Haymanot

Haymanot () is the branch of Judaism which is practiced by the Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews.
In both Geʽez, Tigrinya and Amharic, "Haymanot" means 'religion' or 'faith.' Thus in modern Amharic, it is common to speak of the Christian "haymanot", the Jewish "haymanot" or the Muslim "haymanot". In Israel, the term is only associated with a particular religion (Judaism).
Texts.
"Mäṣḥafä Kedus" (Holy Scriptures) is the name for the religious literature. The language of the writings is Geʽez. The holiest book is the Orit (from Aramaic "Oraita" – "Torah") 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, Esdras 1 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" (The Conversation of Moses), "Mota Aaron" (Death of Aharon), "Mota Muse" (Death of Moses), "Te'ezaza Sanbat" (Precepts of Sabbath), "Arde'et" (Students), Gorgorios, "Mäṣḥafä Sa'atat" (Book of Hours), "Abba Elias" (Father Elija), "Mäṣḥafä Mäla'əkt" (Book of Angels), "Mäṣḥafä Kahan" (Book of the Priest), "Dərsanä Abrəham Wäsara Bägabs" (Homily on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt), "Gadla Sosna" (The Acts of Susanna) and "Baqadāmi Gabra Egzi'abḥēr" (In the Beginning God Created). "Zëna Ayhud" (Jews’ Story) and "fālasfā" (Philosophers) are two books that are not holy but still have a great influence.
Prayer house.
The synagogue is called "masgid" (place of worship) also (Holy house) or "ṣalot bet" (Prayer house).
Dietary laws.
Dietary laws are based mainly on Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Jubilees. Permitted and forbidden animals and their signs appear on Leviticus 11:3–8 and Deuteronomy 14:4–8. Forbidden birds are listed on Leviticus 11:13–23 and Deuteronomy 14:12–20. Signs of permitted fish are written on Leviticus 11:9–12 and Deuteronomy 14:9–10. Insects and larvae are forbidden according to Leviticus 11:41–42. Birds of prey are forbidden according to Leviticus 11:13–19. Gid hanasheh is forbidden per Genesis 32:33. Mixtures of milk and meat are not prepared or eaten but are not banned either: Haymanot interpreted the verses Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21 literally "shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk" (like the Karaites). 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 eat raw 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 (30 days). The calendar is a combination of the ancient calendar of Alexandria Jewry, Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, Abu Shaker and the Geʽez 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:
Monthly holidays are mainly memorial days to the annual holiday, these are "yačaraqā ba'āl" ("new moon festival") 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, and "ṣomä mälěya" a fast on the last day of every month. Daily holidays include the "ṣomä säňňo" (Monday fast), "ṣomä amus" (Thursday fast), "ṣomä 'arb" (Friday fast) and the very holy "Sanbat" (Sabbath).
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.