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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOLIDAYS |
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Rosh Hashanah / Feast of Trumpets |
God ordered the Feast of Trumpets as a call to stop work and remember the
Him. It marked the beginning of ten days of consecration and repentance
before God. Now it is a new year celebration lasting three days plus the
Jews believe other Biblical events happened on the same day such as the
birth of Adam and Eve. Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year.”
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Tzom Gedaliah / Gedaliah Fast |
A fast commemorating the tragic death of Gedaliah, governor of Judea. |
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YoYom Kippur / Feast of Atonement |
The annual two day Jewish observance of fasting, prayer, and repentance. |
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Sukkot / Feast of Booths |
A seven day holiday commemorating the forty years of Jews wandering in the
desert after the giving of the Torah atop Mt. Sinai.
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Shemini Atzeret |
An additional day at the end of the Sukkot; God told Moses, "On the eighth
day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein."
Num 29:35 |
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Simchat Torah |
The yearly reading of the whole five books of the Torah is complete,
culminating with the last reading from Deuteronomy and beginning again with
the first reading from Genesis.
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Chanukah / Hannukah / Festival of Lights |
An 8-day festival celebrating the rededication
of the Temple in Jerusalem celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting,
special prayers, and fried foods.
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Asarah B'Tevet |
A fast day which commemorates the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem
by Nebuchadnezzar's armies, which eventually led to the First Temple's
destruction and the Babylonian Exile. |
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Usually this is where the secular year changes from December to January |
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Tu Bish'vat |
The "Jewish New Year of the Trees" and signifies a reminder of how
the Sages make a comparison between humans and trees. It is also a day to
show appreciation to the environment and the world. |
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Fast of Esther |
A dawn-to-nightfall fast held on the day before the jolly holiday of
Purim. It commemorates the fasting of our ancestors in response to the
dramatic chain of events that occurred during their exile in the Persian
empire.
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Purim |
It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish
people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and
annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.”
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Aliyah Day |
It marks the historic return of the Jewish people to their
ancestral homeland in modern times. This annual holiday is timed to recall
the first mass return of Jews to Israel when Joshua led the Hebrew children
across the River Jordan with signs and wonders. |
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Pesach / Passover |
One of the most significant Jewish holidays commemorating the Exodus
of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Its name comes from the miracle in
which God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites, sparing them from
death during the tenth plague on Egypt. The Last Supper was a Passover meal. |
Chag HaMatzot / Feast of Unleavened Bread |
Celebrated for the 7 days after Passover. Usually celebrated in
conjunction with Passover. |
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Feast of First Fruits |
A festival commanded by the Lord that took place within the Passover
celebration. It's one of seven feasts of the Lord. The Feast of First Fruits
served as a reminder to the Israelites of God’s provision in the Promised
Land. Ultimately, the Israelites were to acknowledge that God had rescued
them from slavery in Egypt and provided them a place to live and grow crops.
Shavuot is 7 weeks after this holiday. |
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Yom Hashoah |
Also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. |
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Yom Hazikaron |
A day to memorialize soldiers who lost their lives fighting in the
War of Independence and subsequent battles, as well as a day to remember
civilian victims of terrorism. |
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Yom Haatzma-Ut |
Israeli Independence Day. Commemorates the declaration of
independence of Israel in 1948.
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Lag Ba'omer |
A minor holiday that occurs on the 33rd day of the Omer, the 49-day
period between Passover and Shavuot. Lag ba'omer is a joyous holiday in
remembrance of two important events: the end of a plague of sickness which
had killed 24,000 students of the famous Rabbi Akiva and also the death of a
brilliant student of Rabbi Akiva’s, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. A break
from the semi-mourning of the Omer, key aspects of Lag Ba’omer include
holding Jewish weddings (it’s the one day during the Omer when Jewish law
permits them), lighting bonfires, and getting haircuts. Every Jewish
letter has a number value depending on its position in the Hebrew alphabet.
The Hebrew word lag is written with the Hebrew letters lamed and gimmel
which, together, have a number value of 33. Thus Lag baOmer means "the 33rd
[day] in the Omer". This always works out to be on the 18th day of the
Hebrew month Iyar. |
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Shavuot
/ Feast of Weeks |
One of the three Jewish pilgrimage festivals, along with Passover and
Sukkot. It is celebrated exactly seven weeks after the second Passover seder,
which is why it is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Weeks. Although
Shavuot began as an ancient grain harvest festival, the holiday has been
identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Pentecost happened during Shavuot. |
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Shivah Asar B’Tammuz /
17th of Tammuz |
A fasting day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the
destruction of the Holy Temple. This also marks the beginning of a 3-week
national period of mourning, leading up to Tisha B'Av. |
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Tishah B'av |
It is is recognized as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar,
a day of mourning for tragedies across Jewish history, most particularly the
destruction and loss of the first and second Temple and Jerusalem nearly
2,000 years ago. Over the last 100 years, Tisha B’Av has also become a day
of mourning for the lives lost in the massacres of Jewish communities in the
Middle East and North Africa, the pogroms of Eastern Europe, and the
Holocaust. |
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S'lichot
Service |
Prayers for forgiveness, the mention of which date back to as early
as the 9th century, when King David instituted a special service for
atonement upon realizing the Temple would fall. |
