Transcript Major (and some minor) Jewish Holidays

Major (and some minor)
Jewish Holidays
There are many different Jewish
holidays, just as there are many others
holidays in other cultures. Some of
these holidays are more important than
others.
The most important holiday in Judaism is
actually two holidays connected by a period
of ten days. At the beginning of this ten day
period is Rosh Hashanah. At the end is Yom
Kippur.
Rosh Hashanah marks the
beginning of the Jewish New Year.
Because the Jewish calendar is a
lunar calendar, the Jewish New
Year is different than the New Year
we celebrate.
Part of the Rosh Hashanah service
in the synagogue is the blowing of
the shofar. A shofar is a ram’s
horn.
Blowing the shofar is supposed to
wake people up, get them ready for
the new year.
• Listen to the sound of
the shofar.
After services, Jews gather
together and eat apples and honey.
They do this to ensure a sweet new
year.
They also have a meal together. At
this meal, they might eat honey
cake, and they will eat from a bread
called a challah.
On Rosh Hashanah, the challah is round.
Normally, it is braided. It is round to show
that the year is like a circle, starting but
coming around to the same place.
After Rosh Hashanah, there is a ten
day period during which Jews are
supposed to make up for the wrongs
they have committed during the year.
At the end of the ten days, there is
another holiday called Yom Kippur,
or the Day of Atonement.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in Judaism. On it,
Jews are supposed to confess their sins. That
way, they will be written down by God in the Book
of Life. This is a little like getting into Heaven, even
though the Jewish belief in Heaven is a little
fuzzier than the Christian one.
On Yom Kippur, Jews fast from
sundown to the night before to
sundown that day.
Then they break the fast with
another big meal.
The other really big holiday in
Judaism is Passover.
Passover celebrates the escape of
the Jews from Egypt, where they
were slaves.
God told Moses, a Jew, to ask the
Pharaoh to let the Jews go.
But the Pharaoh was cruel, and
didn’t want to give up his slaves.
So God sent plagues upon the
Egyptians.
Biting
flies
Rivers of
blood
Frogs
Boils
Wild
beasts
Cattle
disease
Locusts
Hail
Slaying of
the first
born
One of the plagues God sent was that all the first
born sons of the Egyptians would die. Jews
painted lamb’s blood on their doors so that God
would know they were Jewish and not take their
sons.
This is why the holiday is called
Passover, because God passed
over the Jews.
The Jews escaped. But while they
were running away, they didn’t
have time to prepare meals.
They couldn’t let their bread rise.
Therefore, on Passover, Jews eat a
special bread called matzoh, that
hasn’t risen.
Jews celebrate the holiday with a
big meal called a seder.
On the table is a special plate,
called a seder plate. On this plate
are different things that represent
part of the story.
At the seder they read and
remember the story of the Jews in
Egypt. The story is called the
Haggadah. Then they eat!
The holiday that most people think
about when they think about
Jewish holidays is Hanukkah.
Hanukkah isn’t actually a big holiday.
But it’s become a bigger holiday
because it usually happens around the
same time as Christmas.
Hanukkah remembers a Jewish
military victory by people called the
Maccabees.
While the Maccabees were fighting,
the rest of the Jews hid in the
synagogue.
In a synagogue, there is a lamp that is supposed
to always burn. The Jews in this synagogue had oil
for the lamp for only one day. But then a miracle
happened. The oil lasted for eight days.
Because of this miracle, for eight nights, Jews light
candles in a menorah. They light a new candle
each night until on the eighth night, all the candles
are lit.
Jews also exchange presents each
night, but mostly this is because of
Christmas – Jews didn’t want to be
left out.
Traditionally, Jews usually give
money to charity on this holiday.
Jews also play a game with a
spinning top called a dreidel. They
play for candy, pretzels, or even
money!
They also eat foods that have been
cooked in oil. One of these
traditional foods are called latkes.
Latkes are potato pancakes.
There are other more minor Jewish
holidays. One of these holidays is
called Purim.
Purim remembers a time when an
evil man named Haman tried to get
the king of Persia to kill all the
Jews.
The king’s wife, Esther, was
Jewish. She convinced the king not
to kill the Jews.
To celebrate Purim, Jews read the story of
Esther. Every time they hear the name
“Haman,” they boo or make noise with
noisemakers called “groggers.”
Purim is a little like the Jewish
version of Halloween. People put
on costumes and have parades.
Children usually dress up as one of
the characters from the story. (Not
just children.)
Jews eat special cookies called
hamantaschen, which are shaped
like Haman’s hat.
Jews also celebrate Yom
Ha’Shoah, which remembers the
Holocaust.
Another sad holiday is Tisha B’Av,
which remembers when the second
temple in Jerusalem was
destroyed.
There are also holidays that
celebrate the harvest, trees, the
founding of Israel, and more.
Sukkot
Tu
B'Shevat
Israeli Independence
Day
Shavuot
THE END!