Jewish Holy Days:
The Jewish calendar is marked by several holidays which reflect both their beliefs and history. The Jewish holidays are summarised below.
- Days of repentance During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur everyone gets a chance to repent.
- Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It dates back to two centuries before the beginning of Christianity.
- Passover is one of the most important religious festivals in the Jewish calendar, celebrated to commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses.
- 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 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 marks the time that the Jews received the Torah on Mount Sinai. It is considered a highly important historical event.
- Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land.
- 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 is the Jewish 'New Year for Trees'. It is one of the four Jewish new years (Rosh Hashanahs).
- 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.
