Festivals Flashcards
Pessach
Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrates the Exodus of the Isrealites from Egypt. 7 (or 8) days in Nissan. As recounted in the Book of Exodus, God commands Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a lamb’s blood above their doors in order that the Angel of Death will ‘pass over’ them. Central meaning of Pessach is liberation. Rebirth and hope. Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
Traditions/Mitzvot:
1. To tell the story of Pessach
Passover seder, family gets together for a meal, which has a carefully constructed order. Eating matze and maror (bitter herbs), drinking 4cups of wine. reciting the haggadah, a special text that retells the story of the Exodus.
2. To eat Matzah (unleavened bread)
3. To refrain from eating hametz. (leavened bread). Cleaning of the house to get rid of all Hametz
Shavuot
(The Feast of Weeks) celebrates the giving of the Torah at mount Sinai. It took Moses and the Israelites seven weeks of trekking through the desert to reach Mount Sinai. Shavuot literally translates to “weeks” in Hebrew, emphasizing the conclusion of this seven week journey (starting at Pessach). Shavuot is also an agricultural festival, marking the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel.]
Traditions/Mitzvot
- decorating the synagogue with green plants, branches and trees and eating diary food
- Many Jews also celebrate the holiday by staying up all night on Erev Shavuot to study and symbolically prepare for receiving the wisdom of the Torah
Sukkot
literally ‘booths’ or ‘huts’, is the festival of Tabernacles, over seven days in late September or early October. Pilgrimage festival - commemorates the wandering in the desert (living in huts). Creating Shelter But also has agricultural element (time of harvest in Israel). Gathering the produce before winter.
Traditions/Mitzvot:
1. Building and living (or at least eating) in a Sukkah (4 walls and roof of tree branches). Temporary structure but nicely decorated.
2. Gathering together the four species (Lulav and etrog).
etrog, palm tree branch, willow, myrtle.
3. rejoicing during the holiday.
It is also a tradition to invite ushpizin, symbolic guests, one guest every day (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses. etc.
Yom Kippur
The day of Atonement. It occurs in late September or early October. Brings to the end the 10 days of repentance that began with Rosh Hashana. Long time of introspection that should lead to change. In ancient times, God’s special name was proclaimed on this day by the High Priest in the Temple.
The most solemn day of the year. A day of fasting to focus our minds on repellence and atonement. Ritual located in the Synagogue with services all evening and day. Kol Nidrei - Evening. service.
Traditions/Mitzvot
1. five restrictions: Eating or drinking, bathing, no sex, no oil on the body, no leather shoes. Also none of the activities that are forbidden on shabbat.
2. People often wear a white kitten, like the shroud we will be buried in to consider our mortality.
3. Forgiveness should be sought from the people we have offended or hurt before Yom Kippur.
Rosh Hashana
Jewish New Year (literally ‘head of the Year’). It occurs on the first and second day of Tishri in September or early October. Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of the creation of the world and marks making a fresh start. It is a time for people to reflect on the past year and to ask for forgiveness for anything wrong they feel they have done.
Traditions/Mitvot
1. Blowing of the Shofar
2. apples dipped in honey - a symbol of the sweet New Year that each Jew hopes lies ahead
3. Sweet carrot stew – symbolising reproduction because in Yiddish, the word for carrot, ‘mern’, has the same meaning
4. challah bread in a round loaf, symbolising a circle of life and the year
5. pomegranate – often seen on the table because of a tradition that pomegranates have 613 seeds, one for each of the commandments that a Jew is obliged to keep
Simchat Torah
Literally ‘Rejoicing of the Torah’ celebrates the conclusion and the new beginning of the yearly Torah-reading cycle.
Traditions/Mitzvot
Hakkafot - circling the synagogue with the Torah, usually around the Bimah. There are seven hakkafot altogether. Singing and dancing, with special focus on fun for children.
Tisha B’Av
Day commemorating the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BE and 70 CE. Occurs n mid-July to early August.
Tradition/Mitzvot
1. Fasting (no food or drink, no sex, no bathing, no oiling the body, no leather shoes like on Yom Kippur plus also not reading the Torah, because that is a joyful activity.
2. Mourning practices and reading from the book of lamentations.
Shabbat
A day of rest, each week from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. Because God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. A weekly reminder of the creation of the universe and the covenant between God and the Jewish people. A time to rest, and connect with God and family, friends and community. One of the ten commandments.
In the Mishnah, the Rabbis enumerated 39 major categories (with hundreds of subcategories) of labor that were forbidden based on the types of work that were related to the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which ceased on the Sabbath. Different people observe the Shabbat differently depending on how observant people are. Shabbat involves two interrelated commandments: to remember (zachor, remembering the significance of Shabbat) and to observe (shamor).
Traditions/Mitzvot
1. Lighting of the Shabbat candles to mark the beginning of Shabbat (let there be light).
2. Short Synagogue service to welcome the Shabbat (Kabbalat Shabbat)
3. Kiddush - prayer of wine and Hamotzee, prayer of Challah.
4. Havdallah to mark the end of Shabbat at sundown on Saturday. Lighting of a special havdallah candle, smelling spices, drinking a cup of wine.
Tu Bishevat
“New Year of the Trees”. A Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat (around January) In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day. Also commemorates the connection with the land of Israel.
Traditions/Mitzvot
1. Seder with ten kind of fruit and nuts and lots of wine
Chanukah
Festival of Dedication or Festival of Lights, is an 8 day festival, usually in late November or December. Not mentioned in the Bible. It is commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks in the 2nd century BCE, Judah the Maccabee reclaimed the Temple from the Greeks, but could only find a small amount of oil, enough for one day. But when he lit the Temple menorah with it, it burned for 8 days.
Traditions/Mitzvot
1. Ligthing of the Chanukah candles. Adding one candle every night after sundown. The 9th candle, the Schamash, the candle that is used to light all others, is higher than the rest.
2. Singing Chanukah songs, exchanging gifts and playing games.
3. Eating foods fried in oil, such as potato latkes.
Yom Ha’atzmaut
Israeli independence day. Parties, performances and military parades.
Yom Hashoah
Holocaust Remembrance Day is held on the 27th of Nisan (falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day. Chosen by the Israeli government to commemorate the victims of the Shoah.
Purim
Purim commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an Persian Empire official who was planning to kill all the Jews in the empire, as recounted in the Book of Esther, usually dated to the 5th century BCE. Also called the Festival of Lots (Purim), because Haman drew lots as to when to kill the Jews. Esther pleads with the king and he spares the Jews and kills Haman. Day is celebrated with masquerades and a lot of alcohol.
Traditions/Mitzvot:
1. Reading of the megillah, the book of Esther. Every time the name Haman is read, we make a noise.
2. A Festive meal on the afternoon of Purim
3. Sending gifts of food to friends
4. Giving money to the poor.
Rosh Hodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh (Hebrew: ראש חודש; trans. Beginning of the Month; lit. Head of the Month) is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the birth of a new moon. It is considered a minor holiday.
