Jewish Holidays

Prev | Table of Contents | Next When Holidays Begin | Work on Holidays | Extra Day of Holidays | List of All Holiday Dates Jewish Holidays - Introduction Level:  Basic This is the first in a series of pages on the Jewish holidays.  Each of the pages in this series talks about the significance of a holiday, its traditional observances and related customs, the date on which each holiday will occur for five years, and in some cases recipes for traditional, Ashkenazic holiday-related foods. Pages are available regarding the following holidays and other special days: The Month of Tishri Rosh Hashanah Days of Awe Yom Kippur Sukkot Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah Chanukkah Tu B'Shevat Purim Passover The Counting of the Omer Shavu'ot Tisha B'Av Minor Fasts 20th Century Holidays A few general notes about Jewish holidays: When Holidays Begin All Jewish holidays begin the evening before the date specified.  This is because a Jewish "day" begins and ends at sunset, rather than at midnight.  If you read the story of creation in Genesis Chapter 1, you will notice that it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day" at the end of the first paragraph.  From this, we infer that a day begins with evening, that is, sunset. For a discussion of why Jewish holidays occur on different days every year, see Jewish Calendar. Work on Holidays Work is not permitted on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the first and second days of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Shavu'ot, and the first, second, seventh, and eighth days of Passover.  The "work" prohibited on those holidays is the same as that prohibited on the Sabbath, except that cooking, baking, transferring fire from another fire already lit before the holiday, and carrying outside, all of which are forbidden on Sabbaths, are permitted on holidays.  When a holiday occurs on a Sabbath, the full Sabbath restrictions are observed. Extra Day of Holidays You may notice that the number of days of some holidays do not accord with what the Bible specifies.  In most cases, we celebrate one more day than the Bible requires.  There is an interesting reason for this additional day. The Jewish calendar is lunar, with each month beginning on the new moon.  The new months used to be determined by observation.  When the new moon was observed, the Sanhedrin declared the beginning of a new month and sent out messengers to tell people when the month began.  People in distant communities could not always be notified of the new moon (and, therefore, of the first day of the month), so they did not know the correct day to celebrate.  They knew that the old month would be either 29 or 30 days, so if they did not get notice of the new moon, they celebrated holidays on both possible days.  For more information about the lunar months, see Jewish Calendar. This practice of celebrating an extra day was maintained as a custom even after we adopted a precise mathematical calendar, because it was the long-standing custom of the Jews outside Israel.  This extra day is not celebrated by Israelis, regardless of whether they are in Israel at the time of the holiday, but is celebrated by everybody else, even if they are visiting Israel at the time of the holiday. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated as two days everywhere (in Israel and outside Israel), because it occurs on the first day of a month.  Messengers were not dispatched on the holiday, so even people in Israel did not know whether a new moon had been observed, and everybody celebrated two days.  The practice was also maintained as a custom after the mathematical calendar was adopted. Yom Kippur is celebrated only one day everywhere, because extending the holiday's severe restrictions for a second day would cause an undue hardship. List of All Holiday Dates Below is a list of all major holiday dates for the years 5774 through 5778 (or fall 2013 through summer 2018).  All holidays begin at sunset on the day before the date specified here. Holiday   5776     5777     5778     5779     5780   Rosh Hashanah  14Sep15    3Oct16   21Sep17   10Sep18   30Sep19  Yom Kippur  23Sep15   12Oct16   30Sep17   19Sep18    9Oct19  Sukkot  28Sep15   17Oct16    5Oct17   24Sep18   14Oct19  Shemini Atzeret   5Oct15   24Oct16   12Oct17    1Oct18   21Oct19  Simchat Torah   6Oct15   25Oct16   13Oct17    2Oct18   22Oct19  Chanukkah   7Dec15   25Dec16   13Dec17    3Dec18   23Dec19  Tu B'Shevat  25Jan16   11Feb17   31Jan18   21Jan19   10Feb20  Purim  24Mar16   12Mar17    1Mar18   21Mar19   10Mar20   Pesach (Passover)   23Apr16   11Apr17   31Mar18   20Apr19    9Apr20  Lag B'Omer  26May16   14May17    3May18   23May19   12May20  Shavu'ot  12Jun16   31May17   20May18    9Jun19   29May20  Tisha B'Av  14Aug16    1Aug17   22Jul18   11Aug19   30Jul20    Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!