Attached is a photo of the Goat that was brought by Yonaton to be sacrificed by the Elders in order to heal Merry after she was attacked and stabbed. She was attacked and stabbed because she refused to give up the professional camera that Children of Abraham uses to photograph weddings – which is one of our main sources of earning income to keep the project alive.
For us, Western medicine is sufficient. But in Ethiopia, people believe that Merry could not be healed – even though she had surgery in a Hospital – unless she returned to her native village and a goat sacrificed on her behalf in the presence of village Elders and in the presence of the members of own village.
What is fascinating – and mysterious – is that the goat could not be sacrificed – and Merry could not be healed – unless and until the Elders certify that the goat had given himself of his own free will to be sacrificed. For us, none of this seems plausible on any level. First, why was it important that the goat consent to his own sacrifice, and second, why would a goat offer himself as a sacrifice.
Perhaps, the Zohar, a major text of Jewish Mysticism can help us begin to unpack what is going on. For the Zohar, the sacrificial goat – the goat sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem – has two selves. His phenomenal self and his cosmic self. By dying to his phenomenal self, he does not enter a void, but is transformed into his eternal self – which means that he has been restored to his status as original Adam in paradise before the Fall.
By analogy, in Ethiopia, by sacrificing the goat, the goat is transformed into its cosmic self. – the goat’s eternal self returns to paradise and brings Merry back to paradise with him. In original paradise, Adam was in perfect health, and by returning to paradise with the goat, Merry, who has been stabbed, is reborn to her original perfect healthy self.
But even if this is correct, how does this help us understand why the goat would voluntarily sacrifice his life – or, rather, to a Westerner – why would Merry, the Elders, and villagers believe that a goat would voluntarily sacrifice its life.
Can the experience of Yonaton help us? Standing in the middle of the circle with the goat – and with the the Elders and Merry – Yonaton in essence asked the goat to agree to sacrifice himself so that he could help “rebuild the broke bridge’. As Yonaton explained to the goat – and to the Elders, – the main purpose of the Children of Abraham was:
“to rebuild the broke bridge between Amara tribe and Oromo tribe. Togray tribe and Gurage tribe. Wolayita tribe and Sidama tribe.”
When the goat heard Yonaton say that the purpose of the Children of Abraham was to :rebuild the broke bridge: the goat listened attentively. The goat turned to Yonaton,
Yonaton continued and said:
“As you know before 2 years ago, we had a serious civil war between those tribes and so many children became orphans and they had a serious nightmare. that where children of abraham comes in and pick those children to Unite them at one place while they are from different tribes while they are from different tribe and some of their families were killed by the same tribe that are living together with but they have forgotten and they are living together peacefully…”
After Yonaton spoke, the Elders turned to the goat and asked if he consented to be sacrificed of his own free will. The elders watched closely and then all said that the goat had nodded his head and that he had agreed to be sacrificed on behalf of Merry and on behalf of the entire village.
Of course, this is not how we do it in the West. We do not sacrifice goats and we do not ask goats to give their life to benefit humans. But what we do, in fact, believe in the West is that we must “rebuild the broke bridge” that divides tribes and religions and causes hatred and genocide.
What can you do to help to“rebuild the broke bridge”. As you know, the Children of Abraham survives by making money by photographing weddings.and by selling computers and I phones. Many of you – or your friends – have computers that they do not use and have extra IPhones which they put aside when they upgrade. These computers and I phones can be a lifeline to us. For example, when Imam Abdullah, the co-chairman of our project, gave us two used Macs that he was not using, we sold them in Ethiopia for $5,000 which is enough to pay for the project for almost 4 months.
Please help us. Please send us what you have. Please ask your friends.We received one computer because someone ran into a friend who told him that he was on his way to the recycling center.. Also, you can now send us money by Zelle by sending it to (248) 703-4183. The money will be deposited directly into the children of Abraham bank account. Even better, you can mark your gift as a monthly gift. $15 a month would be very much appreciated. If many people participate, it will save us.
Remember the goat. Remember us.
To paraphrase Lincoln, ” Please make a small sacrifice so that the goat will not have died in vain”.
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