Jewish Celebrations
Introduction
– Those who study the Jewish holidays find that most of them are more related to sadness than delight, unlike the holidays of other people. Each Jewish holiday has different story and rituals.
– In their holidays, Jews go to synagogues, pray, and perform rituals for long hours.
Divisions of Jewish Holidays
– Jewish or Hebrew holidays are divided into two groups:
Those that are referred to in the Torah; The Passover, the Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles), Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year)
Those that were introduced after the Torah, which include the Purim, Hanukkah (the Festival of Lights), Independence Day, and the 9th of August, in which Jews fast to the memory of the fall down of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, as they claim. Also, they celebrate the Tu BiShvat, by planting new trees.
Jews and the Religious Observance in Holidays
– Regarding the commitment of performing rituals and religious observance, Jews are divided into two groups:
Orthodox Jews: a conservative group that is committed to performing the exact traditions in the holidays. Those get a special consideration from the Zionist Entity
Secular Jews: they try their best to reinterpret the traditional content of the holidays’ special rituals, and reshape them while preserving their spiritual meaning
عيد رأس السنة (روش هاشاناه)
– Jews celebrate the Rosh Hashanah in the 1st and 2nd days of September.
– Although there is no particular historic memory, it holds a special religious and sacred significance.
-It was stated that it is the day God started creating the world, and it is also the annual day of judgement, that all the creatures are brought before God like a sheep heard, as they claim.
– Therefore, a Jew must hold themselves accountable for all of the sins they’ve committed during the year.
– In that day, some Jews say: “may your name be inscribed in the book of life this year”.
– One of the Jewish traditions in this holiday is to prepare dished that have a certain significance; like bread and honey-dipped apple, which are eaten during the reciting hopeful prayers for a beautiful year to come.
-The next day, a Jew must eat a kind of fruit they haven’t eaten last year.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
– Yom Kippur is one of the most important Jewish holidays ever.
-For its great sacredness, it is called “the Sabbath of Sabbaths”.
– Long ago, while heading to the Holy of Holies, the high Rabbi used to utter the name of the Creator, Yehova.
– Their beliefs forbid them from uttering his name except in that day.
– The celebration of this holiday starts before the sunset of the 29th of September, and continues until the next sunset.
– Jews fast during all of this period of time, and do nothing but worship.
– Prayers in this holiday are generally the longest Jewish prayers.
– The ceremonies start by reciting the prayer of all of the vows, and ends on the next day with the Ne’ila (closing) prayer, that indicates that the gates of prayers have closed.
-Then they blow in the Shofar.
عيد المظلة أو العُرُش (السوكوت)
– It starts on the 15th of October and lasts for 7 days.
– This holiday commemorates the Palm Tent that gave shelter to the Israelites in the open after the migration.
– This palm tent reminds them of the days of Exodus.
– On that day, Jews traditionally build cottages of tree branches outdoors, which they call Sukkah.
– Also, they pray for rain after the dry summer. Nowadays, they just put an umbrella on one of the terraces in the house.
– The first day of this holiday, which is the second day for the Diaspora Jews, is sacred, and Jews refrain from work.
– As for the 8th day of the Sukkot, it’s considered the Shamouni festival, or the final eighth, since it marks the ending of a period full of holidays, in Tishrei, the first month in the Jewish year.
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights
– This holiday lasts for 8 days, starting from the 25th of the Jewish month Kislev, which equals December.
– Because of its timing, Jewish people, especially the children, can celebrate it at the same time that Christians celebrate the Christmas.
– In Israel, people celebrate it as a religious national holiday.
– They lit candles in the public squares, and organize parades of people holding torches.
– During this celebration, thousands of young people climb Masada Castle.
Purim, the Festival of Lots
– “Purim” is taken from the Hebrew word “Pur” which means a “lot”.
– They celebrate it on the 14th of March, which was the day when Esther saved the Persian Jews from the plot to slaughter them.
– Jews celebrate the Purim by overdrinking, that’s why Arabs call it Eid Al-Maskharah or Al-Masakher (means “the festival of nonsense”). In Israel, they literally call it “the holiday of not recognizing anything”.
– One of the celebratory observances is reading the story of Esther on the radio. The seculars in Israel call this holiday “Purim Carnival”, and so they get disguised and dress up like other characters.
عيد الفصح أو الفسح (بيساح)
– The Pesach [Hebrew] includes the making of unleavened bread, the pilgrimage season, and the sacrifice of a lamb, a sheep, or a goat.
– It is also called “חג הפסח” in Hebrew, which means “to get through, or surpass”, to signify for getting through difficulties.
In this holiday, Jews commemorate the Israelites’ survival from slavery in Egypt and getting out of it.
– Also, they celebrate the start of Spring, and so we find that the concepts of the birth of the Jewish people by getting out of Egypt, and the birth of nature and the universe are intertwined in the Jewish rituals.
– Jews have books called “Aggadah”. They talk about the rituals of this holiday.
– The Passover starts on the 15th of April, and lasts for 7 days in Israel, and 8 days for Jews outside Palestine. During the last two days of this holiday, Jews refrain from going to work, since they consider them sacred.