Mazkeret Batya Announces Architects for Ethiopian Jewish Community’s Synagogue

Mazkeret Batya Local Council announced on November 9 that architects Lizi Derchelo and Noa Frankfort have been selected to design a synagogue for the town’s Ethiopian Jewish community. The council said the choice follows approval of the statutory plan for the synagogue. The council described the planned building as a home for prayer, religious tradition and community gatherings, with a role in passing heritage between generations. ‘This is another significant step toward establishing a home for prayer, tradition and community gathering,’ the council said in its announcement. The news appeared in the council’s account of a Sigd celebration at the Mifgashim community center in Mazkeret Batya. Community members joined kessim, the community’s religious leaders, as well as elders, families and children. Music, dancing and traditional foods were part of the program. The council thanked the kessim, residents, the community center and its partners for taking part. Sigd falls on 29 Heshvan, fifty days after Yom Kippur, according to an Education Ministry teaching document. It describes the holiday as a day of fasting, purification and renewal of the covenant, combining spiritual and social elements with prayers for forgiveness and longing for Jerusalem.