Happy Shavuot Greeting Card Download - Hebrew Letter Calligraphy Design - Printable PDf Flat Card - 5 x 7 Inches

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Happy Shavuot Greeting Card Download - Hebrew Letter Calligraphy Design - Printable PDF Flat Card - 5 x 7 Inches

Happy Shavuot Greeting Card Download - Hebrew Letter Calligraphy Design - Printable PDF Flat Card - 5 x 7 Inches

Happy Shavuot Greeting Card Download - Hebrew Letter Calligraphy Design - Printable PDF Flat Card - 5 x 7 Inches

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Shavuot - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Talmudical tractate, see Shevu'ot.

Official name

Hebrew: שבועות or חג השבועות (Ḥag HaShavuot or Shavuos)

Also called

English: "Feast of Weeks"

Observed by

Jews and Samaritans

Type

Jewish and Samaritan

Significance

One of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Celebrates the revelation of the Five Books of the Torah by God to Moses and to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, 49 days (seven weeks) after the Exodus from ancient Egypt. Commemorates the wheat harvesting in the Land of Israel. Culmination of the 49 days of the Counting of the Omer.

Celebrations

Festive meals. All-night Torah study. Recital of Akdamut liturgical poem in Ashkenazic synagogues. Reading of the Book of Ruth. Eating of dairy products. Decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery (Orach Chayim, 494).

Begins

6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan in Karaite Judaism)

Ends

7th (in Israel: 6th) day of Sivan

Date

6 Sivan

2023 date

Sunset, 25 May –

nightfall, 27 May

2024 date

Sunset, 11 June –

nightfall, 13 June

2025 date

Sunset, 1 June –

nightfall, 3 June

2026 date

Sunset, 21 May –

nightfall, 23 May

Related to

Passover, which precedes Shavuot

Shavuot (listenⓘ), or Shvues (listenⓘ) in some Ashkenazi usage (Hebrew: שָׁבוּעוֹת, romanized: Šāvūʿōṯ, lit. 'Weeks'), commonly known in English as the Feast of Weeks, is one of the biblically-ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may fall between May 15 and June 14 on the Gregorian calendar.[1]

In the Bible, Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel.[2] In addition, rabbinic tradition teaches that the date also marks the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism, occurred at this date in 1312 BCE.[3]

The word Shavuot means "weeks", and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.[4]

While Shavuot is sometimes referred to as Pentecost (in Koinē Greek: Πεντηκοστή) due to its timing after Passover, "pentecost" meaning "fifty" in Greek and Shavuot occurring fifty days after the first day of Pesach/Passover, it is not the same celebration as the Christian Pentecost, which comes fifty days after Pascha/Easter.[5][Note 1][6]

Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in Israel for one day, where it is a public holiday, and for two days in the diaspora.[7][8][9]

Names[edit]

Biblical names[edit]

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the "Festival of Weeks" (Hebrew: חג השבועות, romanized: Ḥāġ hašŠāvuʻoṯ, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); "Festival of Reaping" (Hebrew: חג הקציר, romanized: Ḥāġ HaqQāṣir Exodus 23:16),[10] and "Day of the First Fruits" (Hebrew: יום הבכורים, romanized: Yom habBikkurim, Numbers 28:26).[11]

Shavuot, the plural of a word meaning "week" or "seven", alludes to the fact that this festival happens exactly seven weeks (i.e. "a week of weeks") after Passover.[12]

Later names[edit]

The Talmud refers to Shavuot as ʻAṣeret (Hebrew: עצרת, "refraining" or "holding back"),[13] referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday[14] and also to the conclusion of the Passover holiday-season.[15] The other reason given for the reference ʻAṣeret is that just as Shemini ʻAṣeret brings the Festival of Succoth to a "close", in the same respect, Shavuot (ʻAṣeret) brings The Festival of Passover to its actual "close".

Since Shavuot occurs fifty days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name "Pentecost" (Koinē Greek: Πεντηκοστή, "fiftieth day").[16]

Significance[edit]

Giving of the Torah[edit]

Shavuot is not explicitly named in the Bible as the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Israelite nation at Mount Sinai, although this is commonly considered to be its main significance.[17][18]

Unlike other major holidays, the Torah does not specify the date of Shavuot, but only that it falls 50 days after Passover, placing it at the 6th of Sivan according to the current fixed calendar (in earlier times when months were fixed by lunar observation, the date could vary by a day or two). The Torah states that the Israelites reached Sinai on the first[19] day of the third month following the Exodus, i.e. Sivan.[20] Then several events occurred, taking a total of at least three days, before the Torah was given.[21] Thus, it is plausible that the giving of the Torah occurred on or about Shavuot, but no exact date is mentioned.

Besides the timing, scholars have pointed to thematic connections between Shavuot and the giving of the Torah, which are indicated by the Bible itself:

Most of the Talmudic sages agreed that the Torah was given on the 6 Sivan (the date of Shavuot), but Rabbi Jose holds that it was given on 7 Sivan.[29] According to the classical timeline, the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Exodus 19:1) and the Ten Commandments were given on the following Shabbat (i.e., Saturday). The question of whether the new moon fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided.[29] In practice, Shavuot is observed on 6 Sivan in Israel[30] and a second day is added in the Jewish diaspora (in keeping with a separate rabbinical ruling that applies to all biblical holidays, called Yom tov sheni shel galuyot, Second-Day Yom Tov in the diaspora).[31] Thus, according to Rabbi Jose, only outside Israel does Shavuot fall out on the day the Torah was given.

Agricultural[edit]

What is textually connected in the Bible to the Feast of Shavuot is the season of the grain harvest, specifically of the wheat, in the Land of Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jer. 5:24, Deut. 16:9–11, Isa. 9:2). It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot according to the commandment in Lev. 23:17.[6]

The last but one Qumran Scroll to be published has been discovered to contain two festival dates observed by the Qumran sect as part of their formally perfect 364-day calendar, and dedicated to "New Wine" and "New Oil", neither of which is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, but were known from another Qumran manuscript, the Temple Scroll. These festivals "constituted an extension of the festival of Shavuot ... which celebrates the New Wheat." All three festivals are calculated starting from the first Sabbath following Passover, by repeatedly adding exactly fifty days each time: first came New Wheat (Shavuot), then New Wine, and then New Oil.[32][33] (See also below, at "The Book of Jubilees and the Essenes".)

Ancient observances[edit]

Pilgrimage[edit]

Shavuot was one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Jews would visit the Temple in Jerusalem.

Bikkurim[edit]

Main article: Bikkurim (First-fruits)

Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals could bring the Bikkurim (First-fruits) to the Temple in Jerusalem.[34] Bikkurim were so important to Shavuot that the Torah twice describes the holiday as a day of bikkurim,[35] testifying to the link between bikkurim and this holiday, at which time wheat was ready for harvest and summer fruit was beginning to ripen and bikkurim were brought.

Shtei Halechem[edit]

The Torah prescribes a special sacrifice for Shavuot: the shtei halechem (two loaves of bread), which (atypically for sacrifices) must be chametz, and which are described as bikkurim of the wheat harvest.[36] These loaves are accompanied by a set of other sacrifices.[37]

According to Maharal, there is a symbolic contrast between the omer offering (offered on Passover) and the shtei halechem. The former consists of barley, which is typically an animal food, and represents the low spiritual level of the Israelites immediately upon leaving Egypt; while the latter consists of wheat and represents the high spiritual level of the Israelites upon receiving the Torah.[38]

Modern religious observances[edit]

A synagogue sanctuary adorned in greenery in honor of Shavuot

Nowadays in the post-Temple era, Shavuot is the only biblically ordained holiday that has no specific laws attached to it other than usual festival requirements of abstaining from creative work. The rabbinic observances for the holiday include reciting additional prayers, making kiddush, partaking of meals and being in a state of joy. There are however many customs which are observed on Shavuot.[39] A mnemonic for the customs largely observed in Ashkenazi communities spells the Hebrew word aḥarit (אחרית‎, "last"):

The yahrzeit of King David is traditionally observed on Shavuot. Hasidic Jews also observe the yahrzeit of the Baal Shem Tov.[40]

Liturgical poems[edit]

Aqdamut[edit]

Main article: Akdamut

The Aqdamut (Imperial Aramaic: אקדמות) is a liturgical poem recited by Ashkenazi Jews extolling the greatness of God, the Torah, and Israel that is read publicly in Ashkenazic synagogues in the middle of – or in some communities right before – the morning Torah reading on the first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Rabbi Meir of Worms. Rabbi Meir was forced to defend the Torah and his Jewish faith in a debate with local priests and successfully conveyed his certainty of God's power, His love for the Jewish people, and the excellence of Torah. Afterwards he wrote the Aqdamut, a 90-line poem in Aramaic that stresses these themes. The poem is written in a double acrostic pattern according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet. In addition, each line ends with the syllable ta (תא‎), the last and first letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alluding to the endlessness of Torah. The traditional melodies that accompanies this poem also conveys a sense of grandeur and triumph.[41]

Azharot[edit]

Main article: Azharot

There is an ancient tradition to recite poems known as Azharot (אזהרות listing the commandments. This was already considered a well-established custom in the 9th century.[42] These piyyutim were originally recited during the chazzan's repetition of the Mussaf amidah, in some communities they were later moved to a different part of the service.

Some Ashkenazic communities maintain the original practice of reciting the Azharot during musaf; they recite "Ata hinchlata" on the first day and "Azharat Reishit" on the second, both from the early Geonic period. Italian Jews do the same except that they switch the piyyutim of the two day, and in recent centuries, "Ata hinchlata" has been truncated to include only one 22-line poem instead of eight. Many Sephardic Jews recite the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol before the mincha service; in many communities, the positive commandments are recited on the first day and the negative commandments on the second day.

Yatziv Pitgam[edit]

The liturgical poem Yatziv Pitgam (Imperial Aramaic: יציב פתגם) is recited by some synagogues in the diaspora on the second day of Shavuot. The author signs his name at the beginning of the poem's 15 lines – Yaakov ben Meir Levi, better knows as Rabbeinu Tam.[43]

Dairy foods[edit]

Cheese blintzes, typically eaten by Ashkenazi Jews on Shavuot

Dairy foods such as cheesecake, cheese blintzes,[44] and cheese kreplach among Ashkenazi Jews;[45] cheese sambusak,[46] kelsonnes (cheese ravioli),[47] and atayef (a cheese-filled pancake)[48] among Syrian Jews; kahee (a dough that is buttered and sugared) among Iraqi Jews;[48] and a seven-layer cake called siete cielos (seven heavens) among Tunisian and Moroccan Jews[48][49] are traditionally consumed on the Shavuot holiday. Yemenite Jews do not eat dairy foods on Shavuot.[48]

In keeping with the observance of other Jewish holidays, there is both a night meal and a day meal on Shavuot. Meat is usually served at night and dairy is served either for the day meal[45] or for a morning kiddush.[50]

Among the explanations given in rabbinic literature for the consumption of dairy foods on this holiday are:[51][52]

Book of Ruth[edit]

Ruth in Boaz's Field by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, oil on canvas, 1828; National Gallery, London

The Five Megillot – five books from the Hebrew Bible – are traditionally read in synagogue on various Jewish holidays. Of these, the Book of Ruth is read on Shavuot. Reasons given for this custom include:

Greenery[edit]

Further information: Flowers in Judaism

In many Jewish communities, there is a tradition to decorate homes and synagogues with plants, flowers and leafy branches on Shavuot.[57] In fact, Persian Jews referred to the holiday as "The Mo'ed of Flowers" (موعد گل) in Persian, and never as "Shavuot".

A common reason given for this custom is the story that Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit. This idea is first mentioned in medieval Ashkenazi sources such as Maharil.[58][59] In another interpretation, flowers represent the Jewish people, which received a covenant with God on this date.[58] Other reasons have been suggested as well.[57]

Some synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers and plants so that it resembles a chuppah, as Shavuot is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker (Moses) brought the bride (the nation of Israel) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God); the ketubah (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi communities read out a ketubah between God and Israel, composed by Rabbi Israel ben Moses Najara as part of the service. This custom was also adopted by some Hasidic communities, particularly from Hungary.[60]

The Vilna Gaon cancelled the tradition of decorating with trees because it too closely resembles the Christian decorations for their holidays.[57]

All-night Torah study[edit]

Some have the custom to learn Torah all night on the first night of Shavuot, a practice known as Tiqqun Leyl Shavuot (Hebrew: תקון ליל שבועות) ("Rectification for Shavuot Night").

The custom is first recorded c. 1300 in the Or Zarua II  [he]. According to that work, "Our righteous forebears, servants of the Most High, would never sleep on Shavuot eve—and now we do this on both nights—for all night they would read the Torah and the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim, and they would skip around the Talmud and the Aggadot, and they would read the secret wisdoms until dawn broke, and they would hold the legacy of their fathers in their very hands".[61] The custom was later linked to a Midrash which relates that the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead. They overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop.[62] To rectify this perceived flaw in the national character, many religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah.[63]

In 1533 Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch, then living in Ottoman Salonika, invited Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz and other Kabbalistic colleagues to hold Shavuot-night study vigils for which they prepared for three days in advance, just as the Israelites had prepared for three days before the giving of the Torah. During one of those study sessions, an angel reportedly appeared and taught them Jewish law.[64][65][66]

It has been suggested that the introduction of coffee throughout the Ottoman empire may have attributed to the "feasibility and popularity" of the practice of all-night Torah study.[67][68] In contrast, the custom of Yemenite Jews is to ingest the fresh leaves of a stimulant herb called Khat (containing cathinone) for the all-night ritual, an herb commonly used in that region of the world.

Any subject may be studied on Shavuot night, although Talmud, Mishnah, and Torah typically top the list. People may learn alone or with a chavruta (study partner), or attend late-night shiurim (lectures) and study groups.[69] In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, leading 16th-century kabbalist Isaac Luria arranged a recital consisting of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of Tanakh (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of creation, the Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 tractates of Mishnah,[70][71] followed by the reading of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a Kaddish d-Rabbanan is recited when the Tiqun is studied with a minyan. Today, this service is held in many communities, with the notable exception of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The service is printed in a book called Tiqun Leyl Shavuot.[72] There exist similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.

In Jerusalem, at the conclusion of the night time study session, tens of thousands of people walk to the Western Wall to pray with sunrise. A week after Israel captured the Old City during the Six-Day War, more than 200,000 Jews streamed to the site on Shavuot, it having been made accessible to Jews for the first time since 1948.[69][73][74][75]

Modern secular observance[edit]

Bikkurim ceremony at Kibbutz Givat Haim, 1951

Bikkurim festival in Giv'at Shmuel, Israel, 2009

In secular agricultural communities in Israel, such as most kibbutzim and moshavim, Shavuot is celebrated as a harvest and first-fruit festival including a wider, symbolic meaning of joy over the accomplishments of the year. As such, not just agricultural produce and machinery is presented to the community, but also the babies born during the preceding twelve months.[76][failed verification]

Confirmation ceremonies[edit]

In the 19th century several Orthodox synagogues in Britain and Australia held confirmation ceremonies for 12-year-old girls on Shavuot, a precursor to the modern Bat Mitzvah.[77] The early Reform movement made Shavuot into a religious school graduation day.[7] Today, Reform synagogues in North America typically hold confirmation ceremonies on Shavuot for students aged 16 to 18 who are completing their religious studies. The graduating class stands in front of an open ark, recalling the standing of the Israelites at Mount Sinai for the giving of the Torah.[78]

Date[edit]

Main article: Counting of the Omer

The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the first day of counting the Omer) is the first day of the barley harvest.[79] The omer count should begin "on the morrow after the Shabbat", and continue to be counted for seven weeks.[80]

The Talmudic Sages determined that "Shabbat" here means a day of rest and refers to the first day of Passover. Thus, the counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and continues for the next 49 days, or seven complete weeks, ending on the day before Shavuot. According to this calculation, Shavuot will fall on the day of the week after that of the first day of Passover (e.g., if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will begin on a Friday).

The Book of Jubilees and the Essenes[edit]

This literal interpretation of "Shabbat" as the weekly Shabbat was shared by the author of the Book of Jubilees, who was motivated by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar to have festivals and Sabbaths fall on the same day of the week every year. On this calendar (best known from the Book of Luminaries in the Book of Enoch), Shavuot fell on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty days from the first Shabbat after Passover (i.e. from the 25th of Nisan). Thus, Jub. 1:1 claims that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah "on the sixteenth day of the third month in the first year of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt".

In Jub. 6:15–22 and 44:1–5, the holiday is traced to the appearance of the first rainbow on the 15th of Sivan, the day on which God made his covenant with Noah.

The Qumran community, commonly associated with the Essenes, held in its library several texts mentioning Shavuot, most notably a Hebrew original of the Book of Jubilees, which sought to fix the celebration of Shavuot on 15 Sivan, following their interpretation of Exodus 19:1.[81] (See also above, at "Agricultural".)


History Of Greeting Cards

History Of Greeting Cards


The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls. By the early 15th century, handmade paper greeting cards were being exchanged in Europe. The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-15th century,[dead link][9] with the oldest Valentine in existence being in the British Museum.[10] The card was written to Bonne of Armagnac by her husband, Charles Duke of Orleans, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time. Not surprisingly, its message is rather downbeat. Its opening reads: ‘I am already sick of love / my very gentle Valentine.’[11]

By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing, mechanization, and a reduction in postal rates with the introduction of the postage stamp.[12] This was followed by new trends like Christmas cards, the first of which appeared in published form in London in 1843 when Sir Henry Cole hired artist John Calcott Horsley to design a holiday card that he could send to his friends and acquaintances. In the 1860s, companies like Marcus Ward & Co, Goodall and Charles Bennett began the mass production of greeting cards. They employed well known artists such as Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane as illustrators and card designers. The extensive Laura Seddon Greeting Card Collection from the Manchester Metropolitan University gathers 32,000 Victorian and Edwardian greeting cards and 450 Valentine's Day cards dating from the early nineteenth century, printed by the major publishers of the day.[13]

Technical developments like color lithography in 1930 propelled the manufactured greeting card industry forward. Humorous greeting cards, known as studio cards, became popular in the late 1940s and 1950s.

In the 1970s, Recycled Paper Greetings, a small company needing to establish a competing identity against the large companies like Hallmark Cards, began publishing humorous, whimsical card designs with the artist's name credited on the back. This was away from what was known as the standard look (sometimes called the Hallmark look.)[citation needed]

During the 1980s, reduced costs of small batch printing and die cutting together with a growing taste for handmade cards made it economically possible for smaller niche companies to set up in competition with the large established brands. Innovative companies such as Nobleworks and Meri Meri[14] grew from their foundation in the 1980s to becoming significant influencers in the industry. A thriving market was established for what were now called "alternative" greeting cards. The name stuck even though these "alternative" cards grew to embrace a vast range of styles and ultimately changed the look of the industry.


Jewish Greetings - Wikipedia

Jewish Greetings - Wikipedia


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are several Jewish and Hebrew greetings, farewells, and phrases that are used in Judaism, and in Jewish and Hebrew-speaking communities around the world. Even outside Israel, Hebrew is an important part of Jewish life.[1] Many Jews, even if they do not speak Hebrew fluently, will know several of these greetings (most are Hebrew, and among Ashkenazim, some are Yiddish).[1]

Shabbat[edit]

For the Sabbath, there are several ways to greet people in a variety of languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino.

Phrase

Hebrew script

Translation

Pronunciation

Language

Explanation

Shabbat shalom

שַׁבַּת שָׁלוֹם‎

Peaceful Sabbath

[ʃaˈbat ʃaˈlom]

Hebrew

Used any time on Shabbat, especially at the end of a Shabbat service. Used also preceding Shabbat almost like "have a good weekend."[2]

Gut Shabbes

גוּט שַׁבָּת‎

Good Sabbath

[ɡʊt ˈʃabəs]

Yiddish

Used any time on Shabbat, especially in general conversation or when greeting people.[2]

Shavua tov

שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב‎

Good week

[ʃaˈvu.a tov]

Hebrew

Used on Saturday nights (after Havdalah) and even on Sundays "shavua tov" is used to wish someone a good coming week.[2]

Gut Voch

גוט וואָך‎

Good week


Yiddish

Same as above, but Yiddish

Buen shabat

בוען שבת‎

Good sabbath

[buen ʃabat]

Judaeo-Spanish


Sabado dulse i bueno


Sweet and good sabbath


Judaeo-Spanish


Boas entradas de Saba


Good entry to the sabbath


Portuguese or Judeo-Portuguese


Holidays[edit]

For different chagim and Yom Tov there are different expressions used.

Chag sameach

חַג שָׂמֵחַ‎

Happy holiday

[χaɡ saˈme.aχ]

Hebrew

Used as a greeting for the holidays, can insert holiday name in the middle; e.g. "chag Chanukah sameach".[2] Also, for Passover, "chag kasher v'same'ach" (חַג כָּשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ‎) meaning wishing a happy and kosher(-for-Passover) holiday.[2]

Moed tov

Moadim l'simcha

מועד טובֿ‎

מועדים לשמחה‎

A good festival period

A happy festival period

[ˈmo.ed tov

mo.aˈdim le simˈχa]

Hebrew

Used as a greeting during the chol ha-moed (intermediate days) of the Passover and Sukkot holidays.

Gut Yontiv

גוט יום־טובֿ‎

Good Yom Tov

[ɡʊt ˈjɔntɪv]

Yiddish

Used as a greeting for the Yom Tov holidays.[2] Often spelled Gut Yontif or Gut Yontiff in English transliteration.

Gut'n Mo'ed

גוטן מועד‎

Good chol ha-moed (intermediate days)

[ˈɡʊtn̩ ˈmɔɪɛd]

Yiddish

As above (as a greeting during the chol ha-moed (intermediate days) of the Passover and Sukkot holidays), but Yiddish/English

L'shanah tovah or Shana Tova

לְשָׁנָה טוֹבָה‎

[To a] good year

[leʃaˈna toˈva]

Hebrew

Used as a greeting during Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe, Also used, simply "shanah tovah" (שָׁנָה טוֹבָה‎), meaning "a good year", or "shanah tovah u'metukah" (שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה‎) meaning "a good and sweet year".[2] The phrase is short for "l'shanah tovah tikatevu ve techatemu" (לְשָׁנָה טוֹבָה תִכָּתֵבוּ וְתֵּחָתֵמוּ‎), meaning "may you be inscribed and sealed (in the Book of Life) for a good year".[3] A shorter version is often used: "ktiva ve chatima tova" (כְּתִיבָה וְחֲתִימָה טוֹבָה‎), meaning "(have a) good signature (in the Book of Life)" and literally "good inscribing and signing".[3] In Israel, also used during Passover due to the renewal of spring, the Exodus story and the new beginning of being freed from slavery, and because it says in the bible itself, as to the month of Nissan, the month of Passover, that "this month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you." (Sh'mot 12:1-3) Nissan is the Persian name which was used by Jews in Babylonian exile and replaced the Biblical first month called Aviv. For these reasons the greeting has wide usage in Israel near Passover.

Tzom kal

צוֹם קַל‎

Easy fast

[tsom kal]

Hebrew

Used to wish someone an easy Yom Kippur fast. In some English-speaking communities today, the greeting "[have] an easy and meaningful fast" is used.[4]

G'mar Chatima Tovah

גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה‎

May you be sealed for good [in the Book of Life]

Hebrew pronunciation: [gmaʁ χati.ma to.va]

Hebrew

Used to wish someone well for and on Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that Jews' fate is written on Rosh Hashanah and is sealed on Yom Kippur.[5]

Tizku Leshanim Rabot - Ne'imot veTovot

תזכו לשנים רבות - נעימות וטובות‎

May you merit many pleasant and good years

[tizˈku leʃaˈnim raˈbot - ne.iˈmot vetoˈvot]

Hebrew

Used in Sephardic communities to wish someone well at the end of a holiday.

Greetings and farewells[edit]

There are several greetings and good-byes used in Hebrew to say hello and farewell to someone.

Phrase

Hebrew script

Translation

Pronunciation

Language

Explanation

Shalom

שָׁלוֹם‎

Hello, goodbye, peace

[ʃaˈlom]

Hebrew

A Hebrew greeting, based on the root for "completeness". Literally meaning "peace", shalom is used for both hello and goodbye.[6] A cognate with the Arabic-language salaam.

Shalom aleichem

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם‎

Peace be upon you

[ʃaˈlom ʔaleˈχem]

Hebrew

This form of greeting was traditional among the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. The appropriate response is "Aleichem Shalom" (עֲלֵיכֶם שָׁלוֹם) or "Upon you be peace." (cognate with the Arabic-language "assalamu alaikum" meaning "The peace [of ] be upon you.)"

L'hitraot

לְהִתְרָאוֹת‎

Goodbye, lit. "to meet"

[lehitʁaˈʔot]

Hebrew

Perhaps the most common Hebrew farewell in Israel (English "bye" is also commonly used). Sometimes shortened to לְהִתְ ("l'heet").

Phrases[edit]

These are Hebrew phrases used in Jewish communities both inside and outside of Israel.[1]

Phrase

Hebrew script

Translation

Pronunciation

Language

Explanation

Mazal tov / Mazel tov

מַזָּל טוֹב‎

good luck/congratulations

[maˈzal tov]

[ˈmazəl tɔv]

Hebrew/Yiddish

Used to mean congratulations. Used in Hebrew (mazal tov) or Yiddish. Used on to indicate good luck has occurred, ex. birthday, bar mitzvah, a new job, or an engagement.[1] Also shouted out at Jewish weddings when the groom (or both fiances) stomps on a glass. It is also used when someone accidentally breaks a glass or a dish.[1] However, NOT normally used on news of a pregnancy, where it is replaced by "b'sha'ah tovah" ("may it happen at a good time/in the proper time").[7]

B'karov etzlech (f.)

B'karov etzlecha (m.)

בְּקָרוֹב אֶצְלְךָ‎

Soon so shall it be by you

[bekaˈʁov ʔetsˈleχ]

[bekaˈʁov ʔetsleˈχa]

Hebrew

Used in response to "mazal tov"[1]

Im Yirtzeh HaShem

אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם‎

God willing

[ɪmˈjɪʁtsə.aʃɛm]

Hebrew

Used by religious Jews when speaking of the future and wanting God's help.

B'ezrat HaShem

בְּעֶזְרָת הַשֵּׁם‎

With God's help

[beʔezˈʁat haˈʃem]

Hebrew

Used by religious Jews when speaking of the future and wanting God's help (similar to "God willing").[1]

Yishar koach (or ShKoiAch)[8]

יְישַׁר כֹּחַ‎

You should have increased strength

[jiˈʃaʁ ˈko.aχ]

Hebrew

Meaning "good for you", "way to go", or "more power to you". Often used in synagogue after someone has received an honour. The proper response is "baruch tiheyeh" (m)/brucha teeheyi (f) meaning "you shall be blessed."[1][9]

Chazak u'varuch

חֵזָק וּבָרוךְ‎

Be strong and blessed

[χaˈzak uvaˈʁuχ]

Hebrew

Used in Sephardi synagogues after an honour. The response is "chazak ve'ematz" ("be strong and have courage"). It is the Sephardi counterpart pair to the Ashkenaz ShKoiAch and Boruch TihYeh.

Nu?

?נו‎

So?

[nu]

Yiddish

A Yiddish interjection used to inquire about how everything went.[1]

Kol ha'ka'vod

כֹּל הַכָּבוֹד‎

All of the honour

[kol hakaˈvod]

Hebrew

Used for a job well done.[1]

L'chaim

לְחַיִּים‎

To life

[leχaˈjim]

[ləˈχajm]

Hebrew/Yiddish

Hebrew and Yiddish equivalent of saying "cheers" when doing a toast[1]

Gesundheit

געזונטהייט‎

Health

[ɡəˈzʊnthajt]

Yiddish

Yiddish (and German) equivalent of saying "bless you" when someone sneezes. Also sometimes "tsu gezunt".[2]

Labriut (or Livriut)

לבריאות‎

To Health

[livʁiˈʔut]

Hebrew

Hebrew equivalent of saying "bless you" when someone sneezes.[9]

Refuah Shlemah

רְפוּאָה שְׁלֵמָה‎

Get well soon. Lit. full recovery


Hebrew

Used when someone is sick or injured.[10] Also see related daily prayer addition.


Jewish Holidays - Wikipedia

Jewish Holidays - Wikipedia


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Gregorian dates of Jewish holidays, see Jewish and Israeli holidays 2000–2050.

Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim (Hebrew: ימים טובים, romanized: yāmim ṭoḇim, lit. 'Good Days', or singular Hebrew: יום טוב‎ Yom Tov, in transliterated Hebrew [English: /ˈjɔːm ˈtɔːv, joʊm ˈtoʊv/]),[1] are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.[Note 1] They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: mitzvot ("biblical commandments"), rabbinic mandates, the history of Judaism, and the State of Israel.

Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian. This is because the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar (based on the cycles of both the sun and moon), whereas the Gregorian is a solar calendar. Each holiday can only occur on certain days of the week, four for most, but five for holidays in Tevet and Shevat and six for Hanukkah (see Days of week on Hebrew calendar).

Holiday

Date range

Rosh Hashanah

5 Sep to 5 Oct

Yom Kippur

14 Sep to 14 Oct

Sukkot (first of seven days)

19 Sep to 19 Oct

Shemini Atzeret

26 Sep to 26 Oct

Simchat Torah

27 Sep to 27 Oct

Hanukkah (first of eight days)

28 Nov to 27 Dec

Tu Bishvat

15 Jan to 13 Feb

Purim

24 Feb to 26 Mar

Shushan Purim

25 Feb to 27 Mar

Yom HaAliyah

21 Mar to 20 Apr

Passover (first of seven/eight days)

26 Mar to 25 Apr

Yom HaShoah

8 Apr[3] to 7 May[4]

Yom Ha'atzmaut

15 Apr[5] to 15 May[6]

Lag B'Omer

28 Apr to 28 May

Yom Yerushalayim

8 May to 7 Jun

Shavuot

15 May to 14 Jun

Tzom Tammuz

25 Jun to 25 Jul

Tisha B'Av

16 Jul to 15 Aug

Tu B'Av

22 Jul to 21 Aug

General concepts[edit]

Groupings[edit]

Certain terms are used very commonly for groups of holidays.

Terminology used to describe holidays[edit]

Certain terminology is used in referring to different categories of holidays, depending on their source and their nature:

Shabbat (Hebrew: שבת) (Ashkenazi pron. from Yiddish shabbos), or Sabbath, is referred to by that name exclusively. Similarly, Rosh Chodesh (Hebrew: ראש חודש) is referred to by that name exclusively.

"Work" on Sabbath and biblical holidays[edit]

Main article: 39 Melakhot

The most notable common feature of Shabbat and the biblical festivals is the requirement to refrain from the 39 Melakhot on these days.[Note 2] Melakha is most commonly translated as "work"; perhaps a better translation is "creative-constructive work". Strictly speaking, melakha is defined in halakha (Jewish law) by 39 categories of labor that were used in constructing the Tabernacle while the Jews wandered in the desert. As understood traditionally and in Orthodox Judaism:

In principle, Conservative Judaism understands the requirement to refrain from melakha in the same way as Orthodox Judaism. In practice, Conservative rabbis frequently rule on prohibitions around melakha differently from Orthodox authorities.[14] Still, there are some Conservative/Masorti communities around the world where Shabbat and festival observance fairly closely resembles Orthodox observance.[Note 6]

However, many, if not most, lay members of Conservative congregations in North America do not consider themselves Shabbat observant, even by Conservative standards.[15] At the same time, adherents of Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism do not accept traditional halakha, and therefore restrictions on melakha, as binding at all.[Note 7] Jews fitting any of these descriptions refrain from melakha in practice only as they see fit.

Shabbat and holiday work restrictions are always put aside in cases of pikuach nefesh, which are actions to save a human life. At the most fundamental level, if there is any possibility whatsoever that action must be taken to save a life, Shabbat restrictions are set aside immediately, and without reservation.[Note 8] Where the danger to life is present but less immediate, there is some preference to minimize violation of Shabbat work restrictions where possible. The laws in this area are complex.[16]

Second day of biblical festivals[edit]

Main article: Yom tov sheni shel galuyot

The Torah specifies a single date on the Jewish calendar for observance of holidays. Nevertheless, festivals of biblical origin other than Shabbat and Yom Kippur are observed for two days outside the land of Israel, and Rosh Hashanah is observed for two days even inside the land of Israel.

Dates for holidays on the Jewish calendar are expressed in the Torah as "day x of month y". Accordingly, the beginning of month y needs to be determined before the proper date of the holiday on day x can be fixed. Months in the Jewish calendar are lunar, and originally were thought to have been proclaimed by the blowing of a shofar.[17] Later, the Sanhedrin received testimony of witnesses saying they saw the new crescent moon.[Note 9] Then the Sanhedrin would inform Jewish communities away from its meeting place that it had proclaimed a new moon. The practice of observing a second festival day stemmed from delays in disseminating that information.[18]

For Shavuot, calculated as the fiftieth day from Passover, the above issue did not pertain directly, as the "correct" date for Passover would be known by then. Nevertheless, the Talmud applies the same rule to Shavuot, and to the Seventh Day of Passover and Shemini Atzeret, for consistency.[21]

Yom Kippur is not observed for two days anywhere because of the difficulty of maintaining a fast over two days.[Note 11]

Shabbat is not observed based on a calendar date, but simply at intervals of seven days. Accordingly, there is never a doubt of the date of Shabbat, and it need never be observed for two days.[Note 12]

Adherents of Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism generally do not observe the second day of festivals,[22] although some do observe two days of Rosh Hashanah.[23]

Holidays of biblical and rabbinic (Talmudic) origin[edit]

Theories concerning possible non-Jewish sources for biblical holidays are beyond the scope of this article. Please see individual holiday articles, particularly Shabbat (History).

Shabbat—The Sabbath[edit]

Shabbat candles and kiddush cup

Main article: Shabbat

Jewish law (halacha) accords Shabbat (Hebrew: שבת) the status of a holiday, a day of rest celebrated on the seventh day of each week. Jewish law defines a day as ending at either sundown or nightfall, when the next day then begins. Thus,

The fundamental rituals and observances of Shabbat include:

In many ways, halakha (Jewish law) sees Shabbat as the most important holy day in the Jewish calendar.

Rosh Chodesh—The New Month[edit]

Main article: Rosh Chodesh

Rosh Chodesh (Hebrew: ראש חודש, romanized: roš ḥoḏeš, lit. 'head of the month') is a minor holiday or observance occurring on the first day of each month of the Jewish calendar, as well as the last day of the preceding month if it has thirty days.

Beyond the preceding, current observance is limited to changes in liturgy.

In the month of Tishrei, this observance is superseded by the observance of Rosh Hashanah, a major holiday.

Related observances:

Rosh Hashanah—The Jewish New Year[edit]

Selichot[edit]

The month of Elul that precedes Rosh Hashanah is considered to be a propitious time for repentance.[24] For this reason, additional penitential prayers called Selichot are added to the daily prayers, except on Shabbat. Sephardi Jews add these prayers each weekday during Elul. Ashkenazi Jews recite them from the last Sunday (or Saturday night) preceding Rosh Hashanah that allows at least four days of recitations.

Rosh Hashanah[edit]

Rosh Hashana symbols: shofar, apples and honey, pomegranates, kiddush wine

Main article: Rosh Hashanah

According to oral tradition, Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה) (lit., "Head of the Year") is the Day of Memorial or Remembrance (Hebrew: יום הזכרון, Yom HaZikaron),[25] and the day of judgment (Hebrew: יום הדין, Yom HaDin).[26] God appears in the role of King, remembering and judging each person individually according to his/her deeds, and making a decree for each person for the following year.[27]

The holiday is characterized by one specific mitzvah: blowing the shofar.[28] According to the Torah, this is the first day of the seventh month of the calendar year,[28] and marks the beginning of a ten-day period leading up to Yom Kippur. According to one of two Talmudic opinions, the creation of the world was completed on Rosh Hashanah.[29]

Morning prayer services are lengthy on Rosh Hashanah, and focus on the themes described above: majesty and judgment, remembrance, the birth of the world, and the blowing of the shofar. Ashkenazi Jews recite the brief Tashlikh prayer, a symbolic casting off of the previous year's sins, during the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah.

The Bible specifies Rosh Hashanah as a one-day holiday,[28] but it is traditionally celebrated for two days, even within the Land of Israel. (See Second day of biblical festivals, above.)

Four New Years[edit]

The Torah itself does not use any term like "New Year" in reference to Rosh Hashanah. The Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah[30] specifies four different "New Year's Days" for different purposes:

Aseret Yemei Teshuva—Ten Days of Repentance[edit]

Main article: Ten Days of Repentance

The first ten days of Tishrei (from the beginning of Rosh Hashana until the end of Yom Kippur) are known as the Ten Days of Repentance (עשרת ימי תשובה, Aseret Yemei Teshuva). During this time, in anticipation of Yom Kippur, it is "exceedingly appropriate"[31] for Jews to practice repentance, an examination of one's deeds and repentance for sins one has committed against other people and God. This repentance can take the form of additional supplications, confessing one's deeds before God, fasting, self-reflection, and an increase of involvement with, or donations to, tzedakah "charity".

Tzom Gedalia—Fast of Gedalia[edit]

Main article: Fast of Gedalia

The Fast of Gedalia (Hebrew: צום גדליה) is a minor Jewish fast day. It commemorates the assassination of the governor of Yehud province, Gedaliah, which ended any level of Jewish rule following the destruction of Solomon's Temple.

The assassination occurred on Rosh Hashanah (1 Tishrei),[32] but the fast is postponed to 3 Tishrei in respect for the holiday. It is further postponed to 4 Tishrei if 3 Tishrei is Shabbat.

As on all minor fast days, fasting from dawn to dusk is required, but other laws of mourning are not normally observed. A Torah reading is included in both the Shaharit and Minha prayers, and a haftarah is also included at Mincha. There are also some additions to the liturgy of both services.[33]

Yom Kippur—Day of Atonement[edit]

Main article: Yom Kippur

A man in a tallit blows the shofar

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: יום כיפור) is the holiest day of the year for Jews.[Note 13] Its central theme is atonement and reconciliation. This is accomplished through prayer and complete fasting—including abstinence from all food and drink (including water)—by all healthy adults.[Note 14] Bathing, wearing of perfume or cologne, wearing of leather shoes, and sexual relations are some of the other prohibitions on Yom Kippur—all them designed to ensure one's attention is completely and absolutely focused on the quest for atonement with God. Yom Kippur is also unique among holidays as having work-related restrictions identical to those of Shabbat. The fast and other prohibitions commence on 10 Tishrei at sunset—sunset being the beginning of the day in Jewish tradition.

A traditional prayer in Aramaic called Kol Nidre ("All Vows") is traditionally recited just before sunset. Although often regarded as the start of the Yom Kippur evening service—to such a degree that Erev Yom Kippur ("Yom Kippur Evening") is often called "Kol Nidre" (also spelled "Kol Nidrei")—it is technically a separate tradition. This is especially so because, being recited before sunset, it is actually recited on 9 Tishrei, which is the day before Yom Kippur; it is not recited on Yom Kippur itself (on 10 Tishrei, which begins after the sun sets).

The words of Kol Nidre differ slightly between Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions. In both, the supplicant prays to be released from all personal vows made to God during the year, so that any unfulfilled promises made to God will be annulled and, thus, forgiven. In Ashkenazi tradition, the reference is to the coming year; in Sephardic tradition, the reference is to the year just ended. Only vows between the supplicant and God are relevant. Vows made between the supplicant and other people remain perfectly valid, since they are unaffected by the prayer.

A Tallit (four-cornered prayer shawl) is donned for evening and afternoon prayers–the only day of the year in which this is done. In traditional Ashkenazi communities, men wear the kittel throughout the day's prayers. The prayers on Yom Kippur evening are lengthier than on any other night of the year. Once services reconvene in the morning, the services (in all traditions) are the longest of the year. In some traditional synagogues prayers run continuously from morning until nightfall, or nearly so. Two highlights of the morning prayers in traditional synagogues are the recitation of Yizkor, the prayer of remembrance, and of liturgical poems (piyyutim) describing the temple service of Yom Kippur.

Two other highlights happen late in the day. During the Minchah prayer, the haftarah reading features the entire Book of Jonah. Finally, the day concludes with Ne'ilah, a special service recited only on the day of Yom Kippur. Ne'ilah deals with the closing of the holiday, and contains a fervent final plea to God for forgiveness just before the conclusion of the fast. Yom Kippur comes to an end with the blowing of the shofar, which marks the conclusion of the fast. It is always observed as a one-day holiday, both inside and outside the boundaries of the Land of Israel.

Yom Kippur is considered, along with 15th of Av, as the happiest days of the year (Talmud Bavli—Tractate Ta'anit).[34]

Sukkot—Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles)[edit]

A sukkah booth

Main article: Sukkot

Sukkot (Hebrew: סוכות or Hebrew: סֻכּוֹת, sukkōt) or Succoth is a seven-day festival, also known as the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles, or just Tabernacles. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (shalosh regalim) mentioned in the Bible. Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions. The word sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah, meaning booth. Jews are commanded to "dwell" in booths during the holiday.[35] This generally means taking meals, but some sleep in the sukkah as well, particularly in Israel. There are specific rules for constructing a sukkah.

Along with dwelling in a sukkah, the principal ritual unique to this holiday is use of the Four Species: lulav (palm), hadass (myrtle), aravah (willow) and etrog (citron).[36] On each day of the holiday other than Shabbat, these are waved in association with the recitation of Hallel in the synagogue, then walked in a procession around the synagogue called the Hoshanot.

The seventh day of the Sukkot is called Hoshanah Rabbah, the "Great Hoshanah" (singular of Hoshanot and the source of the English word hosanna). The climax of the day's prayers includes seven processions of Hoshanot around the synagogue. This tradition mimics practices from the Temple in Jerusalem. Many aspects of the day's customs also resemble those of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Hoshanah Rabbah is traditionally taken to be the day of the "delivery" of the final judgment of Yom Kippur, and offers a last opportunity for pleas of repentance before the holiday season closes.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah[edit]

Main articles: Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah

Dancing with the Torah

The holiday of Shemini Atzeret (Hebrew: שמיני עצרת) immediately follows the conclusion of the holiday of Sukkot. The Hebrew word shemini means "eighth", and refers to its position on "the eighth day" of Sukkot, actually a seven-day holiday. This name reflects the fact that while in many respects Shemini Atzeret is a separate holiday in its own right, in certain respects its celebration is linked to that of Sukkot. Outside Israel, meals are still taken in the Sukkah on this day.

The main notable custom of this holiday is the celebration of Simchat Torah (Hebrew: שמחת תורה), meaning "rejoicing with the Torah". This name originally referred to a special "ceremony": the last weekly Torah portion is read from Deuteronomy, completing the annual cycle, and is followed immediately by the reading of the first chapter of Genesis, beginning the new annual cycle. Services are especially joyous, and all attendees, young and old, are involved.

This ceremony so dominates the holiday that in Israel, where the holiday is one day long, the whole holiday is often referred to as Simchat Torah. Outside Israel, the holiday is two days long; the name Shemini Atzeret is used for the first day, while the second is normally called Simchat Torah.

Hanukkah—Festival of Lights[edit]

Main article: Hanukkah

Hanukkiah

The story of Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה) is preserved in the books of the First and Second Maccabees. These books are not part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), they are apocryphal books instead. The miracle of the one-day supply of olive oil miraculously lasting eight days is first described in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), written about 600 years after the events described in the books of Maccabees.[37]

Hanukkah marks the defeat of Seleucid Empire forces that had tried to prevent the people of Israel from practicing Judaism. Judah Maccabee and his brothers destroyed overwhelming forces, and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. The eight-day festival is marked by the kindling of lights—one on the first night, two on the second, and so on—using a special candle holder called a Hanukkiah, or a Hanukkah menorah.

Religiously, Hanukkah is a minor holiday. Except on Shabbat, restrictions on work do not apply.[Note 15] Aside from the kindling of lights, formal religious observance is restricted to changes in liturgy. Hanukkah celebration tends to be informal and based on custom rather than law. Three widely practiced customs include:

Tenth of Tevet[edit]

Main article: Tenth of Tevet

The Tenth of Tevet (Hebrew: עשרה בטבת, Asarah B'Tevet) is a minor fast day, marking the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem as outlined in 2 Kings 25:1

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.

This fast's commemoration also includes other events occurring on 8, 9 and 10 Tevet.

This fast is observed like other minor fasts (see Tzom Gedalia, above). This is the only minor fast that can fall on a Friday under the current fixed Jewish calendar.

Tu Bishvat—New Year of the Trees[edit]

Main article: Tu Bishvat

Nuts and dried fruits, traditionally eaten on Tu Bishvat

Tu Bishvat (ט"ו בשבט‎) (lit., "fifteenth of Shevat", as ט״ו‎ is the number "15" in Hebrew letters), is the new year for trees. It is also known as חג האילנות‎ (Ḥag ha-Ilanot, Festival of Trees), or ראש השנה לאילנות‎ (Rosh ha-Shanah la-Ilanot, New Year for Trees). According to the Mishnah, it marks the day from which fruit tithes are counted each year. Starting on this date, the biblical prohibition on eating the first three years of fruit (orlah) and the requirement to bring the fourth year fruit (neta revai) to the Temple in Jerusalem were counted.[38]

During the 17th century, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed and his disciples created a short seder, called Hemdat ha‑Yamim, reminiscent of the seder that Jews observe on Passover, that explores the holiday's Kabbalistic themes.[39] This Tu Bishvat seder has witnessed a revival in recent years. More generally, Tu Bishvat is celebrated in modern times by eating various fruits and nuts associated with the Land of Israel.

Traditionally, trees are planted on this day.[40] Many children collect funds leading up to this day to plant trees in Israel. Trees are usually planted locally as well.

Purim—Festival of Lots[edit]

Main article: Purim

Purim Katan[edit]

Purim Katan (פורים קטן‎) (lit., "small Purim") is observed on the 14th and 15th of First Adar in leap years. These days are marked by a small increase in festivity, including a prohibition on fasting, and slight changes in the liturgy.

Ta'anit Esther–Fast of Esther[edit]

Main article: Fast of Esther

The opening chapter of a hand-written scroll of the Book of Esther, with reader's pointer

Mishloah manot

Ta'anit Esther (תענית אסתר‎), or "Fast of Esther", is named in honor of the fast of Esther and her court as Esther prepared to approach the king unbidden to invite him and Haman to a banquet.[41] It commemorates that fast, as well as one alluded to later in the Book of Esther,[42] undertaken as the Jews prepared to battle their enemies.

This fast is observed like other minor fasts (see Tzom Gedalia, above). While normally observed on 13 Adar, the eve of Purim, this fast is advanced to Thursday, 11 Adar, when 13 Adar falls on Shabbat.

Purim and Shushan Purim[edit]

Main article: Purim

Purim (פורים‎) commemorates the events that took place in the Book of Esther. The principal celebrations or commemorations include:[43]

Several customs have evolved from these principal commemorations. One widespread custom to act out the story of Purim. The Purim spiel, or Purim play, has its origins in this, although the Purim spiel is not limited to that subject.[45] Wearing of costumes and masks is also very common. These may be an outgrowth of Purim plays, but there are several theories as to the origin of the custom, most related in some way to the "hidden" nature of the miracles of Purim.[Note 19]

Purim carnivals of various types have also become customary. In Israel there are festive parades, known as Ad-D'lo-Yada,[46] in the town's main street. The largest and most renowned is in Holon.[47]

Most Jews celebrate Purim on 14 Adar, the day of celebration after the Jews defeated their enemies. Because Jews in the capital city of Shushan fought with their enemies an extra day, Purim is celebrated a day later there, on the day known as שושן פורים‎, Shushan Purim. This observance was expanded to "walled cities",[43] which are defined as cities "walled since the time of Joshua".[48] In practice, there are no Jews living in Shushan (Shush, Iran), and Shushan Purim is observed fully only in Jerusalem. Cities like Safed and Tiberias also partially observe Shushan Purim. Elsewhere, Shushan Purim is marked only by a small increase in festivity, including a prohibition on fasting, and slight changes in the liturgy.

Pesach—Passover[edit]

Month of Nisan[edit]

As a rule, the month of Nisan is considered to be one of extra joy. Traditionally, throughout the entire month, Tahanun is omitted from the prayer service, many public mourning practices (such as delivering a eulogy at a funeral) are eliminated, and voluntary fasting is prohibited.[49] However, practices sometimes vary.[50]

Eve of Passover and Fast of the Firstborn[edit]

Traditional arrangement of symbolic foods on a Passover Seder Plate

Table set for Passover seder

The day before Passover (Erev Pesach, lit., "Passover eve") is significant for three reasons:

When Passover starts on Sunday, and the eve of Passover is therefore Shabbat, the above schedule is altered. See Eve of Passover on Shabbat for details.

Passover[edit]

Main article: Passover

Passover (פּסח) (Pesach), also known liturgically as חג המצות ("Ḥag haMatzot", the "Festival of Unleavened Bread"), is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (shalosh regalim) mentioned in the Torah. Passover commemorates the Exodus, the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt.[53][54] No chametz (leavened food) is eaten, or even owned, during the week of Passover, in commemoration of the biblical narrative in which the Israelites left Egypt so quickly that their bread did not have enough time to rise.[55] Observant Jews go to great lengths to remove all chametz from their homes and offices in the run-up to Passover.[56]

Along with the avoidance of chametz, the principal ritual unique to this holiday is the seder. The seder, meaning "order", is an ordered ritual meal eaten on the first night of Passover, and outside Israel also on the second night. This meal is known for its distinctive ritual foods—matzo (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), and four cups of wine—as well as its prayer text/handbook/study guide, the Haggadah. Participation in a Passover seder is one of the most widely observed Jewish rituals, even among less affiliated or less observant Jews.[57]

Passover lasts seven days in Israel,[58] and eight days outside Israel. The holiday of the last day of Passover (outside Israel, last two days) commemorates the Splitting of the Red Sea; according to tradition this occurred on the seventh day of Passover.[59]

Pesach Sheni[edit]

Main article: Pesach Sheni

Pesach Sheni (פסח שני) ("Second Passover") is a day prescribed in the Torah[60] to allow those who did not bring the Paschal Lamb offering (Korban Pesach) a second chance to do so. Eligibility was limited to those who were distant from Jerusalem on Passover, or those who were ritually impure and ineligible to participate in a sacrificial offering. Today, some have the custom to eat matzo on Pesach Sheni, and some make a small change to the liturgy.

Sefirah—Counting of the Omer[edit]

Main article: Counting of the Omer

Sefirah (lit. "Counting"; more fully, Sefirat HaOmer, "Counting of the Omer") (ספירת העומר), is the 49-day period between the biblical pilgrimage festivals of Passover and Shavuot. The Torah states[61] that this period is to be counted, both in days and in weeks. The first day of this period[Note 23] is the day of the first grain offering of the new year's crop, an omer of barley. The day following the 49th day of the period is the festival of Shavuot; the Torah specifies a grain offering of wheat on that day.[61]

Symbolically, this period has come to represent the spiritual development of the Israelites from slaves in the polytheistic society of Ancient Egypt to free, monotheistic people worthy of the revelation of the Torah, traditionally said to have occurred on Shavuot. Spiritual development remains a key rabbinic teaching of this period.[62]

Sefirah has long been observed as a period of semi-mourning. The customary explanation[63] cites a plague that killed 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva (BT Yevamot 62b).[Note 24] In broad terms, the mourning practices observed include limiting actual celebrations (such as weddings), not listening to music, not wearing new clothing, and not shaving or taking a haircut.[63] There is a wide variety of practice as to the specifics of this observance. See Counting of the Omer (Semi-mourning).

Lag Ba'Omer bonfire

Lag Ba'Omer[edit]

Main article: Lag Ba'Omer

Further information: Hillula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai

Lag Ba'Omer (לַ״ג בָּעוֹמֶר) is the 33rd day in the Omer count (לַ״ג is the number 33 in Hebrew). By Ashkenazi practice, the semi-mourning observed during the period of Sefirah (see above) is lifted on Lag Ba'Omer, while Sefardi practice is to lift it at the end of Lag Ba'Omer.[63][64] Minor liturgical changes are made on Lag Ba'omer; because mourning practices are suspended, weddings are often conducted on this day.

Lag Ba'Omer is identified as the Yom Hillula (yahrzeit) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, one of the leading Tannaim (teachers quoted in the Mishna) and ascribed author of the core text of Kabbalah, the Zohar. Customary celebrations include bonfires, picnics, and bow and arrow play by children.[65] Boys sometimes receive their first haircuts on Lag Ba'Omer,[66] while Hasidic rebbes hold tishes in honor of the day.

In Israel, Lag Ba'Omer is associated with the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. In Zionist thought, the plague that decimated Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 disciples is explained as a veiled reference to the revolt; the 33rd day representing the end of the plague is explained as the day of Bar Kokhba's victory. The traditional bonfires and bow-and-arrow play were thus reinterpreted as celebrations of military victory.[65] In this vein, the order originally creating the Israel Defense Forces was issued on Lag Ba'Omer 1948, 13 days after Israel declared independence.[67]

Shavuot—Feast of Weeks—Yom HaBikurim[edit]

Cheese blintzes, a traditional food on Shavuot

Main article: Shavuot

Shavuot (שבועות), the Feast of Weeks, is one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh regalim) ordained in the Torah. Different from other biblical holidays, the date for Shavuot is not explicitly fixed in the Torah. Instead, it is observed on the day following the 49th and final day in the counting of the Omer.[61] In the current era of the fixed Jewish calendar, this puts the date of Shavuot as 6 Sivan. In Israel and in Reform Judaism, it is a one-day holiday; elsewhere, it is a two-day holiday extending through 7 Sivan.[Note 23]

According to Rabbinic tradition, codified in the Talmud at Shabbat 87b, the Ten Commandments were given on this day. In the era of the Temple, there were certain specific offerings mandated for Shavuot, and Shavuot was the first day for bringing of Bikkurim to the Temple. Other than those, there are no explicit mitzvot unique to Shavuot given in the Torah (parallel to matzo on Passover or Sukkah on Sukkot).

Nevertheless, there are a number of widespread customs observed on Shavuot. During this holiday the Torah portion containing the Ten Commandments is read in the synagogue, and the biblical Book of Ruth is read as well. It is traditional to eat dairy meals during Shavuot. In observant circles, all night Torah study is common on the first night of Shavuot, while in Reform Judaism, Shavuot is the customary date for Confirmation ceremonies.

Mourning for Jerusalem: Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av[edit]

The three-week period starting on 17 Tammuz and concluding after Tisha B'Av has traditionally been observed as a period of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple there.

Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz[edit]

Main article: Seventeenth of Tammuz

The Seventeenth of Tamuz (שבעה עשר בתמוז, Shiva Asar B'Tamuz) traditionally marks the first breach in the walls of the Jerusalem during the Roman conquest in 70 CE, at the end of the Second Temple period.[Note 25] According to tradition, this day has had negative connotations since Moses broke the first set of tablets on this day.[68] The Mishnah cites five negative events that happened on 17 Tammuz.[69]

This fast is observed like other minor fasts (see Tzom Gedalia, above). When this fast falls out on Shabbat, its observance is postponed until Sunday.

The Three Weeks and the Nine Days[edit]

Main articles: The Three Weeks and The Nine Days

The period between the fasts of 17 Tammuz and 9 Av, known as the "Three Weeks" (Hebrew: בין המצרים, "between the straits"[70]), features a steadily increasing level of mourning practices as Tisha B'Av approaches. Ashkenazi Jews refrain from conducting weddings and other joyful events throughout the period unless the date is established by Jewish law (as for a bris or pidyon haben). They do not cut their hair during this period.[71] Starting on the first of Av and throughout the nine days between the 1st and 9th days of Av, Ashkenazim traditionally refrain from eating meat and drinking wine, except on Shabbat or at a Seudat Mitzvah (a Mitzvah meal, such as for a bris or siyum).[71] They also refrain from bathing for pleasure.[71] Sefardic practice varies some from this; the less severe restrictions usually begin on 1 Av, while the more severe restrictions apply during the week of Tisha B'Av itself.[71]

Subject to the variations described above, Orthodox Judaism continues to maintain the traditional prohibitions. In Conservative Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has issued several responsa (legal rulings) which hold that the prohibitions against weddings in this timeframe are deeply held traditions, but should not be construed as binding law. Thus, Conservative Jewish practice would allow weddings during this time, except on the 17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av themselves.[Note 26] Rabbis within Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism hold that halakha (Jewish law) is no longer binding and follow their individual consciences on such matters. Nevertheless, the rabbinical manual of the Reform movement encourages Reform rabbis not to conduct weddings on Tisha B'Av itself "out of historical consciousness and respect" for the Jewish community.[72]

Tisha B'Av—Ninth of Av[edit]

Worshipers seated on the floor of the synagogue before the reading of Lamentations on Tisha B'Av

Main article: Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av (תשעה באב) is a major fast day and day of mourning. A Midrashic tradition states that the spies' negative report concerning the Land of Israel was delivered on Tisha B'Av. Consequently, the day became auspicious for negative events in Jewish history. Most notably, both the First Temple, originally built by King Solomon, and the Second Temple of Roman times were destroyed on Tisha B'Av.[69] Other calamities throughout Jewish history are said to have taken place on Tisha B'Av, including King Edward I's edict compelling the Jews to leave England (1290) and the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492.

Tisha B'Av is a major fast. It is a 25-hour fast, running from sundown to nightfall. As on Yom Kippur, not only are eating and drinking prohibited, but also bathing, anointing, marital relations and the wearing of leather shoes. Work is not prohibited, as on biblical holidays, but is discouraged. In the evening, the Book of Lamentations is read in the synagogue, while in the morning lengthy kinot, poems of elegy, are recited. From evening until noon mourning rituals resembling those of shiva are observed, including sitting on low stools or the floor; after noon those restrictions are somewhat lightened, in keeping with the tradition that Messiah will be born on Tisha B'Av.[73]

While the fast ends at nightfall of 9–10 Av, the restrictions of the Three Weeks and Nine Days continue through noon on 10 Av because the Second Temple continued to burn through most of that day. When 9 Av falls on Shabbat, when fasting is prohibited, the fast is postponed until 10 Av. In that case, the restrictions of the Three Weeks and Nine Days end with the fast, except for the prohibition against eating meat and drinking wine, which extend until the morning of 10 Av.[73]

Tu B'Av[edit]

Main article: Tu B'Av

Tu B'av (ט״ו באב), lit. "15th of Av", is a day mentioned in the Talmud alongside Yom Kippur as "happiest of the year".[34] It was a day celebrating the bringing of wood used for the Temple Service, as well as a day when marriages were arranged. Today, it is marked by a small change in liturgy. In modern Israel, the day has become somewhat of an analog to Valentine's Day.

Other fasts[edit]

Main article: Ta'anit

Several other fast days of ancient or medieval origin continue to be observed to some degree in modern times. Such continued observance is usually by Orthodox Jews only, and is not universal today even among Orthodox Jews.[Note 27]

While the specific fasts described in the Mishnah fell into disuse once Jews were exiled from the land of Israel, various Jewish communities have declared fasts over the years, using these as a model. Two examples include a fast among Polish Jews commemorating the massacre of Jews during the Khmelnytsky Uprising and one among Russian Jews during anti-Jewish pogroms of the 1880s.[76][77]

Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has urged fasting in times of drought.[78]

Israeli/Jewish national holidays and days of remembrance[edit]

Main article: Public holidays in Israel

As a general rule, the biblical Jewish holidays (Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot and Purim) are observed as public holidays in Israel. Chanukah is a school holiday, but businesses remain open. On Tisha B'Av, restaurants and places of entertainment are closed. Other Jewish holidays listed above are observed in varying ways and to varying degrees.

Between the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the Knesset, generally in consultation with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, established four national holidays or days of remembrance:

The status of these days as religious events is not uniform within the Jewish world. Non-Orthodox, Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox Jewish religious movements[Note 28] accept these days as religious as well as national in nature.

As a rule, these four days are not accepted as religious observances by most Haredi Jews, including Hasidim. Some ḥaredim are opposed to the existence of the State of Israel altogether on religious grounds; others simply feel that there are not sufficient grounds under Jewish law to justify the establishment of new religious holidays. For details, see Haredim and Zionism.

Observance of these days in Jewish communities outside Israel is typically more muted than their observance in Israel. Events held in government and public venues within Israel are often held in Jewish communal settings (synagogues and community centers) abroad.

More recently, the Knesset established two additional holidays:

Finally, the Israeli government also recognizes several ethnic Jewish observances with holiday status.

Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day[edit]

A lit Yom HaShoah Yellow Candle

Yom HaShoah (lit. "Holocaust Day") is a day of remembrance for victims of the Holocaust. Its full name is Yom Hazikaron LaShoah v'LiGevurah (lit. "Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day") (יום הזכרון לשואה ולגבורה), and reflects a desire to recognize martyrs who died in active resistance to the Nazis alongside those who died as passive victims. Its date, 27 Nisan, was chosen because it commemorates the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the best known of the armed Jewish uprisings.[Note 29][Note 30]

Places of public entertainment are closed throughout Israel in recognition of the day.[81] Public commemoration of Yom HaShoah usually includes religious elements such as the recitation of Psalms, memorial prayers, and kaddish, and the lighting of memorial candles. In Israel, the most notable observances are the State memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem and the sirens marking off a two-minute silence at 10:00 am. Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox Jews generally participate in such public observances along with secular Jews and Jews who adhere to more liberal religious movements. Outside Israel, Jewish communities observe Yom HaShoah in addition to or instead of their countries' Holocaust Memorial Days.[81] Probably the most notable commemoration is the March of the Living, held at the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau, attended by Jews from all parts of the world.

Outside Orthodoxy, a liturgy for Yom HaShoah is beginning to develop. The Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist prayer books all include liturgical elements for Yom HaShoah, to be added to the regular weekday prayers. Conservative Judaism has written a scroll, called Megillat HaShoah, intended to become a definitive liturgical reading for Yom HaShoah.[82][83] The Orthodox world–even the segment that participates publicly in Yom HaShoah–has been reluctant to write a liturgy for the day, preferring to compose Kinnot (prayers of lamentation) for recitation on Tisha B'Av.[82][Note 31]

In order to ensure that public Yom HaShoah ceremonies in Israel do not violate Shabbat prohibitions, the date for Yom HaShoah varies[Note 32] as follows:

Yom Hazikaron—Memorial Day[edit]

A moment of silence as the siren is sounded in Tel Aviv, Yom Hazikaron 2007

Yom Hazikaron (lit. "Memorial Day") is a day of remembrance of the fallen of Israel's wars. During the first years of Israel's independence, this remembrance was observed on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) itself. However, by 1951, the memorial observance was separated from the festive celebration of Independence Day and moved to its current date, the day before Yom Ha'atzmaut.[84][Note 33] Since 2000, the scope of the memorial has expanded to include civilians slain by acts of hostile terrorism. Its full name is now יום הזכרון לחללי מערכות ישראל ולנפגעי פעולות האיבה ("Day of Remembrance for the Fallen of the Battles of Israel and the Victims of Terror").[85]

Places of public entertainment are closed throughout Israel in recognition of the day.[86] Many schools, businesses and other institutions conduct memorial services on this day, and it is customary to visit the graves of fallen soldiers and to recite memorial prayers there. The principal public observances are the evening opening ceremony at the Western Wall and the morning services of remembrance at military cemeteries throughout the country, each opened by the sounding of sirens. The public observances conclude with the service at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl that serves as the transition to Yom Ha'atzmaut.

Outside Israel, Yom HaZikaron observances are often folded into Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations. Within Israel, Yom Hazikaron is always the day before Yom Ha'atzmaut, but that date moves to prevent violation of Sabbath prohibitions during the ceremonies of either day. See following section for details.

Yom Ha'atzmaut—Israel Independence Day[edit]

The final round of the International Bible Contest (here in 1985) is held on Yom Ha'atzmaut

Jerusalem Day celebrations

Yom Ha'atzmaut (יום העצמאות) is Israel's Independence Day. Observance of this day by Jews inside and outside Israel is widespread,[87] and varies in tone from secular (military parades and barbecues) to religious (recitation of Hallel and new liturgies).

Although Israel's independence was declared on a Friday, the Chief Rabbinate has long been mindful of the possibility of Yom Ha'atzmaut (and Yom Hazikaron) observances leading to violation of Sabbath prohibitions. To prevent such violations, the dates of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut vary[Note 32] as follows:

Nearly all non-ḥaredi Jewish religious communities have incorporated changes or enhancements to the liturgy in honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut and suspend the mourning practices of the period of Sefirat Ha'Omer. (See Yom Ha'atzmaut—Religious Customs for details.) Within the Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox communities, these changes are not without controversy, and customs continue to evolve.[88]

Ḥaredi religious observance of Yom Ha'atzmaut varies widely. A few ḥaredim (especially Sefardic Ḥaredim) celebrate the day in a reasonably similar way to the way non-ḥaredim do.[89] Most ḥaredim simply treat the day indifferently; i.e., as a regular day.[88] And finally others (notably Satmar Ḥasidim and Neturei Karta) mourn on the day because of their opposition to the enterprise of the State of Israel.[90]

Yom Yerushalayim—Jerusalem Day[edit]

Jerusalem Day (יום ירושלים) marks the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control during the Six-Day War. This marked the first time in 19 years that the Temple Mount was accessible to Jews, and the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple 1897 years earlier that the Temple Mount was under Jewish political control.

As with Yom Ha'atzmaut, celebrations of Yom Yerushalayim range from completely secular (including hikes to Jerusalem and a large parade through downtown Jerusalem) to religious (recitation of Hallel and new liturgies). Although Haredim do not participate in the liturgical changes, they are somewhat more likely to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim than the other modern Israeli holidays because of the importance of the liberation of the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem.[91]

Outside Israel, observance of Yom Yerushalayim is widespread, especially in Orthodox circles. It has not gained as widespread acceptance as Yom Ha'atzmaut, especially among more politically liberal Jews, because of the continuing conflicts over the future of the city.[92]

Yom Yerushalayim has not traditionally moved to avoid Shabbat desecration, although in 2012 the Chief Rabbinate began some efforts in that direction.[93]

Yom HaAliyah—Aliyah Day[edit]

Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West

Aliyah Day (יום העלייה) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of Nisan.[94] The day was established to acknowledge Aliyah, immigration to the Jewish state, as a core value of the State of Israel, and honor the ongoing contributions of Olim (immigrants) to Israeli society.[95]

Immigration to Israel is a recognized religious value of Judaism, sometimes referred to as the Gathering of Israel.[96] The date chosen for Yom HaAliyah, 10 Nisan, has religious significance: it is the day on which Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River at Gilgal into the Promised Land. It was thus the first documented "mass Aliyah".[97] The alternative date observed in the school system, 7 Heshvan, falls during the week of the Torah portion in which God instructs Abraham to leave his home and his family and go up to the Land of Israel.[98]

At the present time, observance of this day appears to be secular in nature.[citation needed]

Day to commemorate the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands and Iran[edit]

The Knesset established this observance in 2014. The purpose of this observance is to recognize the collective trauma of Mizrahi Jews during the period around the establishment of the State of Israel. Many Mizrachi Jews felt that their own suffering was being ignored, both in comparison to the suffering of European Jewry during the Holocaust and in comparison to the Palestinian Nakba. The Gregorian-calendar date chosen is the day after the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was adopted, as that date marked the beginning of concentrated pressure and hostility against the community.[99]

At the present time, observance of this day appears to be secular in nature.

National Remembrance Day for October 7 Disaster and the Swords of Iron War[edit]

The Israeli government established this national remembrance day in March 2024. It is designed to be a national remembrance day for those who died in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the Israel-Hamas War as a whole.[100]

Ethnic holidays[edit]

Main articles: Mimouna, Seharane, and Sigd

The Israeli government officially recognizes three traditional holidays of ethnic Jewish communities in Israel. These days are also observed by their respective communities outside Israel.

On the evening concluding Passover,[Note 34] the celebration centers on visiting the homes of friends and neighbors, Jewish and non-Jewish. A variety of traditional foods are served, and symbols which represent good luck and prosperity are prominently displayed. The next day, barbecues and picnics are among the most widespread activities of the celebration.[103]

Its observance was interrupted after the relocation of this community to Israel in the 1950s. In recent years it has been revived. But because of the already-widespread celebration of Mimouna in Israel, the celebration of the Seharane was moved to Chol HaMoed Sukkot.[104]

The Sigd is modeled on a ceremony of fasting, study and prayer described in Nehemiah 8, when the Jews rededicated themselves to religious observance on return to Israel after the Babylonian exile.[106] In Ethiopia, the community would gather on a mountaintop and pray for a return to Jerusalem. The modern Sigd is centered on a promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. The day's observance ends with a celebratory break fast.[107]


Three Pilgrimage Festivals

Three Pilgrimage Festivals


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Three Pilgrimage Festivals or Shalosh Regalim (Hebrew: שלוש רגלים, romanized: šāloš rəgālīm, or חַגִּים, ḥaggīm), are three major festivals in Judaism—two in spring; Passover, 49 days later Shavuot (literally 'weeks', or Pentecost, from the Greek); and in autumn Sukkot ('tabernacles', 'tents' or 'booths')—when all Israelites who were able were expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem as commanded by the Torah. In Jerusalem, they would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services of the kohanim (priests) at the Temple.[1]

All three coincide with important harvest times in the Land of Israel: Passover with the barley harvest, Shavuot with the harvesting of the wheat, and the eighth day of Sukkot marks the conclusion of the fruit harvest.[1]

After the destruction of the Second Temple, the actual pilgrimages are no longer obligatory upon Jews, and no longer take place on a national scale. During synagogue services, the related passages describing the holiday being observed are read aloud from a Torah scroll on the bimah (platform) used at the center of the synagogue services. During the Jewish holidays in the state of Israel, many observant Jews living in or near Jerusalem make an effort to attend prayer services at the Western Wall, emulating the ancient pilgrimages in some small fashion.[2]

Samaritans make pilgrimages to Mount Gerizim three times a year to this day.[2]

Sources in the Hebrew Bible[edit]

Offering of the first fruits, illustration from a Bible card

Three times a year you shall hold a festival for Me: You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days as I have commanded you—at the set time in the month of Abib, for in it you went forth from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty-handed; and the Feast of the Harvest, of the first fruits of your work, of what you sow in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign, יהוה.

— Exodus 23:14-17[3]

You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread—eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you—at the set time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you went forth from Egypt. Every first issue of the womb is Mine, from all your livestock that drop a male as firstling, whether cattle or sheep. But the firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every male first-born among your children. None shall appear before Me empty-handed. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor; you shall cease from labor even at plowing time and harvest time. You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the wheat harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Sovereign יהוה, the God of Israel.

— Exodus 34:18-19[4]

1 Observe the month of Abib and offer a passover sacrifice to your God יהוה, for it was in the month of Abib, at night, that your God יהוה freed you from Egypt.

9 You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for your God יהוה, offering your freewill contribution according as your God יהוה has blessed you. 13 After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days. 16 Three times a year—on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths—all your males shall appear before your God יהוה in the place that [God] will choose. They shall not appear before יהוה empty-handed,

17 but each with his own gift, according to the blessing that your God יהוה has bestowed upon you.

— Deuteronomy 16:1, 9-10, 13, 16-17[5]

Other biblical references[edit]

In his vision of a restored Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah refers to Zion as "the city of our appointed feasts,"[6]. Zechariah foretells a messianic era when all nations will come to Jerusalem for the feast of Sukkot.[7][8] The Song of Ascents or pilgrim psalms (Psalms 120-134) are associated with the pilgrims' journey to Jerusalem.[9]

See also[edit]

Temple In Jerusalem

Temple in Jerusalem


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (Hebrew: בֵּית־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, Modern: Bēt haMīqdaš, Tiberian: Bēṯ hamMīqdāš; Arabic: بيت المقدس, Bayt al-Maqdis), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the First Temple was built in the 10th century BCE, during the reign of Solomon over the United Kingdom of Israel. It stood until c. 587 BCE, when it was destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.[1] Almost a century later, the First Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, which was built after the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. While the Second Temple stood for a longer period of time than the First Temple, it was likewise destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Projects to build the hypothetical "Third Temple" have not come to fruition in the modern era, though the Temple in Jerusalem still features prominently in Judaism.[2] As an object of longing and a symbol of future redemption, the Temple has been commemorated in Jewish tradition through prayer, liturgical poetry, art, poetry, architecture, and other forms of expression.

Outside of Judaism, the Temple (and today's Temple Mount) also carries a high level of significance in Islam and Christianity. One of the early Arabic names for Jerusalem is Bayt al-Maqdis, which preserves the memory of the Temple. The Temple Mount is home to two monumental Islamic structures, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, which date to the Umayyad period. The site, known to Muslims as the "Al-Aqsa Mosque compound" or Haram al-Sharif, is considered the third-holiest site in Islam. The Christian New Testament and tradition hold that important events in Jesus' life took place in the Temple, and the Crusaders attributed the name "Templum Domini" ("Temple of the Lord") to the Dome of the Rock.

Etymology[edit]

The Hebrew name given in the Hebrew Bible for the building complex is either Mikdash (Hebrew: מקדש), as used in Exodus,[3] or simply Bayt / Beit Adonai (Hebrew: בית), as used in 1 Chronicles.[4]

In rabbinic literature, the temple sanctuary is called Beit HaMikdash (Hebrew: בית המקדש), meaning, "The Holy House", and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name.[5] In classic English texts, however, the word "Temple" is used interchangeably, sometimes having the strict connotation of the Temple precincts, with its courts (Greek: ἱερὸν), while at other times having the strict connotation of the Temple Sanctuary (Greek: ναός).[6] While Greek and Hebrew texts make this distinction, English texts do not always do so.

Jewish rabbi and philosopher Moses Maimonides gave the following definition of "Temple" in his Mishne Torah (Hil. Beit Ha-Bechirah):

They are enjoined to make, in what concerns it (i.e. the building of the Temple), a holy site and an inner-sanctum,[a] and where there is positioned in front of the holy site a certain place that is called a 'Hall' (Hebrew: אולם). The three of these places are called 'Sanctuary' (Hebrew: היכל). They are [also] enjoined to make a different partition surrounding the Sanctuary, distant from it, similar to the screen-like hangings of the court that were in the wilderness.[7] All that which is surrounded by this partition, which, as noted, is like the court of the Tabernacle, is called 'Courtyard' (Hebrew: עזרה), whereas all of it together is called 'Temple' (Hebrew: מקדש) [lit. 'the Holy Place'].[8][b]

First Temple[edit]

Model of the First Temple, included in a Bible manual for teachers (1922)

The Hebrew Bible says that the First Temple was built by King Solomon,[9] completed in 957 BCE.[10] According to the Book of Deuteronomy, as the sole place of Israelite korban (sacrifice),[11] the Temple replaced the Tabernacle constructed in the Sinai under the auspices of Moses, as well as local sanctuaries, and altars in the hills.[12] This Temple was sacked a few decades later by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt.[13]

Although efforts were made at partial reconstruction, it was only in 835 BCE when Jehoash, King of Judah, in the second year of his reign invested considerable sums in reconstruction, only to have it stripped again for Sennacherib, King of Assyria c. 700 BCE.[citation needed] The First Temple was totally destroyed in the Siege of Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE.[c]

Second Temple[edit]

According to the Book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple was called for by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BCE,[14] after the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire the year before.[15] According to some 19th-century calculations, work started later, in April 536 BCE[16] and was completed on 21 February, 515 BCE, 21 years after the start of the construction. This date is obtained by coordinating Ezra 3:8–10[17] (the third day of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the Great) with historical sources.[18] The accuracy of these dates is contested by some modern researchers, who consider the biblical text to be of later date and based on a combination of historical records and religious considerations, leading to contradictions between different books of the Bible and making the dates unreliable.[19] The new temple was dedicated by the Jewish governor Zerubbabel. However, with a full reading of the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah, there were four edicts to build the Second Temple, which were issued by three kings: Cyrus in 536 BCE (Ezra ch. 1), Darius I of Persia in 519 BCE (ch. 6), and Artaxerxes I of Persia in 457 BCE (ch. 7), and finally by Artaxerxes again in 444 BCE (Nehemiah ch. 2).[20]

According to classical Jewish sources, another demolition of the Temple was narrowly avoided in 332 BCE when the Jews refused to acknowledge the deification of Alexander the Great of Macedonia, but Alexander was placated at the last minute by astute diplomacy and flattery.[21] After the death of Alexander on 13 June 323 BCE, and the dismembering of his empire, the Ptolemies came to rule over Judea and the Temple. Under the Ptolemies, the Jews were given many civil liberties and lived content under their rule. However, when the Ptolemaic army was defeated at Panium by Antiochus III of the Seleucids in 200 BCE, this policy changed. Antiochus wanted to Hellenise the Jews, attempting to introduce the Greek pantheon into the temple. Moreover, a rebellion ensued and was brutally crushed, but no further action by Antiochus was taken, and when Antiochus died in 187 BCE at Luristan, his son Seleucus IV Philopator succeeded him. However, his policies never took effect in Judea, since he was assassinated the year after his ascension to the throne.[citation needed] Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeded his older brother to the Seleucid throne and immediately adopted his father's previous policy of universal Hellenisation. The Jews rebelled again and Antiochus, in a rage, retaliated in force. Considering the previous episodes of discontent, the Jews became incensed when the religious observances of Sabbath and circumcision were officially outlawed. When Antiochus erected a statue of Zeus in their temple and Hellenic priests began sacrificing pigs (the usual sacrifice offered to the Greek gods in the Hellenic religion), their anger began to spiral. When a Greek official ordered a Jewish priest to perform a Hellenic sacrifice, the priest (Mattathias) killed him. In 167 BCE, the Jews rose up en masse behind Mattathias and his five sons to fight and won their freedom from Seleucid authority. Mattathias' son Judah Maccabee, now called "The Hammer", re-dedicated the temple in 164 BCE and the Jews celebrate this event to this day as the central theme of the non-biblical festival of Hanukkah.[9]

During the Roman era, Pompey entered (and thereby desecrated) the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE, but left the Temple intact.[22][23][24] In 54 BCE, Crassus looted the Temple treasury.[25][26]

Around 20 BCE, the building was renovated and expanded by Herod the Great, and became known as Herod's Temple. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE during the Siege of Jerusalem. During the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans in 132–135 CE, Simon bar Kokhba and Rabbi Akiva wanted to rebuild the Temple, but bar Kokhba's revolt failed and the Jews were banned from Jerusalem (except for Tisha B'Av) by the Roman Empire. The emperor Julian allowed the Temple to be rebuilt, but the Galilee earthquake of 363 ended all attempts ever since.[citation needed]

Al-Aqsa and the Third Temple[edit]

By the 7th century, the site had fallen into disrepair under Byzantine rule. After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century during the Rashidun Caliphate, a mosque was built by caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (reigned 634–644 CE) who first cleared the site of debris and then erected a mihrab and simple mosque on the same site as the present mosque. This first mosque construction was known as Masjid al-'Umari. During the Umayyad caliphate, the caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ordered a renovation of the Islamic mosque, constructing the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount. The mosque has stood on the mount since 691 CE; the Jami Al-Aqsa. It has been renovated several times since, including during the Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras.[27]

Archaeological evidence[edit]

Archaeological excavations have found remnants of both the First Temple and the Second Temple. Among the artifacts of the First Temple are dozens of ritual immersion pools in this area surrounding the Temple Mount,[28] as well as a large square platform identified by architectural archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer as likely being built by King Hezekiah c. 700 BCE as a gathering area in front of the Temple.

Concrete finds from the Second Temple include the Temple Warning inscriptions and the Trumpeting Place inscription, two surviving pieces of the Herodian expansion of the Temple Mount. The Temple Warning inscriptions forbid the entry of pagans to the Temple, a prohibition also mentioned by the 1st century CE historian Josephus. These inscriptions were on the wall that surrounded the Temple and prevented non-Jews from entering the temple's courtyard. The Trumpeting Place inscription was found at the southwest corner of Temple Mount, and is believed to mark the site where the priests used to declare the advent of Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.[29]

Ritual objects used in the temple service were carried off and many are likely located in museum collections, in particular, that of the Vatican Museums.[30]

Location[edit]

There are three main theories as to where the Temple stood: where the Dome of the Rock is now located, to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman), or to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University).[31]

The exact location of the Temple is a contentious issue, as questioning the exact placement of the Temple is often associated with Temple denial. Since the Holy of Holies lay at the center of the complex as a whole, the Temple's location is dependent on the location of the Holy of Holies. The location of the Holy of Holies was even a question less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud. Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate, which would have placed the Temple slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated.[32] However, chapter 54 of the Tractate Yoma and chapter 26 of the Tractate Sanhedrin assert that the Holy of Holies stood directly on the Foundation Stone, which agrees with the traditional view that the Dome of the Rock stands on the Temple's location.[33][34]

Physical layout[edit]

First Temple[edit]

The Temple of Solomon or First Temple consisted of four main elements:

and the Temple building itself, with

Second Temple[edit]

In the case of the last and most elaborate structure, the Herodian Temple, the structure consisted of the wider Temple precinct, the restricted Temple courts, and the Temple building itself:

The Temple edifice had three distinct chambers:

According to the Talmud, the Women's Court was to the east and the main area of the Temple to the west.[40] The main area contained the butchering area for the sacrifices and the Outer Altar on which portions of most offerings were burned. An edifice contained the ulam (antechamber), the hekhal (the "sanctuary"), and the Holy of Holies. The sanctuary and the Holy of Holies were separated by a wall in the First Temple and by two curtains in the Second Temple. The sanctuary contained the seven branched candlestick, the table of showbread and the Incense Altar.

The main courtyard had thirteen gates. On the south side, beginning with the southwest corner, there were four gates:

On the north side, beginning with the northwest corner, there were four gates:

The Hall of Hewn Stones (Hebrew: לשכת הגזית Lishkat haGazit), also known as the Chamber of Hewn Stone, was the meeting place, or council-chamber, of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period (6th century BCE – 1st century CE). The Talmud deduces that it was built into the north wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access both to the temple and to the outside. The chamber is said to have resembled a basilica in appearance,[42] having two entrances: one in the east and one in the west.[43]

On the east side was the Gate of Nicanor, between the Women's Courtyard and the main Temple Courtyard, which had two minor doorways, one on its right and one on its left. On the western wall, which was relatively unimportant, there were two gates that did not have any name.

The Mishnah lists concentric circles of holiness surrounding the Temple: Holy of Holies; Sanctuary; Vestibule; Court of the Priests; Court of the Israelites; Court of the Women; Temple Mount; the walled city of Jerusalem; all the walled cities of the Land of Israel; and the borders of the Land of Israel.

The Talmud speaks also of important presents which Queen Helena of Adiabene gave to the Temple at Jerusalem.[44] "Helena had a golden candlestick made over the door of the Temple," to which statement is added that when the sun rose its rays were reflected from the candlestick and everybody knew that it was the time for reading the Shema'.[45] She also made a golden plate on which was written the passage of the Pentateuch[46] which the Kohen read when a wife suspected of infidelity was brought before him.[47] In the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Yoma iii. 8 the candlestick and the plate are confused.

Temple services[edit]

The Temple was the place where offerings described in the course of the Hebrew Bible were carried out, including daily morning and afternoon offerings and special offerings on Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Levites recited Psalms at appropriate moments during the offerings, including the Psalm of the Day, special psalms for the new month, and other occasions, the Hallel during major Jewish holidays, and psalms for special sacrifices such as the "Psalm for the Thanksgiving Offering" (Psalm 100).

As part of the daily offering, a prayer service was performed in the Temple which was used as the basis of the traditional Jewish (morning) service recited to this day, including well-known prayers such as the Shema, and the Priestly Blessing. The Mishna describes it as follows:

The superintendent said to them, bless one benediction! and they blessed, and read the Ten Commandments, and the Shema, "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken", and "And [God] spoke...". They pronounced three benedictions with the people present: "True and firm", and the "Avodah" "Accept, Lord our God, the service of your people Israel, and the fire-offerings of Israel and their prayer receive with favor. Blessed is He who receives the service of His people Israel with favor" (similar to what is today the 17th blessing of the Amidah), and the Priestly Blessing, and on the Sabbath they recited one blessing; "May He who causes His name to dwell in this House, cause to dwell among you love and brotherliness, peace and friendship" on behalf of the weekly Priestly Guard that departed.

— Mishna Tamid 5:1

In addition to the sacrifices, the Temple was considered a special location for prayer to God:

When Your people Israel are smitten down before the enemy, when they sin against You, if they turn again to You, and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this house - may You hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers. ... If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there be; whatever prayer and supplication be made by any person of all Your people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house - may You hear in heaven Your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart You know.[48]

In the Talmud[edit]

Seder Kodashim, the fifth order, or division, of the Mishnah (compiled between 200 and 220 CE), provides detailed descriptions and discussions of the religious laws connected with Temple service including the sacrifices, the Temple and its furnishings, as well as the priests who carried out the duties and ceremonies of its service. Tractates of the order deal with the sacrifices of animals, birds, and meal offerings, the laws of bringing a sacrifice, such as the sin offering and the guilt offering, and the laws of misappropriation of sacred property. In addition, the order contains a description of the Second Temple (tractate Middot), and a description and rules about the daily sacrifice service in the Temple (tractate Tamid).[49][50][51]

In the Babylonian Talmud, all the tractates have Gemara – rabbinical commentary and analysis – for all their chapters; some chapters of Tamid, and none on Middot and Kinnim. The Jerusalem Talmud has no Gemara on any of the tractates of Kodashim.[50][51]

The Talmud (Yoma 9b) describes traditional theological reasons for the destruction: "Why was the first Temple destroyed? Because the three cardinal sins were rampant in society: idol worship, licentiousness, and murder… And why then was the second Temple – wherein the society was involved in Torah, commandments and acts of kindness – destroyed? Because gratuitous hatred was rampant in society."[52][53]

Role in contemporary Jewish services[edit]

Part of the traditional Jewish morning service, the part surrounding the Shema prayer, is essentially unchanged from the daily worship service performed in the Temple. In addition, the Amidah prayer traditionally replaces the Temple's daily tamid and special-occasion Mussaf (additional) offerings (there are separate versions for the different types of sacrifices). They are recited during the times their corresponding offerings were performed in the Temple.

The Temple is mentioned extensively in Orthodox services. Conservative Judaism retains mentions of the Temple and its restoration, but removes references to the sacrifices. References to sacrifices on holidays are made in the past tense, and petitions for their restoration are removed. Mentions in Orthodox Jewish services include:

The destruction of the Temple is mourned on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av. Three other minor fasts (Tenth of Tevet, 17th of Tammuz, and Third of Tishrei), also mourn events leading to or following the destruction of the Temple. There are also mourning practices which are observed at all times, for example, the requirement to leave part of the house unplastered.

Recent history[edit]

The Temple Mount, along with the entire Old City of Jerusalem, was captured from Jordan by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War, allowing Jews once again to visit the holy site.[54][55] Jordan had occupied East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount immediately following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. Israel officially unified East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, with the rest of Jerusalem in 1980 under the Jerusalem Law, though United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared the Jerusalem Law to be in violation of international law.[citation needed] The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, based in Jordan, has administrative control of the Temple Mount.

Building a Third Temple[edit]

Ever since the Second Temple's destruction, a prayer for the construction of a Third Temple has been a formal and mandatory part of the thrice-daily Jewish prayer services. However, the question of whether and when to construct the Third Temple is disputed both within the Jewish community and without; groups within Judaism argue both for and against construction of a new Temple, while the expansion of Abrahamic religion since the 1st century CE has made the issue contentious within Christian and Islamic thought as well. Furthermore, the complicated political status of Jerusalem makes reconstruction difficult, while Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock have been constructed at the traditional physical location of the Temple.

In 363 CE, the Roman emperor Julian had ordered Alypius of Antioch to rebuild the Temple as part of his campaign to strengthen non-Christian religions.[63] The attempt failed, with contemporary accounts mentioning divine fire falling from Heaven but also perhaps due to sabotage, an accidental fire, or an earthquake in Galilee.

The Book of Ezekiel prophesies what would be the Third Temple, noting it as an eternal house of prayer and describing it in detail.

In media[edit]

A journalistic depiction of the controversies around the Jerusalem Temple was presented in the 2010 documentary Lost Temple by Serge Grankin. The film contains interviews with religious and academic authorities involved in the issue. German journalist Dirk-Martin Heinzelmann, featured in the film, presents the point of view of Prof. Joseph Patrich (the Hebrew University), stemming from the underground cistern mapping made by Charles William Wilson (1836–1905).[64]

See also[edit]

Similar Iron Age temples from the region

Bikkurim (first-fruits)

Bikkurim (first-fruits)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bikkurim (Hebrew: בכורים, /bɪˌkuːˈriːm, bɪˈkʊərɪm/),[1] or first-fruits, are a type of sacrificial offering which was offered by ancient Israelites. In each agricultural season, the first-grown fruits were brought to the Temple and laid by the altar, and a special declaration recited.

The laws of this offering appear in the Bikkurim tractate of the Talmud.

In the Bible[edit]

The command to bring first-fruits to the Temple appears in the Torah, in Exodus 23:19 and Deuteronomy 26:1–11. The latter passage records the declaration (also known as the Avowal) which was recited upon presenting the first-fruits to the priest (Deuteronomy 26:3–10).

In Exodus 23:16, the holiday of Shavuot is called the "feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours (Heb. bikkurei maasecha)", testifying to the link between bikkurim and this holiday, at which time summer fruit was beginning to ripen and bikkurim were brought.

Leviticus 2:14 describes the omer offering, brought on Passover, as bikkurim (of barley). In Leviticus 23:9 it is described as reishit ketzirchem (the first of your harvest) but not as bikkurim.

Leviticus 23:17 describes the special offering of shtei halechem on Shavuot, referring to it as bikkurim (first-fruits of the wheat harvest).

In rabbinic literature[edit]

By the time of classical antiquity, extensive regulations regarding Bikkurim were recorded in the classical rabbinical literature.[2]

The major obligation to bring Bikkurim to the Temple began at the festival of Shavuot and continued until the festival of Sukkot.[3] The fruits were limited to Seven Species grown in the Land of Israel, such as dried figs, grapes and raisins, pomegranates, barley, wheat and dates, etc.,[4][5] although one rabbi assumes that apart from these species, other species can also be offered.[6] No specific amount is prescribed for these offerings.[7]

The person bringing Bikkurim must be the legal property owner of the land on which the fruits were grown; therefore, share-croppers and usurping occupants were not permitted to bring them.[8]

Fruits were selected for the offering as follows: Upon visiting his field and seeing a fig, or a grape, or a pomegranate that was ripe, the owner would tie a cord of reed-grass or similar fiber around the fruit, saying, "This shall be among the bikkurim." According to Simeon, he had to repeat the express designation after the fruit had been plucked from the tree in the orchard.[9]

Procession and avowal[edit]

This Avowal was incorporated into a beautiful and grand festive celebration with a procession of pilgrims marching up to Jerusalem and then the Temple.

Stations, with deputations representing the people of all the cities in the district, assembled in the chief town of the district, and stayed there overnight in the open squares, without going into the houses. At dawn the officer in charge called out: "Arise, let us ascend to Zion, the house of the Lord our God."[10] Those from the neighborhood brought fresh figs and grapes, those from a distance dried figs and raisins.[11]

A bull with horns gilded and head wreathed with olive-leaves, led the procession, which was accompanied with flute-playing.[11] The fruits were brought in gold, silver or willow baskets to which live doves were tied.[12] When they arrived near the Holy City, the pilgrims sent messengers ahead while they decorated the Firstfruits. The Temple officers came out to meet them, and all artisans along the streets rose before them, giving them the salutation of peace, and hailing them as brothers from this or that town.[11]

The flute kept sounding until they reached the Temple mount. Here even King Agrippa, following the custom, took his basket on his shoulder, and marched in the ranks, until they came to the outer court and hall. The Levites would then break out in song.[13] The doves were given as sacrificial offerings, and the Avowal (Deuteronomy 26:3–11) would be made before a priest while the basket was still on the pilgrim's shoulder.[14] At the words "a wandering Aramean was my father", the basket was deposed from the shoulder, but while the owner was still holding its handles or rims, a priest put his hand under it and "swung it" (lifted it up), and repeated the words "a wandering Aramean was my father", etc., until the end of the recitation. Then the basket was placed by the Altar and the pilgrim would bow and leave.[15]

Native-born Israelites would bring the Bikkurim and would say the Avowal, but women who brought the Bikkurim were not permitted to say the Avowal, since they could not truthfully recite "the land which You have given me" (Deut 26:10) as the land of Israel was bequeathed to the tribes by their male lineage.[16]

Similarly, the Mishna prohibits converts from reciting the Avowal, as they could not truthfully recite "Which the Lord swore to our Fathers for to give us" (Deut 26:3), as they are not descended from the Biblical patriarchs who received that oath;[17] similarly, Deut 26:5 refers to "my father" Jacob, whom converts are not actually descended from. However, Maimonides ruled (in accordance with the Jerusalem Talmud) that the Avowal was also stated by converts; although converts cannot claim physical descent from Jacob, they could still claim to be of Abraham's progeny, since the Torah testifies that Abraham would become "the father of many nations" (Gen 17:5). Moreover, even converts had a portion in the Land, by virtue of the Torah allowing them to be allotted land in the suburbs of the cities occupied by the tribes (Ezekiel 47:21–23).[18]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Attribution


Omer offering

Omer offering


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The omer offering (korban omer), or the sheaf offering, was an offering (korban) made by the Jewish priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. The offering consisted of one omer of freshly harvested grain, and was waved in the Temple.[1] It was offered on Passover, and signaled the beginning of the 49-day counting of the Omer (which concluded with the Shavuot holiday), as well as permission to consume chadash (grains from the new harvest).

The omer offering was one example of a wave offering (Hebrew: tenufah תנופה‎), which was waved in the Temple.[2]

Omer offering[edit]

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

— Leviticus 23:9 NASB

The offering containing an omer-measure of barley, described as reishit ketzirchem ("the beginning of your harvest").[3] Josephus describes the processing of the offering as follows:

After parching and crushing the little sheaf of ears and purifying the barley for grinding, they bring to the altar an issaron for God, and, having flung a handful thereof on the altar, they leave the rest for the use of the priests. Thereafter all are permitted, publicly or individually, to begin harvest.[4]

The leftover of the korban are kept by the kohen and was listed as one of the twenty-four priestly gifts.[5]

The offering was made on "the morrow after the day of rest". This phrase was variously interpreted (see Counting of the Omer): According to rabbinic tradition, the omer offering was offered on the second day of Passover, the 16th day of Nisan. According to Karaite Judaism, it was offered on the Sunday occurring within Passover.

The omer offering was discontinued following the destruction of the Second Temple.[6]

Counting of the Omer[edit]

Along with the offering of the omer offering, the counting of the Omer begins. This is a count of 49 days beginning with the omer offering, and concluding with the holiday of Shavuot (which is the 50th day).

For rabbinic Jews, the count is performed at night. For example, the first day of the omer is counted on the second night of Passover (which precedes the second day, as Jewish days begin in the evening).

Other wave offerings[edit]

Various other offerings are also described as being waved as part of their ritual. After the ritual, the wave-offering then became the property of the priests.

The noun tenufah (waving) is formed from the verb nuf in the same way as terumah, the heave offering, is formed from rum "heave." In the Septuagint, tenufah was translated aphorisma (ἀφόρισμα).[7]

Both tenufah and terumah are often mentioned together.[8] Both being given to the priests as kohanic gifts.

The Levites themselves were also offered to God by Aaron as a wave offering.[9]

References[edit]