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Holidays / Chagim
Shabbat |
Rosh Hashanah |
Yom Kippur |
Sukkot |
Shemini Atzeret |
Simchat Torah |
Hanukah |
Tu B'Shevat |
Purim |
Passover |
Omer |
Yom HaShoah |
Yom Ha'atzmaut |
Yom Yerushalayim |
Shavuot |
Tisha B'Av
Shabbot
On Shabbat, or the day of rest, we spend time with family and rest from the work week.
This begins on Friday night with the lighting of the two Shabbot candles, traditionally
lit by the woman of the house to commemorate the two mitzvot of this holiday: Zachor (to remember) and Shamor (to observe).
Shabbot lasts until sundown on Saturday.
Candle-lighting Times
MyJewishLearning.com: Shabbat
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Hanukkah
Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Temple in
Jerusalem after its defilement by the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE. The holiday is centered around
the home and family, where we light the hanukkian (also known as the menorah).
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Purim
Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is a joyous holiday that recounts the saving of the Jews
from a massacre during in Persia. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with costumes and a reading of the story from
the Book of Esther. Cheering and celebration are popular with the children, who spin groggers, or noisemakers, to drown out the name of the evil Hamen.
Yom HaShoah
Yom Hashoah--Holocaust Remembrance Day--is observed one week after the conclusion of Passover on 27 Nissan.
It is also falls halfway between the first day of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising--which began on the first day of Passover in 1943--
and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day.
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Shavuot
The forgotten Jewish holiday. In the Torah, Shavuot is
listed along with Pesah and Sukkot, but it doesn't have matzah or a Seder; it doesn't have a Sukkah or a
lulov; it is a holiday struggling for attention. Originally, it was the spring parallel to Sukkot, a Festival
of Thanksgiving; celbrating the spring harvest. The Torah tells us of the ceremony of the Bikkurim, the First Fruits,
brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. After the destruction of the Temple and our exile form the land of Israel, the
agricultural nature of the hoiday was transformed into a celebration of the giving of the Torah and ultimately of Jewish
Education.
Fun & Games, & things to learn for Kids
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Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av, the ninth day of the month of Av (which month coincides with July and/or August), is the major day of communal mourning
in the Jewish calendar. Although a large number of disasters are said to have befallen the Jews on this day, the major commemoration
is of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E. Central to the observance of this day is fasting.
Tisha B'Av, the Other Fast Day (Aug 2006) by Rabbi Mark
My Jewish Learning.com
Kinot (dirges) Recounting the sorrows.
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Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new Year, and takes place in the beginning of the
month of Tishrei. It is both a time of rejoicing and of introspection, taking stock of the past year and year to come.
Yom Kippur is the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar, devoted to the repentance for sins committed
over the course of the previous year. 
Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur. It is named after the huts or booths (sukkot)
in which we eat during this week-long celebration. They represent the
huts the Israelists lived in when escaped from slavery in Egypt and spent
40 years of wandering in the desert.
Tu B'shvat is a holiday intimately connected to the agricultural cycle
of the Land of Israel, the New Year of Trees. This holiday is usually celebrated by
planting saplings and eating a seder-like meal, in which the produce of trees (fruits, nuts, etc) are featured.
Passover is a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt and specifically the night
of the 10th plague, when the homes of the Israelites were "passed over." This holidays is centered in the home, where we eat the traditional seder meal.
