Haymanot is the branch of Judaism practiced by the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews. Haymanot in both Geʽez and Amharic means 'religion' or 'faith'. Thus in modern Amharic, it is common to speak of the Christian haymanot, the Jewish haymanot or the Muslim haymanot. It is only in Israel that the term is associated with a particular religion.
Religious leaders
Nabiyy, related to the Arabic and Hebrew words nabī and nevi, used in Jewish and Islamic writing to refer to prophets.
Monkosa, related to the Greek word monakhós, which means "alone, solitary."
Kahen or Kes – spiritual leader, similar to a Kohen and analogous to a Rabbi.
Liqa Kahnet
Debtera –
Shmagle –
Texts
Mäṣḥafä Kedus is the name for the religious literature. The language of the writings is Ge'ez. The holiest book is the Orit which consists of the Five Books of Moses and the books Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The rest of the Bible has secondary importance. Sources are lacking on whether the Book of Lamentations is excluded from the canon, or whether it forms part of the Book of Jeremiah as it does in the Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon. Also in the canon are: Sirach, Judith, Esdras1 and 2, Meqabyan, Jubilees, Baruch 1 and 4, Tobit, Enoch and the testaments of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; most of these are also found among the Deuterocanonical books or the Biblical apocrypha. Non-Biblical writings include: Nagara Muse, Mota Aaron, Mota Muse, Te'ezaza Sanbat, Arde'et, Gorgorios, Mäṣḥafä Sa'atat, Abba Elias, Mäṣḥafä Mäla'əkt, Mäṣḥafä Kahan, Dərsanä Abrəham Wäsara Bägabs, Gadla Sosna and Baqadāmi Gabra Egzi'abḥēr. Zëna Ayhud and fālasfā are two books that are not holy but still have a great influence.
Prayer house
The Synagogue is called masgid also bet maqds or ṣalot bet.
Dietary laws
are based mainly on Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Jubilees. Permitted and forbidden animals and their signs appear on and . Forbidden birds are listed on and . Signs of permitted fish are written on and . Insects and larvae are forbidden according to . Birds of prey are forbidden according to . Gid hanasheh is forbidden per . Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten but are not banned either: Haymanot interpreted the verses , and literally "shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk". Nowadays, under Rabbinic influence, mixing dairy products with meat is banned. Ethiopian Jews were forbidden to eat the food of non-Jews. A Kes only eats 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 eatraw meat dishes like kitfo or gored gored.
Calendar and holidays
The Beta Israel calendar is a lunar calendar of 12 months, each 29 or 30 days alternately. Every four years there has been a leap year which added a full month. The calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandria Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker and the Ge'ez calendar. The years are counted according to the Counting of Kushta "1571 to Jesus Christ, 7071 to the Gyptians and 6642 to the Hebrews", according to this counting the year 5771 in the Rabbinical Hebrew calendar is the year 7082 in this calendar. Holidays in the Haymanot divided into daily, monthly and annually. The annual holiday by month are:
Nisan: ba'āl lisan on 1, ṣomä fāsikā on 14, fāsikā between 15 – 21 and gadfat or buho on 22.
Iyar: another fāsikā between 15 – 21.
Sivan: ṣomä mã'rar on 11 and mã'rar on 12.
Tammuz: ṣomä tomos between 1 – 10.
Av: ṣomä ab between 1 – 17.
Seventh Sabbath: fixed as the fourth Sabbath of the fifth month.
Elul: awd amet on 1, ṣomä lul between 1 – 9, anākel astar'i on 10 and asartu wasamantu on 28.
Tishrei: ba'āl Matqe on 1, astasreyo on 10 and ba'āla maṣallat between 15 – 21.
Cheshvan: holiday for the dayMoses saw the face of God on 1, holiday for the reception of Moses by the Israelites on 10, fast on 12 and měhlělla on 29.
Kislev: another ṣomä mã'rar and mã'rar on 11 and 12 respectively.
Tevet: ṣomä tibt between 1 – 10.
Shevat: wamashi brobu on 1.
Adar: ṣomä astēr between 11 – 13.
Monthly holidays are mainly memorial days to the annual holiday, these are yačaraqā ba'āl on the first day of every month, asärt on the tenth day to commemorate Yom Kippur, 'asrã hulat on the twelfth day to commemorate Shavuot, asrã ammest on the fifteenth day to commemorate Passover and Sukkot, and ṣomä mälěya a fast on the last day of every month. Daily holidays include the ṣomä säňňo, ṣomä amus, ṣomä 'arb and the very holy Sanbat.
Monasticism
The Beta Israel of Ethiopia were the only modern Jewish group with a monastic tradition where the monks lived separated from the Jewish villages in monasteries. This collective monastic tradition existed until the middle of the 20th century.