JEWISH HOLIDAYS

CLASS I

There are many Jewish holidays, but we will highlight only a few of them here.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah means "first of the year".  It is the Jewish New Year, and instead of being a time of frenetic partying, it is a holy day dedicated to reflection: Jews are to think about the year that has passed, try to identify mistakes they have made, and make resolutions to live a better life in the year to come.  One of the traditional foods of Rosh Hashanah is apples dipped in honey; this is to symbolize everyone's wish for a sweet new year.  Another important element in celebrating Rosh Hashanah is hearing the shofar in the synogogue.  A shofar is a ram's horn which is blown to sound like a trumpet, and its notes are heard as a call to repentance.

The Days of Awe

The Days of Awe, sometimes called the "Days of Repentane", are the ten days that begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur.  This period of time is meant to be one of very serious reflection and repentance.  Jews believe that G-d, who is omniscient and just, has books in which He writes out what everyone's life will be like for the next year based in their actions in the previous year.  G-d writes in these books on Rosh Hashanah, but nothing is final until Yom Kippur, when the books are "sealed" until next year.  Jews believe, therefore, that if they seek reconciliation with people they may have wronged, practice acts of charity and pray during the Days of Awe, God will inscribe next to their names a good life for the next year.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the culmination of the Days of Awe; it is known as the Day of Atonement, and is perhaps the most important Jewish holiday.  It is also probably the holiday observed by the greatest number of Jews.  Jews believe that it is on Yom Kippur that the books in which G-d writes out our lives for the next year are sealed.  Since Yom Kippur is seen as a sort of last chance to appeal to G-d's mercy before His judgement is finalized, Jews spend most of the day in the synogogue praying.  Yom Kippur is also a day of strict fasting-- no food or drink may be taken from the evening before to nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur, and no work is allowed.  Synogogue services include the blowing of the shofar as a call to repentance.  Many Jews werar white on that day to symbolize purity and to remind them that God can make even the worst sins as white as snow.

Sukkot

Five days after Yom Kippur, Jews celebrate the festival of Sukkot.  In Hebrew, the word sukkah means "booth", and this holiday, which is one of the most joyous ones of the year, commemorates the forty years the Jews spent wandering in the desert after the exodus from Egypt.  During this time, the Israelites lived in tents, and so modern day Jews remember this by building a sukkah, or tent, in which they eat their meals and, if the weather is nice, even sleep.  Sukkot is also a harvest festival, so many Jews decorate their sukkot with corn, wheat, squash and other vegetables.  This is easy to do, because Sukkot occurs around Halloween and Thanksgiving.  The holiday lasts for seven days, and involves special rituals, prayers and songs.

Channukah

Channukah is known as the Festival of Lights, and it is an eight day celebration commemorating a miracle that took place more than 2,ooo years ago.  When Antiochus IV was in control of Palestine, he persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple by instituting a pagan priest and ordering the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal).  The Jews rebelled against this opression and sacriledge, and when their attempts were successful, they rededicated the Temple.  The only problem was, though, that there was just enough oil to light the menorah for one day.  G-d, however, miraculously kept the menorah burning for eight days, and so Jews today keep an eight day festival to celebrate G-d's extraordinary providence.