Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaism’s holiest days. Meaning “head of the year” or “first of the year,” the festival begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls during September or October. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in the Yom Kippur holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two “High Holy Days” in the Jewish religion.

Source: History.com

Yom Kippur fast day is the holiest day of the year—when we are closest to G‑d and to the quintessence of our own souls. It is the Day of Atonement—“For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before G‑d” (Leviticus 16:30).

Source: Chabad.org

Sukkot, lasting one week, starts five days after the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur and is named after temporary, flimsy shelters called sukkahs that Jews build and dwell in to remind them of the transitory 40 years spent wandering in the desert after they escaped slavery in ancient Egypt. Sukkot also celebrates the bounty of the seasonal harvest.

Source: Umich.edu

Jewish families begin celebrating Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, on Dec. 7. On Hanukkah, Jewish people celebrate and retell an important story with themes of miracles, strength, and light. The eight-day celebration commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend, Jews, outnumbered and outmatched, were victorious in their battle against their Greek-Syrian oppressors, securing their religious freedom.

Hanukkah, or dedication, is the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting a menorah (each night one additional candle is lit from the previous night), playing dreidel, and eating Hanukkah foods.

The celebration of Tu B'Shevat (alternative spellings include Tu BiShvat or Tu B'Shvat) is the New Year of Trees. This Jewish holiday encourages planting a tree to celebrate the coming of Spring and a new year of agricultural growth, among other traditions, and may include a family meal. Shiva.com explains, "The meal, considered a Tu B'Shevat Seder is similar to the Passover Seder. Typically the food consumed at the sedar incorporate fruits and nuts native to Israel (e.g., almonds, barley, dates, figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and wheat). Together, the Seder and planting of trees in Israel brings families closer together and symbolically connects all Jews around the world."

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.

Source: US Holocaust Memorial Museum

The jolly Jewish holiday of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). Purim 2024 begins on Saturday night, March 23 and continues through Sunday, March 24 (extending through Monday in Jerusalem). It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).

Source: Chabad.com

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