Faith community sets table to ring in Assyrian New Year in Tarzana
TARZANA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- For the Assyrian faithful, there's hope in spring's renewal.
For 12 days every March, descendants of this predominantly Christian indigenous community give thanks, celebrating life and the preservation of their stories.
"We're very ancient. We're celebrating 6,776 years," said Natalie Ninveh Khooda, known throughout Grenada Hills as 'The Community Connector'. "We are the cradle of civilization."
The Assyrians are given credit for some of early civilization's most consequential innovations, from mass production of iron weapons and the battering ram, to the first organized courier system.
But, as a result of violence and genocide in the nineteenth century, Assyrians today are a stateless nation taking refuge in the U.S., Russia, Sweden and Australia.
Los Angeles is home to more than 5,000 Assyrian people, who immigrated to Southern California after WWII.
Their population here is second only to Chicago.
Arch-Priest Father George Bet-Rasho leads one of the Southland's most vibrant Assyrian communities at St. Mary's Church, in Tarzana.
Wednesday, his congregation was busy preparing their house of worship for April 1.
"Assyrian New Year is a 12-day celebration originating in Mesopotamia, today's Iraq, by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, (and) Assyrians," Bet-Rasho said.
WATCH: Faithful in Tarzana counting down to Assyrian New Year
"The people gathered to celebrate and thank the Lord, thank God for the provisions, for the continuation of the human race, for the beginning of spring, beginning of life."
With faith playing a major role in the Assyrian community, Bet-Rasho said there's a lot of prayer, but also an abundance of food, elaborate clothing and cultural dancing.
"It is important that we celebrate these traditions annually, to remind the upcoming generations of where they came from," Bet-Rasho said. "It is through such festivities, our stories and our history is told to them."
Families also gather to build a display fitting for the holiday.
"Every home sets up a table that has on it Assyrian artifacts," Bet-Rasho said. "We've also added the last couple thousand years, because of our Christian faith, the cross of the Lord, or the Gospel, the Book of the Gospel. And so, these are the things that you will see, in every home during these 12 days."
Important symbols from the past, brought into these Assyrians' present in America.
"Being Assyrian, scattered in the world, as you know, especially the United States, is a melting pot," Bet-Rasho said. "We love this home that adopted us, that gave us life again, and gave us opportunities beyond ones that we had before."
Father Bet-Rasho said the community is invited to attend St. Mary's new year celebration on April 1, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
St. Mary's Assyrian Church is at 5955 Lindley Ave., in Tarzana.
A closer look at the Akitu table
Here are the items families gather to celebrate Assyrian New Year on April 1, and what each symbolizes to this community:
- Holy Bible: Representing enduring faith of the Assyrian people
- Tree: Growth and legacy
- Nisan's beard: Prosperity and tradition
- Bowl of frozen flowers: Melts over time, representing new beginnings and renewal of life
- 7 seeds, eggs and types of fruit: Fertility, prosperity and life
More Local Events: ABC7 In Your Community | Submit Your Event to ABC7
