Download Jewish feasts and holidays

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Jewish Festivals
Although some festivals and special days celebrated by Jews may reflect an earlier
annual festival, most of these special days commemorate a specific historical
event.
Shabbat or Sabbath is the day of rest, on the seventh day—Saturday. The
Sabbath is a day when no work is to be performed. The family stays close to home
and walks to the synagogue for Sabbath worship. Orthodox Jews do not drive or
use appliances on the Sabbath.
Rosh Ha-Shanah or the Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of the Jewish
New Year. This is a two-day festival around September that is announced by
sounding the shofar an early musical instrument made from a ram’s horn. In
ancient history, the shofar was used as a signal in battle and also to announce
special news or occasions. Today the ram’s horn is blown during special worship
services in the synagogue. After the Rosh Hashanah service at the synagogue the
family returns home to enjoy a meal together. The themes of Rosh Hashanah are:
repentance, preparation for the day of God’s judgment, and prayer for a successful
year.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. Eight days after Rosh Ha-Shana, is Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement. God gave instructions for this most holy day in the
book of Leviticus chapter sixteen verses twenty-nine through thirty-four.
This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your
souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien
who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement
shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from
all your sins before the LORD. It is to be a sabbath of solemn
rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent
statute. So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as
priest in his father's place shall make atonement: he shall thus
put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make
atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make
atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall
also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of
the assembly. Now you shall have this as a permanent statute,
to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once
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every year." And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so
he did (Leviticus 16:29-34).
Prior to A.D. 70 when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, the
Day of Atonement was a special day when once a year the people would confess
their sin and bring sacrifices. One this day and only this day the high priest would
sacrifice a bull on the alter in the Temple courtyard. Then the high priest would
enter the holy of holies of the Temple a special room believed to be the place
where God was present and sprinkle the blood of the bull on the mercy seat—a
special place on the cover of the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant was
a rectangle chest or box where the Hebrews kept the original copy of the Ten
Commandments.
Here is an artist’s rendition of what they ark of the covenant may have looked like.
Five days after Yom Kippur is Sukkot the Feast of Tabernacles. God’s
command to celebrate Sukkot was given in Leviticus: “Speak to the sons of Israel,
saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Booths for seven
days to the LORD (Leviticus 23:34). During the five days after Yom Kippur Jews
set up Sukkot or huts resembling the huts in which the people of Israel lived while
they wandered in the desert after their exodus from Egypt. In modern times some
Jews erect small huts in their back yards and will sleep in these huts during the six
days of Sukkot.
Chanukah, is the celebration of Jewish victory over Greeks in 164 B.C.
Chanukah is an eight day festival usually in December. Hanukkah is also called
the “Festival of Lights”. This festival is an eight-day Jewish holiday celebrating
the occasion when Judas Maccabeus rededicated the Temple. The Seleucid King,
Antiochus IV, had desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and forbidden Jews to
follow their traditions. Judas Maccabeus led a revolt against the Seleucids in the
2nd century BC known today as the Maccabean Revolt. The revolt was successful
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and much of Judea was taken back from the Syrians. Judas Maccabeus then
rededicated the Temple. This rededication is remembered in the Chanukah festival
during which candles and lamps are lit especially the candles of the Menorah. One
candle is lit each night of the holiday until the eighth or the final night.
Hanukkah is mentioned in the apocryphal books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.
1 Maccabees says: "For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar.
Legend is that when after his military victory over the Seleucids, Judas Maccabeus
went to rededicate the Temple but there was only enough consecrated olive oil for
the candles in the Temple to burn for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for
eight days. Then Judas Maccabeus decreed that the days of the rededication
should be observed every year for eight days.
Purim, celebrates the deliverance of the Jews while they were in exile in
Babylonia. The Jews lived in Babylonia first under the Babylonians and then
under the Persians. During this time an official in the Persian government under
the rule of King Artaxerxes tried to exterminate all the Jews. They were saved by
queen Esther who was a wife of Artaxerxes who was a Jew and was able to
convince Artaxerxes to spare her people. Purim is a very festive holiday. Schools
are closed, public festivities abound, newspapers run hoax items reminiscent of
April Fools' Day, children (and adults) don costumes, and a festive reading of the
Scroll of Esther is marked by noisemakers sounded whenever Haman's name is
recited. The Orthodox indulge in inebriation, within limits, and carry out an
exacting list of duties: giving of alms, evening and morning readings of the Scroll
of Esther.
In the spring, beginning on 15 Nisan, is Passover. The festival of the Exodus and
liberation from slavery from Egypt. Freedom is the theme of Passover. The rites of
Passover begin long before the festival, as families and businesses cleanse their
premises of leaven or yeast.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first
day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever
eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day,
that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you
shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the
seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what
must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by
you. You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of
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Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your
generations as a permanent ordinance. In the first month, on
the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat
unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at
evening. Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your
houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall
be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an
alien or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything
leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread
(Exodus 12:15-20).
On the evening of Passover, the seder is recited: an elaborate retelling of the
enslavement, redemption, and Exodus, modeled after the ritual of the paschal
sacrifice at the Temple. At this festive meal, the family gathers to recite the seder
and enjoy traditional foods. These foods include matza or unleavened bread.
Passover is the second most important Jewish holiday. Yom Kippur is the most
important.
Shavu'ot or the Feast of Weeks is another important Jewish holiday. This is
a day when they celebrate the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest overlaid with gold and
decorated with two golden angels. The Ark was to be set up in Holy of Holies of
the Tabernacle. The Ark was made with acacia wood and overlaid with gold. The
Ark was about three feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two and a half feet
deep. The angels on top of the box stretched over the Ark and the top of the box
was called the "Mercy Seat." The Ark of the Covenant contained three items of
extreme importance to the Israelites. The first was two stone tablets on which God
had inscribed the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments formed the basis
of God's covenant with Israel. God had many more commandments, but the Ten
Commandments summarize some of the most important of God laws. All these
Laws were communicated to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The second item in the Ark was the rod or staff of Aaron. God miraculously
caused Aaron's staff made of an almond branch to blossom with almond blossoms.
The last item was a golden pot of manna. Manna was the food that God provided
for the Israelites as the wandered around the wilderness for forty years.
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The Ark of the Covenant was where God manifested His presence as a great
shining cloud. The Israelites carried the Ark from place to place and when they
camped they would set up a huge tent called the “Tabernacle”. In the Tabernacle
was a special place called the “holy of holies”. In the holy of holies the priests set
up the Arc. Into the holy of holies only the high priest could enter once a year at
Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement.
Sometimes the Israelites would take the Ark with them into battle. In this
way they hoped to have the protection of God.
Other important aspects of Judaism
By the first century Jewish teachers were called “rabbi”. A rabbi was a
respected teacher who taught in the Synagogue and also taught children in the
synagogue schools. Synagogue worship for a time co-existed with Temple
worship where the priests officiated.
Orthodox Jews regard food laws as God's requirements for his covenant
people. The Torah forbids eating blood. Kashruth are food laws of Jews. the
rules forbidding the eating of certain foods and requiring that other foods be
prepared in a specific way. These rules determine which foods can be called
kosher.
The rules concerning kashruth are found in the Hebrew sacred books of Exodus,
Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Jews who follow rules of kashruth may eat seafood
that have scales and fins, but other seafood like crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, and
lobsters), shellfish, molluscs (squid, octopus), and fish with very small scales
(shark) are not kosher. Jews who follow these rules can eat meat only from
animals that chew the cud and have cloven feet. Pork and rabbit are forbidden.
Animals and birds must be slaughtered according to ritual and with prayer
performed by a rabbi. In order for food to be kosher all meat and dairy products
must be kept separate. Separate cooking and serving utensils are used one set for
dairy and one set for meat. Meat and dairy products must not be eaten at the same
meal. There are no restrictions for eating fruits and vegetables. During Passover
the house must be searched for yeast and leaven. No yeast can be used in cooking
during Passover. Bread and other baked goods must be made without leaven
during Passover.
Koshering of meat is done by removing all blood. The animal must first be
slaughtered by a trained Jewish butcher who kills the animal with one quick slice
of a sharp knife this technique is called “shechita”. The animal must not feel any
pain. Next an expert will check the animal for illness or defects. Then all blood
and fat is removed. Some meats will be soaked in salt water to remove all blood.
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After eating meat Jewish people who observe kashrut must wait several
hours before they can eat milk products.
The largest group of Jews in the United States is Reformed Judaism. In Reformed
Judaism, women are allowed to become rabbis. The Orthodox Jews are the
dominant group in Israel. Some Jews believe that Jesus was their Messiah. A
child born to a Jewish woman is a Jew.