Israel do not eat raw meat dishes likekitfoorgored gored.[5]

Calendar and holidays

edit

The Beta Israel calendar is alunar calendarof 12 months, each 29 or 30 days alternately. Every four years there has been aleap yearwhich added a full month (30 days). The calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandria Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker and theGeʽez calendar.[6]The years are counted according to the Counting of Kushta "1571 to Jesus Christ, 7071 to theGyptiansand 6642 to the Hebrews ",[7]according to this counting the year 5782 (Hebrew:ה'תשע "א) in theRabbinical Hebrew calendaris the year 7082 in this calendar.

Holidaysin the Haymanot[8]divided into daily, monthly and annually. The annual holiday by month are:

  • Nisan:ba'āl lisan(Nisan holiday –New Year) on 1,ṣomä fāsikā(Passover fast) on 14,fāsikā(Passover) between 15 – 21 andgadfat(grow fat) orbuho(fermented dough) on 22.
  • Iyar:anotherfāsikā(Second Passover –Pesach Sheni) between 15 – 21.
  • Sivan:ṣomä mã'rar(Harvest fast) on 11 andmã'rar(Harvest –Shavuot) on 12.
  • Tammuz:ṣomä tomos(Tammuz fast) between 1 – 10.
  • Av:ṣomä ab(Av fast) between 1 – 17.
  • Seventh Sabbath:fixed as the fourth Sabbath of the fifth month.[9]
  • Elul:awd amet(Year rotate) on 1,ṣomä lul(Elul fast) between 1 – 9,anākel astar'i(our atonement) on 10 andasartu wasamantu(eighteenth) on 28.
  • Tishrei:ba'āl Matqe(blowing holiday –Zikhron Trua) on 1,astasreyo(Day of Atonement –Yom Kippur) on 10 andba'āla maṣallat(Tabernacles holiday –Sukkot) between 15 – 21.
  • Cheshvan:holiday for the dayMosessaw the face of God on 1, holiday for the reception ofMosesby the Israelites on 10, fast on 12 andměhlělla(Supplication –Sigd) on 29.
  • Kislev:anotherṣomä mã'rarandmã'raron 11 and 12 respectively.
  • Tevet:ṣomä tibt(Tevet fast) between 1 – 10.
  • Shevat:wamashi brobuon 1.
  • Adar:ṣomä astēr(Fast of Esther –Ta'anit Ester) between 11 – 13.

Monthly holidays are mainly memorial days to the annual holiday, these areyačaraqā ba'āl( "new moon festival" )[10]on the first day of every month,asärt( "ten" ) on the tenth day to commemorate Yom Kippur, 'asrã hulat( "twelve" ) on the twelfth day to commemorate Shavuot,asrã ammest( "fifteen" ) on the fifteenth day to commemorate Passover and Sukkot, andṣomä mälěyaa fast on the last day of every month.[11]Daily holidays include theṣomä säňňo(Monday fast),ṣomä amus(Thursday fast),ṣomä 'arb(Friday fast) and the very holySanbat(Sabbath).

Monasticism

edit

The Beta Israel of Ethiopia were the only modern Jewish group with a monastic tradition where the monks, titled as Abba, lived separated from the Jewish villages in monasteries, however, only partial groups lived asBeta Israeland wasn't practiced by the entire community, moreover it was a respected title used to honour elders. This collective monastic tradition existed until the middle of the 20th century.[12][13][14]

Scholarly views

edit

By 1994, modern scholars ofEthiopian historyand Ethiopian Jews generally supported one of two conflicting hypotheses for the origin of the Beta Israel, as outlined by Kaplan:

  • An ancient Jewish origin, together with conservation of some ancient Jewish traditions. Kaplan identifies Simon D. Messing, David Shlush, Michael Corinaldi, Menachem Waldman,Menachem Elonand David Kessler as supporters of this hypothesis.

Some Ethiopian Jewish practices disagree with rabbinic practice but do match the practices of lateSecond Templesects, suggesting that Ethiopian Jews may possess a tradition from ancient Jewish groups whose beliefs have become extinct elsewhere.[according to whom?]

See also

edit
  • Karaite Judaism,a denomination of Judaism that bears similarities to Haymanot
  • Sadducees,Second Temple sect now extinct, also bears similarities to Haymanot

Notes

edit
  1. ^The EthiopianBook of Jeremiah,which is shared with the Beta Israel,[2]also includes theBook of Baruchand theRest of the Words of Baruch(which itself contains theBook of Lamentations,theLetter of Jeremiah,and theParalipomena of Baruch).
  2. ^The "Testament of Moses" (Gadla Musé) and the "Testament of Aaron" (Gadla Aron) are also known as the "Death of Moses" (Motá Musé) and the "Death of Aaron" (Motá Aron).

References

edit
  1. ^abKaplan, Steven (1999)."The Literature of the Beta Israel (Falasha): A Survey of a Biblical-Hebraic Tradition".Xristianskij Vostok.1(7):99–123.
  2. ^Leslau, Wolf(1951).Falasha Anthology.Yale Judaica Series. Vol. 6. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. p. xxviii.ISBN0-300-03927-1.The Torah (orit) is written in Geez... The name applies not only to the Pentateuch but to the entire Old Testament, and the text is identical with that of the Christian Ethiopians. [V]arious apocrypha and pseudepigrapha such as... the Paralipomena of Baruch... are included.
  3. ^Ehrlich, Mark Avrum (2009).Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2.ABC-CLIO. p. 473.Traditionally, the Beta Israel were monotheistic and practiced a Torah-based Judaism, without observing Oral Law, or knowing the Talmud, known to other communities of Jews.
  4. ^Appiah, Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2005).Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.Oxford University Press. p. 565.In terms of their religious beliefs, the Beta Israel have always identified themselves as exiles from the land of Israel and believers of the faith of Moses. For almost 2,000 years, however, they were completely isolated from the rest of the Jewish world. They never learned of the Talmud, the codification of Jewish oral law, or any of the traditions that arose after biblical times, such as the holiday of Hanukkah.
  5. ^Shelemay,Music,page 42
  6. ^Quirun, 1992, p. 71
  7. ^Aešcoly,Book of the Falashas,p. 56
  8. ^Aešcoly,Book of the Falashas,p. 62-70 (Hebrew); Shelemay,Music, Ritual, and Falasha History,p. 44-57; Leslau,Falasha Anthology,p. xxviii–xxxvi; Quirun,The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews,p. 146-150
  9. ^Devens, M. S. 'The Liturgy of the Seventh Sabbath: A Betä Israel (Falasha) Text', p. xx/4.4 (Introduction), Wiesbaden, 1995.
  10. ^seeRosh Chodesh
  11. ^see alsoYom Kippur Katan
  12. ^Semien Menata – Site of the Last Central Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monastery
  13. ^"The Monasteries of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews)".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-12-27.Retrieved2019-07-23.
  14. ^Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) Monastic Sites North of Lake Tana - Preliminary Results of an Exploratory Field Trip to Ethiopia in December 2015
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Haymanot&oldid=1275053771"