Festivals, Special Days and Rites of Passage

Festivals, Special Days and Rites of Passage

Jewish Festivals

Passover (Pesach)

  • Passover is a spring festival commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
  • It involves a special meal called the Seder, which involves the retelling of the Exodus story.
  • Key elements include matzah (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), and charoset (a mixture of fruit and nuts).

Rosh Hashanah

  • Also known as the Jewish New Year, this is a time of self-examination, repentance, and requests for forgiveness.
  • It involves blowing a Shofar, or ram’s horn, as a call to repentance.
  • Apples dipped in honey are traditionally eaten for a sweet new year.

Yom Kippur

  • Known as the Day of Atonement, it’s the holiest day in the Jewish year.
  • It involves a 25-hour fast and intensive prayer.
  • The focus is on repentance and making amends.

Hanukkah

  • Also known as the Festival of Lights, it commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple.
  • The celebration lasts eight days, involving the lighting of the menorah, playing dreidel, and eating fried foods.
  • It highlights the theme of religious freedom and miracle of the oil.

Jewish Rites of Passage

Brit Milah (Circumcision)

  • Male Jewish infants are circumcised on the eighth day after birth in a ceremony known as a Brit Milah.
  • This represents the covenant between God and the Jewish people.
  • A celebratory meal, a seudat mitzvah, follows.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

  • When Jewish boys reach 13 and girls reach 12, they undergo a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
  • This signifies their obligation to observe the commandments and participate in adult religious life.
  • It often involves leading a synagogue service and reading from the Torah.

Marriage

  • A traditional Jewish wedding includes signing the ketubah (marriage contract), the chuppah (wedding canopy), and the breaking of a glass.
  • It invokes the themes of joy, commitment, and starting a Jewish family.
  • The couple is considered king and queen on their wedding day.

Death and Mourning

  • On death, Jewish tradition includes a prayer called the Shema, and rapid burial.
  • Shiva is the seven-day mourning period following burial.
  • Yahrzeit, the annual anniversary of a death, is marked by lighting a candle and saying the Kaddish prayer.