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Festivals and Holidays
Celebrations of communal
life: of time, history and the passing of seasons (Handout: Jewish
Holidays/The Jewish Calendar) [see: Lev. Ch.
23, Ex. 23:14-19]
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Many holidays
commemorate historic events in the history of the Jewish people thus
teaching the history to the next generation; most are observed with
synagogue and/or home worship and celebration, many with special foods,
meals and gathering of family and friends
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Holiday and Sabbath
meals include blessings over candles, wine and bread; Orthodox say grace
after meals (a standard Hebrew prayer/recitation)
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All holidays and
Sabbath begin and end at sundown (Jewish day begins at sundown: "there
was evening and there was morning, one day," Gen. 1:5, et. al.)
The Hebrew calendar:
lunar with seasonal adjustments ("leap" month); new moon=new month,
full moon=mid month
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Sabbath:
day of rest and study, no work may be done including cooking and driving
(cannot light a fire, turn on electricity)
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High Holidays:
early fall, most important of holidays
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Rosh Hashanah
("Head of the Year"): The New Year celebration (anniversary of
the creation of the world) with festive family meal and lengthy prayer
services in synagogue (apple & honey, raisin Chalah)
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Yom Kippur
("Day of Atonement"): 10th day of Holy Day period culminates with
24 hour fast and synagogue prayer
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Sukkot
(Feast of "Booths"): 7 day fall harvest festival, temporary booths
are built to eat in, waving of lulav and etrog to the six
directions (a very earthy festival)
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Simchat ("Joyous")
Torah: day after Sukkot, a festive celebration when annual Torah
reading is completed and begins again
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Chanukah
("dedication"): late fall, commemorates rededication of the
Jerusalem Temple in 165 BCE following victory over the Greek attempt to
subdue Jewish religion; lasts for eight days, observed in the home with
lighting of the Chanukah menorah, gift giving, game playing and eating fried
foods (symbolic of the miracle of the oil); a minor holiday, not
the "Jewish Christmas" nor even equivalent in significance (gift
giving is not traditional, giving money - gelt - is traditional)
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Purim
("Lots"): mid-winter, commemorates heroic resistance of Persian
persecution under Haman as told in Biblical book of Esther;
celebrated with much merriment: carnivals and costumes of characters from
the story (Jewish Mardi Gras?), a reading of the story during holiday
worship service with loud noise to drown out Haman’s name. [see Esther
9:20-32]
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Passover
(Pesach): first full moon after vernal equinox (first full moon of
spring) (a spring harvest festival - "first fruits"); commemorates
the Exodus from Egypt with home celebration of festive ritual meal called a Seder
("order") which serves an educational role; symbolic rituals are
performed with special foods promoting the children to ask "why"
and for the adults to tell (Haggadah - "telling") the story
of the Exodus. [see Ex. Ch. 12]
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Shavuot
("weeks") (aka Pentecost): the 50th day (7 weeks) after
Passover commemorating when the Hebrew people arrived at Mt. Sinai and
received the Law (Torah) from God (also a harvest festival)
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New holidays
include commemoration of two 20th cent. historic events: Holocaust memorial
day (Yom HaShoah) and the celebration of Israel independence day (Yom
Ha’Atzmaut). These are minor observations during the "counting of
the Omar" between Passover and Shavuot
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