| Jewish Festivals |
| Jewish festivals are joyous occasions, calling for spiritual, religious and cultural expression on the part of those who celebrate. Unfortunately, their beauty and pageantry are not generally familiar to people outside the Jewish faith for two reasons: first, the celebrations are based on stories in the Old Testament and great events in history pertinent to the Jews in their struggle for freedom in a hostile world; and second, the rituals and ceremonies of most of the festivals are performed within the family circle; therefore, it is necessary to have an undestanding of Jewish life in the home. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Rosh Hashana traditionally marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. It begins the Ten Days of Penitence which culminate in the fasting and in the religious services of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. These High Holy Days are the most solemn of Jewish religious observances. They are a time set aside for earnest self-judgment for individuals rather than a joyous celebration. This season was desgined to soften the erring heart of man with contrition for misdeeds, thus leading him to wholehearted repentance by the time Yom Kippur arrived. The Jewish doctrine is predicated on the belief that "Greater is the merit of the transgressor who repents than that of a saint who never sinned". The reason for this examination and purgation was given by the ancient teachers of Israel: "God gave man his soul that he might keep it pure and in that unsullied condition must man return to Him, for the soul belongs to God". On Rosh Hashana, services in the synagogues are marked by a great solemnity. After an elaborate liturgy, the Shofat, the ram's horn, is sounded. Its clarion call is, as it were, a summons to the worshipers to look within, to search their consciences, and then come to sincere repetance. The belief is that nine days hence, on Yom Kippur, the celestial book of accounts will be closed and judgement reached. In the Jewish home, the kiddush (the sanctification prayer) is recited, and the festive lights are kindled on the eve of Rosh Hashana. As a piece of sweet apple is dipped in honey, the person who performs this symbolic act repeats, "May it be God's will to grant us a good and sweet year". Likewise, bread is dipped in honey to symbolize hope that, as the bread is sweet, so may the experiences during the approaching year be only the most pleasant. On the second night, some kind of fruit is tasted that has not yet been eaten during the year. Then an appropriate benediction is recited. Yom Kippur Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day of the Jewish year, reverently called "the Sabbath of Sabbaths". Many Jews who do not attend the synagogue the rest of the year join their co-religionists in solemn prayer on this holy day. This is the tenth day of the Season of Repentance and lasts from sundown to sundown, in accordance with the Jewish custom for all festivals and fasts. On the day preceding Yom Kippur, it is the custom for penitents to call on those they might have injured in any way and humbly implore their forgiveness. A large taper is lit in the home as a memorial light to burn during the twenty-four hours of the fast in memory of departed ones. The Day of Atonement service begins with chanting of the Kol Nidre ("All vows"), the solemn prayer which calls for release from unfilled vows made to God. This dispensation from vows refers only to those which an individual voluntarily assumes for himself alone, and which concern his relationship to his conscience and Heavenly Judge. There is no oath, promise, contract or obligation involving another person, a community, or court of justice in any way. The "Neilah" is the concluding service of the day, when the worshipers make their final peace with God and their conscience. God's book of deeds is closed and, judgement having been reached, is ready to be opened again for another year. Purim Purim, a Jewish semi-festival, is celebrate as a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving, with the exchange of gifts between friends and charity to the poor. It commemorates the joyousness of the Jews when Queen Esther interceded with King Ahasuerus for the deliverance of her people from Haman's vengeance. Indeed, the observance of Purim celebrates the whole story of Esther as told in the Old Testament. "Purim" means "lots", because the day for the extermination of the Persian Jews (the thirteenth day of the month Adar) was determinded by casting lots. The thirteenth day of Adar is known as the Fast of Esther, and the following day is observed as Purim. Purim comes in February and, unlike most Jewish festivals, it is secular in nature. The fun of Purim begins with the stamping of children's feet and the noise of the Greggers (wooden rattles) whenever Haman's name is used during the reading of the Megillah (Book pf Esther) in the synagogue on the evening and morning of Purim. Formerly, chidlren's groups would go from house to house in Jewish communities acting out the story of Joseph (in humorous form), singing comic songs and collecting money for charity. No Jewish festival approaches Purim in its gay carnival spirit. It is marked by all kinds of nummery and burlesque. The mirth overflows from the home into the synagogue, and from the synagogue into the streets and, according to an old Yiddish saying, "Anything can happen on Purim". Children go from house to house singing a popular jingle, the point of which is: "Give me a penny". Like all festive occasions, Purim, too, calls for special food. During the singing and merrymaking Hamantaschen (Haman's pockets) are served. These are triangular pastires filled with poppy seeds or prunes. Shalachmones, gifts of food and drink, are exchanged--the poor being especially remembered. Pesach (Passover) The most beloved of all the Jewish festivals is Pesach, or Passover. It celebrates and symbolizes "freedom", a condition cherished among Jews for three thousand years and, for this reason, it is referred to as the "Festival of Liberation". Jewish families, on Pesach night, have always gathered together to relive in recollection their most unforgettable historic experience; their bondage in Egypt and their liberation. Passover did not always hold this significance for Jews. It had quite a different character in the days when the Temple in Jerusalem stood. At that time, in preparation for the festival, each householder was obliged to slaughter a lamb or a goat--a yearaling "without blemish", which he brought as a sacrifice to the Lord. The Festival of Liberation, as we know it today, has been changed because the bringing of a sacrifice into a central place is no longer observed. As a substitute for the Passover sacrifice and rites in the Temple there was established the institution of the Seder. The Seder In every Jewish home is a Seder, which means "order". It has a special prayer book called Haggadah ("recital" or "story"), consisting, first, of an anthology made up of varied materials of a narrative in epic style, then prayers, benedictions and psalms of praise and thanksgiving. As a sop of the children, it ends with severeal nursery rhymes and jingles. Passover begins on the eve of the fourteenth day of Nissan (March-April) and lasts eight days, the eight day having been added during the Middle Ages. But Jews in Israel and those who belong to modern Reform congregations observe only seven days. The first two days and the last two are traditionally considered as full holidays; the intervening ones are only half holidays. The advent of the festival is marked by elaborate preparations. Special dishes, cooking utensils and silver are used for the entire period. There are special wine bottles, matzoh covers, a kiddush goblet, or a benediction cup, for the head of the household. The festival table, too, is arranged in a way reserved for the Sede service and feast. The night before Passover Eve, in those homes where tradition is closely followed, the ceremony of bedikat chametz takes place. The head of the household makes search in all possible places for Chametz--leavened bread. This is because throughout the eight days of Passover only matzoh, unleavened bread, may be eaten. The custom since ancient times is for the searcher to carry a candle with him and to sweep any bread crumbs he finds into a wooden spoon. At the outset, as a symbol of his search, he places a crumb on a window sill. When he is through, he returns and brushes it ceremoniously into the spoon as he pronounces the benediction "Blessed be Thou....who has commanded us to remove the leaven". The following morning, the leaven he has put aside is burned and the ritual law requires that unleavened bread may not be eaten in midmorning on that day. The Seder service is conducted at home on the first two evenings of Passover by conservative and orthodox Jews and on the first evening by reform Jews and by the Jews in Israel. The story of the exodus from Egypt and folk songs found in the Haggadah are the focal points of the Seder. In the center of the table is the Seder plate. On it are placed the Passover symbols: a roasted lamb bone and a roasted egg in memory of God's command to Moses on the eve of departure from Egypt and in memory of the festival offerings in the temple; Maror (a bitter herb), symbolizing the bitter hadships of slavery; parsley and salt water for the bitter tears shed by the slaves; Haroset, made of apples, nuts, wine, sugar and cinnamon, representing the bricks made by the Israelites in Egypt. Cups of wine and matzoh complete the symbols used in the Seder. All members of the family sit in a reclining position at the Seder, commemorating the fact that the Jews were not permitted to sit that way when they were slaves in Egypt. After the benediciton, the drinking of the first cup of wine and the eating of parsley, the master of the household breaks the center matzoh. It is customary for him to hide a part of it, the aphikomon (Greek for dessert). Festival folk tradition, which is always gay, requires that the children make a diligent search for it. It is a form of treasure hunt designed to sustain their interest in the long prayer service. At the conclusion of the Seder, whoever has possession of the aphikomon receives a reward. |
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