Jewish Holidays in 2013

The 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees.

Purim celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from the wicked Haman in the days of Queen Esther of Persia.

Passover (Pesach) celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Our Passover megasite has tools, guides, insights, stories, inspiration—and just about everything you need to celebrate Passover. (But bring your own wine.)

Thirty days ago we cleaned our homes and souls of leaven, and matzahed our way through the week-long festival of Passover. And now, Pesach Sheni—a second Passover experience!

Lag BaOmer is a festive day on the Jewish calendar, celebrating the anniversary of the passing of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. It also commemorates the end of a plague that raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva. On Lag BaOmer the dying ceased.

Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. The Ten Commandments are read in synagogues, just as they were in the desert on Mt. Sinai over 3,300 years ago.

The “Three Weeks” and Tisha B’Av are designated as a time of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple and the galut (exile).

Our sages proclaimed the 15th of Av as one of the happiest days of the year, when Jewish maidens would go out to dance, hoping to attract fitting suitors.

Rosh Hashanah, first of the High Holidays, is the Jewish New Year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of G‑d as king.

Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, when we fast, pray, seek forgiveness from G-d and our fellows, and come closer to G-d. It is the peak of the High Holidays.

The seven days of Sukkot—celebrated by dwelling in the sukkah, taking the Four Kinds, and rejoicing—is the holiday when we expose ourselves to the elements in covered huts, commemorating G‑d's sheltering our ancestors as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Four Kinds express our unity and our belief in G‑d’s omnipresence. Coming after the solemn High Holidays, it is a time of joy and happiness

Following the seven joyous days of Sukkot, comes the happy holiday known as Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the occupying mighty Greek armies.

On Asarah B'Tevet, the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet, in the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Asarah B'Tevet is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance.