Jewish Religous Life

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Jewish Holidays

Jewish Holy Days, Holidays, Fast Days, and Commemorative Days
and the dates they occur on the Jewish Calendar
and in 2006-2007

	Days listed with an asterisk* are Sabbath-like holy days when workday activities and monetary transactions are prohibited. Other days are not so restricted. Days that are CAPITALIZED are especially important theologically and/or widely observed. Words in boldface in the explanations are the translations of the name of the day.
	On the Jewish calendar, a day does not begin at 12:00 a.m. or at sunrise, but at sunset on the prior day. Thus, each day listed below actually begins the evening ("Erev") before the dates shown. For example, Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday ("Erev Shabbat") and lasts until sunset on Saturday. In a few cases, however, a fast day is observed as a daytime fast (i.e., from sunup to sundown) -- such daytime fasts are called out below.
	The days below are listed in order from the "start" of the Jewish year (beginning with Rosh haShanah) to the end, with the exception of the first holiday listed below, the weekly Shabbat. Since Rosh haShanah (the Jewish New Year) does not coincide with January 1, the year 2006 corresponds to portions of two different years in the Jewish calendar: 5766 and 5767. Thus the holidays listed at the start of the Jewish year 5767 are listed first below even though they occur in fall 2006; the holidays from Tu biShvat onward occur earlier in 2006, in the Jewish year 5766.
	For certain holidays, Jews outside of Israel traditionally extend the holiday by an additional day. The extended dates of those holidays are noted in italics below -- e.g., Shavuot is noted below as occurring on "Sivan 6 and 7 for some; in 2006, on May 21 and 22 for some)". The general custom for Congregation Etz Chayim is to observe the same number of days as Jews in Israel.
	Not listed below but occurring frequently in the Jewish calendar is Rosh Chodesh, the "New Month". The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, and Rosh Chodesh is a minor holiday which lasts one or two days and notes the new moon and thus the start of a new month.

SHABBAT* (every Saturday): The weekly Sabbath, a day of rest, reflection, recreation, and of being with family and friends. To create a peaceful atmosphere the Bible prohibited earning one's livelihood on this day, or doing a variety of actions that might be interpreted as chores or their constituent parts, or things that would cause others to work or do chores. Danger to life and the pain of animals (e.g.: unmilked cows) raise exemptions.

ROSH HASHANAH* (Tishrey 1-2; in 2006, on September 23-24; in 2007, on September 13-14): The "New Year" Festival. Repentance and forgiveness are the themes, that we begin each year anew and fresh. The following ten days until Yom Kippur are called the "Days of Awe" and Repentance. The heaviest synagogue attendance of the year happens on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur, the "High Holy Days".

Fast of Gedaliah (Tishrey 3; in 2006, on September 25; in 2007, on September 16): A daytime fast (i.e., observed only from sunup to sundown). Traditionally reckoned as the day the last Jewish governor of Judea, appointed by the Babylonian overlords, was assassinated by Jewish zealots in 586 BCE, leading to the last depopulation of the country (Jeremiah chapter 41). This is one of the four "Jerusalem Fasts" which mourn the loss of independence and the destruction of the first and second Temples (see Zechariah 8:18, 19). Weddings are not done on days of mourning.

YOM KIPPUR* (Tishrey 10; in 2006, on October 2; in 2007, on September 22): "Day of Atonement". A total fast from food or water from sundown to sundown. The entire day is spent in prayer and reflection. People should reconcile to each other by this day for G0d to forgive their sins.

SUKKOT* (Tishrey 15-22; in 2006, on October 7- October 13): Festival of "Booths". Recalling the Israelites' hut-like dwellings during their wanderings in the wilderness, as well as ancient harvest booths. Jews build festive leaf-covered booths ("sukkot") in which they host meals and worship. This, with Passover and Shavuot, are the three "Pilgrimage" Festivals when Israelites made a trip to the Temple in Jerusalem and gave special festal offerings (Exodus 23:14-17).

Shmini Atzeret* (Tishrey 22; in 2006, on October 14): The "Concluding Eighth" day of Sukkot sums up the Festival season of Tishrey. It was given new significance as Simchat Torah.

SIMCHAT TORAH* (Tishrey 22 but on 23 for some; in 2006, on October 14 but on October 15 for some): The "Rejoicing with the Torah", which ends and begins the yearly cycle of readings. Outside of Israel this is the second day of Shmini Atzeret; inside Israel, it is the same day.

CHANUKAH (Kislev 25 - Tevet 2; in 2006, on December 15-22): Festival of re-"dedicating" the Temple, celebrating the miracle of the "Oil for the Temple Menorah ('lamp') that Lasted Eight Days" when the Maccabees (a family who led the revolt from 167-164 B.C.E.) re-conquered and purified the Jerusalem temple from pagan defilement by the Seleucid Greek Empire.

Fast of the Tenth of Tevet (Tevet 10; in 2006, on December 31): This fast is one of the four "Jerusalem Fasts", and it lasts from sunup to sundown. 10 Tevet was the day Jerusalem was surrounded by the besieging armies prior to the destructions in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E.. Weddings are not done on days of mourning such as 10 Tevet.

Tu biShvat ("15th of Shvat"; in 2007, on February 3): The New Year for Trees -- the Jewish Arbor Day.

Fast of Esther (Adar 13 or, in leap years, 13th of Adar II; in 2007, Adar 13 is on March 1): this fast lasts from sunup till sundown, and it relives Esther's fast before approaching King Ahasuerus to request her people be spared Haman's genocide of the Jewish people. No weddings may occur on this day.

PURIM (Adar 14; in 2007, on March 4): "Lotteries". The celebration, as mentioned in the Biblical Book of Esther, of the downfall of the world's first anti-Jewish genocide attempt in Persia, in the fifth century B.C.E.. Haman, the evil prime minister of King Ahasuerus, chose the date of death by lotteries ("Purim"), hence the name of the day.

Fast of the First Born (Nisan 14; in 2007, on April 2): This fast by firstborn males lasts from sunup to the Passover seder, and commemorates the firstborn Egyptian males slain in the tenth plague and the grief suffered by their loved ones. No weddings may occur on this day.

PESACH* (Nisan 15-21 and 22 for some; in 2007, on April 3-10 and 11 for some): "PASSOVER", the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. The seder on the first (two) night(s) recounts the experience in a family celebration with symbolic foods relating to the whole of the Egyptian bondage. the first night of Passover is the anniversary of the night that G0d "passed over" the houses of the Israelites during the tenth plague. The last day commemorates the crossing of the Reed Sea. No leavened products are eaten during the week of Passover to symbolize the haste of the departure, "without enough time for the bread to rise".

Yom haSho'ah (Nisan 27; in 2007, on April 15): "Holocaust Memorial Day", created by the Knesset of Israel, precedes Yom haAtzmaut by eight days, emphasizing the tragedy of 1933-45, and how Israel and the Jewish people must ensure that it never happens again. No weddings may occur on this day.

Yom HaZikaron (Iyar 4; in 2007, on April 22): Israel's "Memorial Day", created by the Knesset of Israel, commemorating those who died defending the country.

Yom haAtzma'ut (Iyar 5; in 2007, on April 23): Israel's "Independence Day".

LaG ba'Omer (Iyar 18; in 2007, on May 6): The fifty days from Passover to Shavuot are the "Omer period", the days on which an "omer" (a Biblical bushel) of first-fruits of one's field were brought to the Temple. Some observe this as a period of semi-mourning (no weddings, haircuts, parties) commemorating the unsuccessful Bar-Kochba Revolt against Roman occupiers of Israel in 133-135 C.E.. The "33rd Day of the Omer Count" ends the sad period and begins the buildup to Shavuot. It is a day for picnics and for singing around bonfires.

Yom Yerushalayim (Iyar 28; in 2007, on May 16): "Jerusalem Day", created by the Knesset of Israel, commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967.

SHAVUOT* (Sivan 6 and 7 for some; in 2007, on May 23 and 24 for some). Feast of the culmination of the seven "Weeks" of the Omer from Passover when the Revelation at Mount Sinai occurred. Some study all night as if preparing for a new revelation.

Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz (Tammuz 17; in 2007, on July 3): This fast is one of the four "Jerusalem Fasts", and it lasts from sunup to sundown. 17 Tammuz was the day Jerusalem's walls were breached prior to the destructions in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E.. Traditionally it is also seen as the day that Moses descended from Mt. Sinai, since this day is forty days after Shavuot (the day of the revelation at Mt. Sinai). On that day, Moses broke the first Tablets of the Ten Commandments when confronted by the Golden Calf. Weddings are not done on days of mourning such as 17 Tammuz. The whole period from this day to the ninth of Av is a period of semi-mourning like the omer period, with the same restrictions. From the first of Av till after the ninth, some additionally refrain from eating meat.

TISHA B'AV ("9th of Av"; in 2007, on July 24): This fast is the most important of the four "Jerusalem Fasts", and it lasts from sundown to sundown. It mourns the day of the destruction of the first and second Temples in 586 B.C.E. by Babylonians and in 70 C.E. by Romans. After Yom Kippur, this is the most important fast of the year. Weddings are not done on days of mourning such as 9 Av.