Jewish Festivals

Question 1

What are the three festivals in Judaism?

Answer 1

Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur
Passover

Question 2

What is Rosh Hashanah?

Answer 2

Rosh Hashanah is a day of rest and marks the beginning of a solemn 10-day season of self-examination and self-judgment in the life of a Jew.

Question 3

How long is solemn?

Answer 3

10 days

Question 4

During Rosh Hashanah Jewish people attend the synagogue for what?

Answer 4

Jewish people attend the synagogue at special services where the shofar (rams horn) is sounded.

Question 5

What is traditional to eat during Rosh Hashanah?

Answer 5

Challah

Question 6

What does it symbolize when challah is formed into a circle?

Answer 6

It is traditional to eat challah that has been formed into a circle to symbolize a full year.

Question 7

What symbolizes the hope for a sweet year?

Answer 7

Also traditional to eat apples or challah dipped in honey to symbolize the hope for a sweet year.

Question 8

On Rosh Hashanah 2 events are remembered one is that God created the world in how many days?

Answer 8

God’s creation of the world in six days.

Question 9

How many days do Jews believe you can repent before God makes his final judgement at the time of Yom Kippur?

Answer 9

10 days

Question 10

Jews believe that there is a period of ten days during which people can repent before God makes his final judgment at which time?

Answer 10

Yom Kippur

Question 11

The judging of the Jewish people in heaven following God’s opening of the ____ __ ____. God will ‘weigh up’ the ____ and ___ _____ of the ____ ____ and decide which names can stay in the book for another ____ and which will be removed.

Answer 11

1. Book of Life,
2. good,
3. bad deeds ,
4. past year
5. year

Question 12

What does Yom Kippur mean and what is done on the day?

Answer 12

Yom Kippur means Day of Atonement and this means a day to ask for forgiveness from God for any bad thing that you might have done in the year gone by….

Question 13

How long does Yom Kippur last for?

Answer 13

The day lasts for 25 hours

Question 14

True or False: Yom Kippur is a day of fasting.

Answer 14

True

Question 15

What do Jews do in the days leading up to Yom Kippur?

Answer 15

In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, Jews will apologize to people they might have upset or hurt, so that when the special day comes, God will forgive them for their wrongdoings…

Question 16

True of False: Yom Kippur is also a time when Jews remember those who are in need and make donations to charities.

Answer 16

True

Question 17

How many prayer services are there at the Synagogue on the day of Yom Kippur?

Answer 17

5 prayer services

Question 18

When Yom Kippur is finished what is done?

Answer 18

At the end of the day the priest blows the shofar to tell people that Yom Kippur is finished.

Question 19

True of False: Yom Kippur is the time when Jewish people face up to their true spiritual condition before God and seek forgiveness.

Answer 19

True

Question 20

What is the story of Jonah from Jewish Scriptures?

Answer 20

Jonah was a prophet who was told by God to warn wicked people in the city of Nineveh that they would be destroyed unless they repented of their sins. Jonah ran away but could not escape the responsibility that God had given him, no matter how hard he tried.

Question 21

What is Passover in Hebrew?

Answer 21

Passover (Hebrew - Pesaḥ/ Pesach)

Question 22

What is Passover?

Answer 22

Is the Jewish holiday commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” of the forces of destruction, or the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites, when the Lord “smote the land of Egypt” on the eve of the Exodus.

Question 23

What do children do on the night before Passover?

Answer 23

On the night before Pesach starts, children take part in, in a game of searching for pieces of leavened bread in the house.

Question 24

Why did Jews leave Egypt in a hurry?

Answer 24

Jewish people had to leave Egypt in a hurry when the tenth plague (death of the firstborn) forced the pharaoh to let the slaves go.

Question 25

What happened to the Jews that followed God’s instructions and put the blood of a lamb over their doorpost?

Answer 25

The plague did not harm the Jews that followed God’s instructions

Question 26

What does the name Passover refer to?

Answer 26

The name Passover refers to this event,
(the plague) When God ‘passed over’ these houses and the first-born males within were kept safe.

Question 27

What is the service book called?

Answer 27

hagadah

Question 28

During Passover Meal, meal readings from the service book (hagadah) describes the journey out of Egypt. What are the 6 symbolic foods?

Answer 28

1. A roasted egg
2. Roasted lamb bone
3. Bitter herbs
4. Green vegetables
5. Charoset
6. Sometimes salt water

Question 29

What is another name for Passover meals?

Answer 29

(The Seder - Order)

Question 30

On The Seder plate is a Roasted Egg what does it symbolize?

Answer 30

Symbol of the festival sacrifice brought to the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient days.

Question 31

On The Seder plate is a Roasted Lamb Bone what does it symbolize?

Answer 31

It symbolizes the Passover lamb.

Question 32

On The Seder plate are Bitter Herbs what does it symbolize?

Answer 32

It is a symbol of the bitterness of the slavery of Jewish forefathers in Egypt.

Question 33

On The Seder plate are Green vegetables that are usually parsley or celery what does it symbolize?

Answer 33

These remind everyone that Passover is a spring festival.

Question 34

On The Seder plate is a charoset what does it symbolize?

Answer 34

A mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine, which resembles the mortar and brick made by the Jews when they were in slavery.

Question 35

On The Seder plate is saltwater what does it symbolize?

Answer 35

It symbolizes tears