Weynitu recounts details of her family tree. She speaks about different types of people and their values. Weynitu describes her daily routine on weekdays, Sabbaths, and festivals. She talks about the traditions of Jewish village life. She speaks about housework tasks, such as grinding seeds, preparing food, gathering firewood, and embroidering decorations on clothes.<\/p>\n
Weynitu married when she was eight years old and moved to her husband\u2019s home in the village of Sarmella. At first, she did not want to leave her parents\u2019 home and found various excuses to stay with them. Eventually, she acceded to the appeals of her husband\u2019s family and agreed to move.<\/p>\n
When she reached puberty, Weynitu began to visit the menstruation house. She describes the customs connected to it and her experiences there. She tells of a time she fell ill and had to stay in the menstruation house for three weeks. Her husband was unable to bear the resultant burden, leading to their divorce.<\/p>\n
Still ill, Weynitu returned to her parents\u2019 home. Due to her precarious medical condition, her father took her to a holy site called Getana Abba. Only people who underwent a purification ceremony that included shaving their head were permitted to enter the site. Custom dictated that the visitors must stay at the site until they had a dream that offered a solution to their problem. The Kesim who lived on the site would interpret the dream and instruct the dreamer what to do. After a week, Weynitu had a dream, announcing her \u00a0full recovery and allowing her to return home.<\/p>\n
After some time, Weynitu and her family moved to a village named Nura, where they joined her parents\u2019 extended families. They settled there and rented land from their Christian neighbors in exchange for a quarter of the produce. When the Derg party deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, the lands were allocated equitably, without discriminating against the Jews. Weynitu\u2019s family received its own plot of land. Weynitu adds that her relationship with the Christian neighbors was good and warm. They celebrated family events together and helped each other with the farming work. While doing this, the Jews continued to observe the laws of kashrut and ritual purity.<\/p>\n
Weynitu learned embroidery from the older women. She describes the decorations she would embroider on clothes and wedding dresses. She also used to make household vessels such as a tool for removing injera from the fire, trays, and so forth. She used the money she earned to buy herself clothes or jewelry. Weynitu demonstrates the types of vessels and the techniques for making them.<\/p>\n
Weynitu describes a year when there was an outbreak of worms and her family\u2019s land did not produce any crops. She and her mother used to go to the market to sell utensils, embroidered clothes, and clay vessels so they could buy grain to eat. She also talks about the communal prayer ceremony held by the village population \u2013 Jews and Christians alike \u2013 to stop the worm outbreak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","tags":[],"class_list":["post-1601","evidence","type-evidence","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n