Yom HaAtzma’ut, also known as Israel’s Independence Day, is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the “provisional government” read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The original date corresponded to May 14, 1948. More […]
The festival of Shavuot celebrates the giving of Torah (Hebrew Bible) including the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. It also marks the end of the spring harvest, and the beginning of the summer harvest. Shavuot is celebrated by studying Torah together as a community, often late into the night. It is traditional to eat meals containing dairy. Barley and wheat are also food […]
Tisha B’Av is the annual fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. Over the centuries, other tragic events have come to be commemorated on this day, including the massacres of the Crusades, the Jewish expulsion from Spain, […]
This evening is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This holiday begins the period of the High Holy Days, which are widely observed by Jews around the world. It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock […]
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. This holiday begins the period of the High Holy Days, which are widely observed by Jews around the world. It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one’s life. Traditions include eating apples dipped […]
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. The focus of this holiday is on contemplation repentance. Jews are taught that sins between people can only be atoned for after personal reconciliation. It is considered to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year. Fasting begins at sundown and ends after nightfall the following day. […]
Sukkot is a seven-day festival marking the fall harvest in ancient Israel. This holiday is also a time in which Jews commemorate forty years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Celebrated by the building of a sukkah (or temporary dwelling) outdoors, where families and friends spend time throughout the holiday. Work is traditionally prohibited […]
Coming at the conclusion of Sukkot are the two holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah . In Israel and among more liberal Jews they are combined into one holiday on the day after the conclusion of Sukkot . Among more traditional Jews outside of Israel, they are observed separately from one another on two consecutive days. Shemini Atzeret means the “Eighth Day […]
Coming at the conclusion of Sukkot are the two holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah . In Israel and among more liberal Jews they are combined into one holiday on the day after the conclusion of Sukkot . Among more traditional Jews outside of Israel, they are observed separately from one another on two consecutive days. Shemini Atzeret means the “Eighth Day […]
Hanukkah, also known as Hanukah, Chanukah, and Chanukkah can be spelled many different ways in English. It is an eight-day celebration known as the Festival of Lights marked by the lighting of candles using a special candle holder called a menorah or chanukiah. This holiday is where Jews celebrate their victory over a tyrant Greco-Syrian king and the rededication of the Temple in […]
"Everything you should do you will find in this: Do nothing to others that would hurt you if it were done to you."
- Mahabharata 5:1517
Hinduism
