Jewish Calendar
The Hebrew calendar is both solar and lunar, with twelve months. The lunar calendar is approximately eleven days shorter than twelve months, thus, every few years a leap month is added.
The day begins at sunset, the week begins on Saturday night, the month begins with the new moon, and the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is in autumn.
There are twelve months in the Jewish calendar. The numbering of years is calculated from the creation of the world, which is traditionally understood to coincide with 3760 BCE.
The Hebrew calendar serves the religious and cultural purpose of keeping track of Holy Days, marriages, and the anniversaries of deaths. As a result of the discrepancy in days between the Jewish calendar year and the Gregorian calendar year, the date of each Holy Day will rotate each year. However, the difference from year to year is usually minor and each Holy Day can be expected to occur during the same season every year (e.g. Rosh Hashanah in the Fall, Pesach in the Spring, etc.)
In the Bible, in addition to the Sabbath, the Holy Days are the three pilgrimage harvest festivals of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot; as well as the “Days of Awe,” the New Year and the Day of Atonement.
On all of these Holy Days, including the Sabbath (Saturdays), work is forbidden.
There are other post-biblical festivals on which work is permitted, such as Chanukah and Purim. In all cases, Holy Days are marked by special synagogue services and celebration in the home.
Shabbat/Sabbath
The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday evening and ends after sundown on Saturday evening.
Candles are lit, the kiddush, an ancient prayer over wine, is recited, and hallah (traditional bread) is served. Observant Jews go to synagogue Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening.
All work is prohibited on Shabbat in order to commemorate G-d’s day of rest on the seventh day of creation as well as the Exodus from Egypt. It is a time for spiritual renewal, contemplation, learning, and family gathering.
Please note that on Shabbat, observant Jews do not work from Friday sundown to Saturday after sundown and that, as the days grow shorter in the winter months, early departure from school or work may be required.
In Jewish tradition, work includes a range of creative activities rather than simply physical or occupational labour. On Shabbat, observant Jews abstain from using technology, driving, writing, cooking, and commercial activities, among other tasks.
Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year
1-2 Tishrei (Sept / Oct)
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is considered one of the most important Jewish Holy Days. It celebrates creation as told in the Book of Genesis. Rosh Hashanah is the yearly renewal of creation and has come to signify the continuity of creation and the ongoing involvement of G-d in the lives of the Jewish people. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the ten days of repentance. It is a time to assess one’s personal achievements and failures and to prepare to begin anew.
The blast of the shofar, the ram’s horn, in the synagogue reminds the Jewish people to fear G-d and to do good deeds during the next twelve months.
Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with symbolic foods such as apples and honey, which represent the hope of a sweet new year.
Sukkot
Festival of Tabernacles
15-21 Tishrei (Sept / Oct)
Sukkot is a seven-day festival with historical and agricultural significance. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival, sometimes referred to as the Feast of Ingathering.
To celebrate, a sukkah – a booth of palm and willow branches – is built and meals are eaten within it.
No work is permitted on the first two days of Sukkot. The two days following the festival, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are also days when work is not permitted. Though these days are separate holidays, they are related to Sukkot and are therefore commonly thought of as part of the holiday.
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
10 Tishrei (Sept / Oct)
Marking the end of the ten days of repentance, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, observed by twenty-five hours of fasting and prayer in order to cleanse one of any sins.
Yom Kippur begins at sundown with an evening service called Kol Nidre, ‘All Vows,’ which is commonly preceded by a large meal, the last meal before the start of the fast.
Sukkot
Festival of Tabernacles
15-21 Tishrei (Sept / Oct)
Sukkot is a seven-day festival with historical and agricultural significance. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival, sometimes referred to as the Feast of Ingathering.
To celebrate, a sukkah – a booth of palm and willow branches – is built and meals are eaten within it.
No work is permitted on the first two days of Sukkot. The two days following the festival, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, are also days when work is not permitted. Though these days are separate holidays, they are related to Sukkot and are therefore commonly thought of as part of the holiday.
Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Festival of Rejoicing with the Torah
10 Tishrei (Sept / Oct)
Shemini Atzeret marks the completion of the annual reading of the Torah and Simchat Torah celebrates the resumption of the annual cycle of readings. The holidays are celebrated with singing, dancing, and processions of people carrying Torahs and waving flags.
Pesach
Passover
14-22 Nisan (Mar / Apr)
Commonly referred to as Passover, Pesach is a celebration of the biblical Exodus of the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses acting in the name of G-d, from the slavery imposed by the Egyptians.
During Passover, Jews refrain from eating leavened products including bread, cakes, pizza, cereal, and others. The ritual meal, or Seder is the most important part in the celebration of Pesach.
The Hebrew term Seder means the order in which the events of the Pesach ceremony are carried out.
During the Seder, the symbolism of each traditional food is explained, the events of the Exodus are told, and the Haggadah (a book which recounts the Exodus) is read. Pesach begins on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan and continues for eight days.
The Seder meal is observed by most Jews worldwide.
Work is not permitted on the first two and last two days of Pesach.
Shavuot
Festival of Weeks
6-7 Sivan (May / Jun)
Shavuot recalls G-d’s gifts of the Torah and the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Holy Day commemorates the end of the spring harvest when in biblical times, Jews brought the first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Shavuot begins on the fiftieth day after Pesach, the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (in May or June), and lasts for two days. Consuming dairy foods and using floral decorations are customary ways of celebrating the holiday. Work is not permitted during this two-day festival.
The days between Pesach and Shavuot are seen as days of mourning and are held as a remembrance of the misfortunes which afflicted the Jewish people during the days of Roman domination, as well as during the Crusades of the Middle Ages.
Chanukah
Festival of Lights
25 Kislev— 2 Tevet (Nov / Dec)
A festival commemorating the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenist-Syrians, Chanukah begins in either November or December and lasts for eight days.Chanukah has several different spellings (Hanukah, Hanukkah, Chanukkah) because there is no exact English translation for the Hebrew word.
In 164 BCE, the Maccabees, a band of Hebrews, recaptured their temple from the HellenistSyrians. The Temple was cleansed and purified and the menorah (candelabrum) was lit once again as a re-dedication to G-d.
Tu B’shevat
Festival of the Trees
15 Shevat (Jan / Feb)
A festival marking the beginning of spring in Israel and a celebration of trees and the earth begins when the sap from the fruit trees of Israel begins to rise. It is celebrated by eating fruits and nuts that come from Israel, by planting trees, and by having picnics.
Purim
Feast of Lots
14 Adar II (Feb / Mar)
Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from a planned massacre at a time when Jewish communities were living under Persian rule in 450 BCE.
The story is found in the biblical Book of Esther and is retold during this holiday. In addition to consuming traditional foods such as the hamantaschen, triangular cookies representing the malevolent enemy Haman, Purim is celebrated with costumes and loud noise makers.
Lag B’Omer
The 33rd Day of the Counting of the Omer
17 Iyar (Apr / May)
This day serves as a break in the mourning days between Pesach and Shavuot and is held as remembrance of the misfortunes which afflicted the Jewish people during the days of Roman domination as well as during the Crusades of the Middle Ages.
Lag B’Omer serves as a reminder of the faith and courage of Torah scholars during the harsh rule of the Roman conquerors. No special liturgy or synagogue ritual exists for this day, and most people treat it as an ordinary work day.
Tisha B’av
Destruction of the Temple
9 Av (Jul / Aug)
In mid-summer, Jews observe the anniversary of the destruction of the ancient Temple which stood in Jerusalem. Today, Jews still turn towards the direction of Jerusalem when in prayer.
Traditional Jews mark the day with a fast of twenty-five hours, from sunset to the following day’s nightfall, with prayers of mourning and with some limitations on usual work-day activities.