Judaism popular jewish holidays

To demonstrate your repentance and make amends for all the sins youVe committed. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well- nown that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one’s body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc. , wearing leather shoes, and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur. It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. :18) 3. Sukkot Significance: Remembers the wandering in the dessert; also a harvest festival Length: 7 days The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishri 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. Sukkot is so unreservedly Joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z’man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing.

Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as efers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The festival of Sukkot is instituted in Leviticus 23:33 et seq. No work is permitted on the first and second days of the holiday. . Shemini Atzeret Significance: A follow-up to Sukkot; the completion of the annual cycle of Torah readings Length: 2 days (Some: 1 day) Customs: Limited “dwelling” in the sukkah; dancing and rejoicing with Torah scrolls Date: the day after the seventh day of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret literally means “the assembly of the eighth (day). Sukkot is a holiday intended for all of mankind, but when Sukkot is over, the Creator invites the Jewish people to stay for an extra day, for a more intimate celebration.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are holidays on which work is not permitted. 5. Simchat Torah Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing in the Torah. ” This holiday marks the completion of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings. Each week in synagogue we publicly read a few chapters from the Torah, starting with Genesis Ch. 1 and working our way around to Deuteronomy 34. On Simchat Torah, we read the last Torah portion, then roceed immediately to the first chapter of Genesis, reminding us that the Torah is a circle, and never ends.

This completion of the readings is a time of great celebration. 6. Chanukkah Significance: Remembers the rededication of the Temple after it was defiled by the Greeks Observances: Lighting candles Length: 8 days Customs: eating fried foods; playing with a dreidel (top) Chanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.

Chanukkah is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays, because of its roximity to Christmas. Many non-Jews think of this holiday as the Jewish Christmas, adopting many of the Christmas customs, such as elaborate gift-giving and decoration. It is extremely ironic that this holiday, which has its roots in a revolution against adaptation and the dominance of Jewish religion, has become the most conformed, secular holiday on our calendar.

The only religious observance related to the holiday is the lighting of candles. The candles are arranged in a candelabrum called a menorah (or sometimes called a chanukkiah). 7. Pesach: Passover Significance: Remembers the Exodus from Egypt ommunal retelling of the Exodus story Length: 8 days (Some: 7 days) Exodus 12:14-17 Agriculturally, it represents the beginning of the harvest season in Israel, but little attention is paid to this aspect of the holiday.

The primary observances of Pesach are related to the Exodus from Egypt after generations of slavery. This story is told in Exodus, Ch. 1-15. It refers to the fact that G-d “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt. In English, the holiday is known as Passover. “Pesach” is also the name of the sacrificial offering (a lamb) that was made in the Temple on this holiday.