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 […]
New Year of the Trees. Originally celebrated as an agricultural festival marking the emergence of spring, today celebrations focus on environmental awareness. Trees are often planted in honor or memory of loved ones. More Information
Purim, one of the most joyous Jewish holidays, commemorates the events in the Book of Esther. It celebrates the survival of the Jews who, in the 5th century BCE, were marked for death by their Persian rulers. Traditions include costumes, retelling the story through skits and songs, festivals geared towards children, and giving care packages to […]
Passover, known in Hebrew as Pesach, commemorates the liberation of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. A feast called a seder is held on the first two nights. During the seder, the Exodus story is read aloud and freedom from slavery is celebrated. This is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays. More Information Holiday Greeting: Pesach […]
Known in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Ha'Shoah commemorates the approximately six million Jews, and five million others who perished in the Holocaust. Shoah in Hebrew means catastrophe. This is a national public holiday in Israel. In homes and synagogues around the world, Jews will light memorial candles in commemoration of lives lost. The […]
Yom HaZikaron is Israel’s Memorial Day, observed both in Israel and in many Jewish communities around the world. A day to remember and honor soldiers who lost their lives fighting in the War of Independence and subsequent battles. It is also a day to remember civilian victims of terrorism. More Information Commonly observed by synagogue attendance, […]
"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
