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Holidays 5768
NOTE: All holidays begin the evening before at sundown.
Tu BiSh'vat, 15 Sh'vat (January 22) Tu Bish'vat is also known as the New Year for Trees.
Purim, 14 Adar 2 (March 21) Purim commemorates the annulment of the decree against the Jewish people in ancient Persia (late 6th century B.C.E.).
Pesach (Passover), 15 Nisan (April 20) Passover commemorates the Exodus of the people of Israel from ancient Egypt.
Yom HaShoah, 27 Nisan (May 2) Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the 6 million Jews killed by the German Nazi regime and their collaborators.
Yom HaAtzma-ut, 3 Iyar (May 8 ) Israel Independence Day. Marks the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel in 1948
Lag BaOmer, 18 Iyar (May 23) Lag BaOmer is the 33rd day of the Omer commemorating a break in the mourning period for the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva (2nd century).
Shavuot, 6 Sivan (June 9) Shavuot is also known as the Festival of the Giving of the Torah as it marks the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai over 3,000 years ago.
Tishah B'Av, 9 Av (August 10) Fast of the Ninth of Av on the Hebrew calendar commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.). Expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 also falls on this date.
Rosh HaShanah, 1 Tishrei (September 30) Jewish New Year. A High Holy Day emphasizing happiness and humility. Marks the beginning of a ten-day period of prayer, self-examination and repentance.
Yom Kippur, 10 Tishrei (October 9) Day of Atonement. A High Holiday observed by fasting, prayer, repentance and self-improvement.
Sukkot, 15 Tishrei (October 14) Sukkot, Hebrew for "booths" or "huts", refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest, and in commemoration of 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after Sinai.
Simchat Torah, 23 Tishrei (October 22) Simchat Torah, Feast of Rejoicing with the Law when the closing and opening chapters of the Torah are read in the synagogue.
Chanukah, 25 Kislev (December 22) Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian army.
