Holy days

The Jewish calendar is a combined moon and sun calendar, unlike the conventional Western (or Gregorian) calendar.

The result is that Jewish festivals move about the Western calendar from year to year. The Jewish calendar also starts each day in the evening.

This is because when God was creating the world he started each day in the evening.

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Days of Repentance (Days of Awe)

During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur everyone gets a chance to repent.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It dates back to two centuries before the beginning of Christianity.

Passover

One of the most important festivals in the Jewish calendar, celebrating the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses.

Purim

Purim commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination by the courage of a young Jewish woman called Esther.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year festival and commemorates the creation of the world.

Sabbath

Every week religious Jews observe the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day, and keep its laws and customs.

Shavuot

Shavuot marks the time that the Jews received the Torah on Mount Sinai. It also marks the start of the wheat harvest and the end of the barley harvest.

Sukkot

Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

Tisha B'av

Tisha B'av is a solemn occasion because it commemorates a series of tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the years

Tu B'Shevat (Tu Bishvat)

Tu B'Shevat is the Jewish 'New Year for Trees'. It is one of the four Jewish new years (Rosh Hashanahs).

Yom Hashoah

Yom Hashoah is a day set aside for Jews to remember the Holocaust.

Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur, the most sacred and solemn day of the Jewish year, brings the Days of Repentance to a close.