Jewish Holidays

ראש השנה

א תשרי, first day of new year, new cycle of time begins, day of judgement; blowing shofar, foods that symbolize hope, tashlich

יום כיפור

י 10 תשרי; forgiveness and atonement for sins during the year, closing of gates of heaven; self affliction, 6 prohibitions (work, eating, drinking, washing, anointing, wearing sandals, and sexual relations)

Sukkot

י״ה 15 תשרי (7 ימים); remembering wandering in the desert after exodus from Egypt, “festival of ingathering” in agricultural cycle; commandment of 4 species, building sukkah and dwelling in it

Simchat Torah

כ״ב 22 תשרי; adjacent to Sukkot, marking completion and beginning of a cycle of Torah reading; taking out Torah and circling bimah 7 times

Chanukah

כ״ה 25 קיסלב (8 ימים); commemoration of Hasmonean revolt and miracle of oil; lighting Chanukiah and eating fried foods

New year for the trees

י״ה 15 שבת; observing commandments related to land, beginning of spring and end of winter; eating fruits of Israel in specific order for tu bishvat, planting trees

Purim

ירושלים: ט״ו אדר, אולם: י״ד אדר; marking Adar as turning point from days of mourning to days of joy, Jews saved from hamans decree thanks to Esther and mordechai; 4 mitzvot: reading Megillah, feast, food and gifts to poor, dressing up, using noise maker, and eating hamantashen

Pesach

י״ה 15 ניסן (7 ימים); remembrance of Israelites who left Egypt, one of 3 pilgrimage festivals; prohibition of chametz, reading Haggadah on Passover night, mimouna after the holiday

Lag baomer and counting of the Omer

י״ח 18 אייר; is 33rd day of counting of the Omer between Passover and shavuot, plague that afflicted students of rabbi Akiva ceased, rabbi shimon bar yochai passed away, turning point for benefit of Jews in bar kokhba revolt; counting of the Omer (49 days), cessation of mourning customs on this day, lighting bonfires, marking remembrance day for reserve forces in IDF

Shavuot

ו 6 שיבן; giving of the Torah on mount sinai, part of the 3 pilgrimage festivals, part of agricultural cycle called “festival of the harvest”; “Tikkun leil shavuot” studying until dawn, decorating synagogues and homes with greenery, holding dairy holiday meals, reading book of Ruth

Tu b’av fast

ט 9 אב; commemorate destruction of first temple and multitude of disasters that befell the Jewish people; five prohibitions customary on Yom Kippur, reading book of lamentations

Fast of gedilah

ד 3 תשבי; commemorates murder of gedaliah, son of ahikan, Jew appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, kink of Babylon, symbolizing beginning of exile; fast from sunrise to sunset

Fast 10th of tevet

י 10 תבת; beginning of the siege of Nebuchadnezzar, kink of Babylon, on Jerusalem, which led to its destruction; fast from sunrise to sunset

Fast 17th of Tammuz

י״ז 17 תמוז; breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and entry of Babylonian armies that destroyed Jerusalem, on this date begins 3 week period called “between the straits”; fast from sunrise to sunset, mourning customs (abstaining from music, prohibition of haircuts and shaving, prohibition of weddings and celebrations