Here you will find about the Jewish Holidays, our Mitzvot and Traditions.
It is a general guide that will help you understand our Holidays.
You will find about the mitzvot.
You will find some funny stories.
You will find part of you.
When most people think of holidays, they think of annual celebrations, but we, Jewish, have one holiday that occurs every week – the Shabbat. Known in Hebrew as Shabbat and in Yiddish as Shabbos, this holiday is central to our life. As the great Jewish writer, Adad Ha-Am has observed: “More than the Jewish people have kept […]
Rosh Hashanah is by far one of the most important Jewish holidays. It is when the Jewish people celebrate the new year according to the Jewish calendar. It’s a joyous time to get together with close friends and family. One of the biblical names for Rosh Hashanah is “Yom Teruah,” which literally […]
Tu b’Shevat, the “New Year of the Trees,” is celebrated according to the Jewish calendar. Therefore, the festival is also named after “Rosh Hashanah La’Ilanot.” The Mishna, the oral law that gave rise to the Talmud, points out the celebration of four special dates on the Jewish calendar: the New Year of the Kings and […]
The significance of the Menorah Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of light, begins on the eve of the 25th of Kislev. This holiday celebrates the triumph of light over darkness. For more on the holiday, check out our post here. The lighting of the Hanukkah Menorah (nine-branched chandelier) is a symbol of light chasing away the forces of […]
Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. This year the coinciding secular dates are: 2016: December 24-January 1 Candles are added to the hanukkiyah (menorah) from right to left but are kindled from left to right. The newest candle is lit first. (On the Shabbat of Hanukkah, kindle the Hanukkah lights first and […]
The Fascinating History of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights The nine candles are lit. Its Hanukkah! The Jewish family lights them one by one and one per day during eight days. We can see these glistening candles shining in Jewish dwellings every year at this time. This is the sign that Hanukkah is here, […]
The Story of Hanukkah Hanukkah is the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev. We celebrate during Hanukkah the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality. More than 21 centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who […]
At the conclusion of a meal in which we ate bread, we say the Grace after Meals, thanking G‑d for giving us sustenance. Before reciting the Grace after Meals, we rinse our fingertips. This washing is called Mayim Achronim, “final waters”
