Jewish Heritage Month

Sabbath, or Shabbat, is a weekly day of holiness and rest observed on the seventh day of each week. It is observed from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. Jews celebrate Shabbat to commemorate God’s rest on the seventh day of creation. Observant Jews begin the Sabbath with family and friends over a meal, abstain from work, and attend services. Many Jews avoid driving, operating electrical devices, cooking, and carrying things in public.

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is a major two-day holiday celebrated in the fall. It includes a service in the synagogue that begins with the sounding of the shofar, an instrument made from the horn of a ram or another animal. Attendees repent of their mistakes in the past year and resolve to do better in the new year. Common foods include apples dipped in honey and challah bread. Introspection continues for ten days (the Days of Awe) and ends with Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: “Day of Atonement”) marks the end of the Days of Awe that follow Rosh Hashana. On this important day, Jews attend synagogue and pray for forgiveness from God; they also seek to right any wrongs they have committed against others. Religious observances include abstaining from work and undergoing a 25-hour fast, the only fast prescribed in Jewish holy scriptures. Jews who do not observe any other religious customs often participate on this day.

Sukkot, or the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles, is a seven-day holiday rooted in the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness. During Sukkot, Jews construct and decorate a temporary shelter called a sukka. A special prayer ritual requires the use of etrog (a citrus fruit), lulav (a palm frond), hadas (a myrtle sprig), and ʿarava (a willow branch). The festival ends with Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly”) and Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Torah”), during which the Torah scrolls are carried around the synagogue to express the joy of receiving and observing God’s law.

Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Greeks in 164 BCE. To commemorate a miracle, candles are lit every night and placed in a special Hanukkah menorah, an eight-branched candelabra with a ninth branch for the shammash (“servant”) candle that is used to light the others. A spinning top called a dreidel, fried foods such as potato pancakes (latkes) or doughnuts (sufganiyot or bimuelos), and gifts are associated with Hanukkah. Although a minor religious holiday, it has gained prominence due to its proximity to Christmas.

Jewish Festivals at Encyclopedia Britannica