Israeli Holidays


Figure 1.--This Jewish boy in Palestine during 1938 had portraits printed as Shana Tova greetings. Shana Tova means 'Good Year'. This is a card that would have been sent around Rosh Hashona. Put your cursor on ther image to see the message on the back. Perhaps a Jewish reader can translate it for us.

Israeli national holidays (Chagim) are the historic Jewish Holidays. Tere is also Independece and Memorial Days which of course have religious dimension to it as Israel is a Jewish state. Shops and other businesses are partially open during Jewish holidays. The general pattern is thsat in Jerusalem they are closed and in Tel Aviv and Haifa most are opem.they're usually open. Jewish holidays because oftheir Biblical base, like Easter, do not have definitive, repetive dates. Yom Kippur was used by the Egyptians as a useful fate to attack Israel at aime the country would ve less prepre, rather like the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor on a Sunday.

Rosh Hashana (September-October)

Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the Jewish year. This is one of the three most sacred Jewish holidays. The traditional Hebrew greeting on Rosh Hashanah is 'shana tova', meaming ʃaˈna toˈva] for "[a] good year", or shana tova umetukah for "[a] good and sweet year." Jews believe that they are being judged by God for the coming year. hus a longer greeting translates as "may you be written and sealed for a good year" (ketiva ve-chatima tovah). One cudtom during the afternoon of the first day unless it comes on the Shabbath, the practice of tashlikh is celebrated. Prayers are recited near natural flowing water, and one's sins are symbolically cast into the water. Many throw bread or pebbles into the water, to symbolize the "casting off" of one's sins. Rosh hashana is a two day holiday, Tishrey first and second. Schools usually schedule a 3-4 day holiday, beginning the day before the official Rosh HashanaJ holiday.

Yom Kippur (September-October)

Yom Kippur or yom Hakkipurim is the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the Jewish year. Jews must fast for an entire day (25 hours). It occurs 10 days after Rosh Hashana on Tishrey 10. School have two day holidsays, neginning 1 day before the ooficial Jewish holiday.

Sukkot and Simchat Torah (October)

Sukkot is diifrent from other Jewish holidsys. Israelis set up special tents called "sukka" in their back yard. They invite friends and family to visit and celecrate together. Sukkot starts on Tishrey 25 and ends on Tishrey 31st, which are presisely 7 days. It is followed by "Simchat torah" in which Jews celebrate the first chapter of the Torah, which will then be read throughout the entire year. Schools close for 10 days, beginning 1 day before the holiday.

Hanuka (December)

Hanuka is the festical of lights. Jewd light Hannuka lamps and eat doughnuts for 8 days to celebrate the victory of the Maccabim over the Greeks. The holiday begins on Kislev 25 and ends on Tevet 2. School close for 9 days beginning 1 day before the actual holiday.

Tu Bishvat (February)

Tu Bishvat is not s holiday in the sence thst offices and school close. Jews celebrate the beginning of the year for plants and trees. It is a kind of Arbor Day. Jews plant trees and flowers on Tu bishvat (Shvat 16th), The JNF orgsanizes new forest planting.

Taanit Esther and Purim (March)

Purim has been described as one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. In contrst to the fun of the celebration, it commemorates a narowly averted ancien Holocaust when the Jewish people living in the Persian Empire were narowly saved from destruction. Purim related to Akkadian (Persian) 'pūru' is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire They had conquiered by Babylon earlier and Persian conquered the Babylonias. And Cyrus had allowed them to return to Israel. While still under Persian control, a plot developed to destroy them. Haman, the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (thought to be Xerxes I, wanted to kill all the Jews in the empire. These plans were foiled by Mordecai and his cousin and adopted daughter Esther, who had risen to become Queen of Persia. Ahasuerus apparently did not know that she was Jewish. The histriodicity of Purim has been question by scholars. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing for Jews. Other customs include drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverage, wearing of fanciful masks and costumes, and public celebration. It is a fun holiday in Israel, It is not a school holiday.

Passover / Pesach (March-April)

Passover or Pesachis the longest Israeli holiday. Jews celebrate their liberation from Egyptian servitude. Passover is an major biblically derived Jewish holiday. They honor their liberation by God from Egyptian slavery and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It is an event desibed in the account from Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. According to generally acccepted biblical chronologies, the Exodus would have occured about 1300 BC. Passover is a spring festival which during the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem was connected to the offering of the 'first-fruits of the barley'. Barley was the first grain to ripen and to be harvested in ancient Israel. There is an association between Passover and Christian Easter. The New Testament tells us that the Last Supper was a Passover celebration. The Gospels all agree that Jesus was crucified in conjunction with the annual feast of Passover (Matthew 26:2, Mark 14:1, Luke 22:1, John 18:39). The peak of the holiday is 'Leil Haseder' when Jews have a big family dinner and tell the story of the 'Haggada'. At the Kibbutzim, passover is the harvest festival where the Kibbutzim celebrate the passover harvest festival. Schools close for 3 weeks, beginning a few days before the actual holiday. Also associated with Passover is matzo. Matzo (also matza or matzah) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine. It is an integral part of the the Passover festival, during which chametz (levened bread) is forbidden.

Yom Hazikaron / Rememberance (April-May)

The 2 days folowing Passover, Israelis remember those who gave their lives for the country. The fourth of Iyar, the day preceding Israel's Independence Day, was declared by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to be a Memorial Day for those who lost their lives in the struggle that led to the establishment of the State of Israel and for all military personnel who were killed while in active duty in Israel's armed forces. Yom Hazikaron, in full Yom Hazikaron l'Chalalei Ma'arachot Yisrael ul'Nifge'ei Pe'ulot Ha'eivah, is Israel's official remembrance day, enacted into law in 1963. Joining these two remberance acts days together conveys a simple message: Israelis owe the independence and the very existence of the Jewish state to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it. For 24 hours (from sunset to sunset) all places of public entertainment (theaters, cinemas, nightclubs, pubs, etc.) are closed. The most noticeable feature of the day is the sound of a siren that is heard throughout the country twice, during which the entire nation observes a two-minutes “standstill” of all traffic and daily activities. The first siren marks the beginning of Memorial Day at 8 p.m., and the second is at 11 a.m., before the public recitation of prayers in the military cemeteries. All radio and television stations broadcast programs portraying the lives and heroic deeds of fallen soldiers. Most of the broadcasting time is devoted to Israeli songs that convey the mood of the day. While Yom Hazikaron has been traditionally dedicated to fallen soldiers, commemoration has also been extended to civilian victims of terrorism.

Independence Day (April-May)

Israel’s Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the “provisional government” read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The original date in Gregorian calendar is May 14, 1948. Using the Hebrew calendar, the date varies on the Gregorian calendar, Independence Day is celebrated in big parties and in the streets, a much more festive celebration than the more somber Rememberance Day. . Lag Baomer (May)

Lag Baomer is celebrated 33 Days after Passover. It is the Jewish harvest holiday. Jew nuild bonfires around the country. Schools close for the day.

Shavuot (May-June)

Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to Mosses for the entire nation of Israel which was assembled at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) and Shavuot is not explicitly mentioned in the Biblical text. Shavuot is the third holiest holiday. Families het together for a typical dairy lunch or dinner. Schools close for 2 days, beginning 1 day before the holiday. Shavuot is one of the lesser-known Jewish holidays among secular Jews in the Jewish diaspora, while those in Israel rotinely celebrate it.

Summer Break (June-July)

There are no Jewish holidays celev\braed during the summer. Schools close foe 2 months. High schools close June 20. Primry school close July 1.







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Created: 3:28 AM 8/13/2008
Last updated: 4:36 PM 2/20/2018