Jewish Holidays

שלום everyone!

In this thread me and Jess will post about the Jewish Holidays. Every time a new holiday comes, we will announce it here and explain about it. The posts about the Holidays will go according to the months.

Please remember, this is not a chat thread. You can only post questions concerning the Holidays here.

If you have any suggestions about the content of the Holidays, feel free to send us a PM!

!חג שמח
(Chag Sameach!)
Happy Holidays!

Preface

The Jewish people do not follow by the Gregorian calender. They have their own calendar and own holidays. The Gregorian calender goes by the sun, the Muslim calender goes by the moon, whereas the Hebrew calender goes by both - the sun and the moon.

Since the Jewish day (יוֹם) begins at sundown, you must remember that a Jewish holiday actually begins on the night before the day listed in a Jewish calendar. For example, Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) occurs on Nisan 27, which actually begins after sundown, Nisan 26.

Thus a given Jewish holiday spans two days on our Gregorian calendar. Most Jewish calendars do not indicate the previous night as part of the holiday. Observance of a holiday begins at sundown on the day before it is listed in the calendar!

תשרי Tishrei

In the month of תשרי, Tishrei, there are several holidays:

• ראש השנה Rosh Hashana - Literally translates to "head of the year", this holiday is commonly referred to as the Jewish New Year. It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. Corresponding to the English Calender, it generally falls between the end of September and the beginning of October (every year differs). Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (The Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man whereas five days earlier, on 25 of Elul, marks the first day of creation.
  
  Rosh Hashanah is characterized by the blowing of the shofar,[4] a trumpet made from a ram's horn, intended to awaken the listener from his or her "slumber" and alert them to the coming judgment.
  
  The traditional Hebrew greeting on Rosh Hashanah is "shana tova", for "a good year", or "shana tova umetukah" for "a good and sweet year." Because Jews are being judged by God for the coming year, a longer greeting translates as "may you be written and sealed for a good year" (ketiva ve-chatima tovah).
  
  During the afternoon of the first day the practice of tashlikh is observed, in which prayers are recited near natural flowing water, and one's sins are symbolically cast into the water. Many also have the custom to throw bread or pebbles into the water, to symbolize the "casting off" of sins.
  
  Other customs include dipping apples in honey, for a sweet New Year, and eating a new fruit may also be customary.
  
  
• יום כיפור Yom Kippur - The day of Atonement. Ten days after ראש השנה New Year, we have one day which we pray to g-d and ask for forgiveness for all the bad things we had done the past year.

סוכות Sukkot - a seven day holiday, or a Biblical pilgrimage festival that occurs in autumn on the 15th day of the month of Tishri (late September to late October). The word Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah, meaning booth or hut. Before the holiday, Jews around the world are instructed to build a tent-like structure where they must eat their meals, entertain guests, relax, and even sleep in it. During the days of Sukkot, you are not allowed to eat or drink anywhere else except your Sukkah.
Etiology: Many years ago, when the Israelites were wondering in the desert after Exodus from Egypt, they dwelt in huts similar to the modern Sukkah. It is intended to remind of us God's benevolence in providing for all the Jews' needs in the desert.

In America or anyplace outside of Israel, it is custom to continue to sit in the Sukkah on an eighth day or Shemini Atzeret. Additionally, the first two days are celebrated as full festivals. The remaining days are known as Chol HaMoed (or festival weekdays). The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshanah Rabbah and has a special observance of its own.

Interesting fact about Sukkot: In Judaism it is one of the three major holidays known collectively as the Shalosh Regalim (or the "three pilgrim festivals"), when historically the Jews traveled to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.


Hoshana Rabbah - The seventh (and last) day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah, or the “Great Salvation,” a climactic day of praise to the LORD that was also viewed by the rabbis as a mini-Yom Kippur, the day on which the heavenly decrees made on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur are actually sent out to be fulfilled.

It is both a somber day of reflection, as well as a day of joy and reflection. For many Jews, Hoshana Rabbah is the last day one shakes the lulav and etrog and eats within the sukkah. Round challot are often served, as well as apples and honey (just like the evening meal of Rosh Hashanah). There is a widespread custom to eat Kreplach (Jewish ravioli, dough filled with meat) on this day.

The evening following Hoshana Rabah begins the festival of Shemini Atzeret.


Shemini Atzeret - In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are both celebrated on Tishri 22, but in places outside of Israel, Shemini Atzeret is observed on Tishri 22 and Simchat Torah on Tishri 23.


Simchat Torah - Best known as rejoicing with the Torah; this holiday concludes the "High Holidays", which is filled with song and dancing. It marks the completion of the Torah reading cycle for the year. Simchat Torah is a time to express our love and adoration for the Torah by rejoicing and dancing with it.

Tonight, י תשרי , Tishrei 10, is יום כיפור Yom Kipur.

!גמר חתימה טובה
May you be inscribed for a good year!

Tonight טו' תשרי, Tishrei 15, is סוכות Sukot!

חג שמח!
Chag Sameach!

Sorry, I forgot to post this last month.

Second month: Cheshvan חשוון or sometimes called Marcheshvan מרחשוון
In the month of Cheshvan חשוון there are no holidays.

The word "Mar" "מר" was added later on. There are two definitions for why they added the "Mar" "מר":
-Mar means bitter. This month is considered a bitter month because there are no happy events here. According to tradition there were sad events.
- In this month the rain begins, and Mar can also mean a rain drop.

There is one event in this month:
7 Cheshvan - V'tein Tal u-Matar ("Deliver Dew and Rain"), a prayer, is added to the Shemoneh Esrei prayers in Israel. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain (-which, sadly, we have started saying these special prayers this year).

Third month: Kislev כסלו

Usually you would think that like all the months, the name of the month, Kislev, comes from Babylon, sometimes called "Kislimu" - means thick. The month is thick with rain. But some think that it's roots of the name Kislev comes from the Hebrew language that comes from the word "kesel" (כסל) or "Kesleh" (כסלה), which means "Faith" (תקווה).

Holiday: Chanukah חנוכה - is celebrated for 8 days, begins on 25 of Kislev, in memory of the miracles and victory for the Jews who won the Greek, a victory of a small amount of people against a lot of people. Commandments of this holiday are to light Chanukah candles and say "Hallel" הלל (a special prayer). We light candles because during the second temple the oil to light the menorah was only enough to last for one day, but it lasted for 8. That is why we light candles 8 days. On the first night - 1 candle, on the second night - 2 candles, on the third night - 3 candles and so on.

Today (last night), כ"ה כסלו, Kislev 25 is the first day (night) of Channukah.

Happy Chanukah!
חג אורים שמח!

Fourth month: Tevet טבת


In this month there are 29 days.

The name Tevet comes from, like the rest of the months names, from the exile in Babylon. In the language Akkadû Tevet was called Tebitu - which means something which you sink in to. It appears that following the rains and muds that features in this month, that's how the nickname for this month won it's name.

Events of this month:- The last two or three days left of Hannukah (depend if Kislev was a full or short month).
- Tenth of Tevet - (Asara beTebet) - (Fast Day)
(- On the 1st of Tebet, 362 B.C.E., Esther was crowned Queen of Persia.)

This month was already, but no matter. Here it is:

Fifth month: Shevat שבט

In this month there are 30 days.

Shevat usually occurs in January–February on the Gregorian calendar.

The name Shevat was derived from the language Akkadian - Šabātu "סבטו".

Main events:
- 15 of Shevat: Tu Bishvat (טו' בשבט): "New Year of the Trees". Customs include planting trees and eating dried fruits and nuts, especially figs, dates, raisins, carob, and almonds.
- 30 of Shevat: Family Day

I will update last month and this month soon, I would just like to wish everyone a happy Passover!

This week is the Jewish holiday, Passover פסח.



חג פסח כשר ושמח!
Happy Passover!

Passover (Hebrew: פסח) is a Jewish and Samaritan holy day and festival commemorating God sparing the Hebrews when he killed the first born of Egypt, and is the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread (it lasts eight days in the diaspora) commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.

Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan (equivalent to March and April in Gregorian calendar), the first month of the Hebrew calendar's festival year according to the Hebrew Bible.

In the story of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves, with the tenth plague being the killing of firstborn sons. The Hebrews were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord passed over these homes, hence the term "passover". When Pharaoh freed the Hebrews, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread to rise. In commemoration, for the duration of Passover, no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason it is also called חַג הַמַּצּוֹת (Ḥag haMaẓot), "The Festival of the Unleavened Bread". Matza (unleavened bread) is the primary symbol of the holiday. This bread that is flat and unrisen is called Matzo.

Israel Independence Day: aka Yom Ha'atzmaut!
יום העצמאות!

Israel Independence Day is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew (or Lunar) calendar on the Fifth of Iyar, which is the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948). The day is celebrated this year on April 29th, which marks 61 days since the establishment of the State of Israel! The day preceding this celebration is devoted to the memory of those who gave their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and its continued existence.