2009/06/10 Third Introduction to Judaism Class Jewish Holidays
Tonight's lesson was on Jewish Holidays which I believe means Jewish Holy Days. One thing Don and I learned is that these days often have certain foods associated with them and these are prepared for their symbolism and significance to Jewish history. My Jewish brother-in-law said he used to think Judaism meant eating and I can now see why.
Sara Bryan, Youth Director, was the instructor for the class.
Jews have both Biblical and Historical Holidays and these holidays fall on dates in the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar is lunar-based with each year having 354 days which is 29.5 days per month. The months have Hebrew names and have no meaning to my Christian and American background. I read that it was even difficult for the Jewish people to determine when their holidays were in times before the internet was available. So it became tradition to celebrate Holy Days (except Shabbat or Sabbath) for 2 days to be sure they had celebrated on the correct date. This practice did not occur in Israel itself, just elsewhere. Today, even though there is plenty of information available to Jews everywhere to let them know the correct date for celebrations, those outside Israel continue to celebrate for 2 days as this has become a tradition. There are many things prohibited on Holy Days. Work is prohibited, not for the labor of it, but because you are supposed to do things on Holy Days that are different from the normal week. These things should include spending time with God and family. Cooking is prohibited and so is lighting of candles so people need to spend time preparing meals for the Holy Day just prior to the Holy Day. There is also controversy over whether it is okay to heat food on the Holy Day and different synagogues have different rules for that. At least some of these Holy Days require candles during the meal and women usually are in charge of lighting them. Since lighting candles is prohibited on the Holy Day, women are allowed to do that but it must be done prior to certain traditional prayers being said.
Also Jewish days begin at sundown on one day and end at sundown of the next day. There is also the question of determining when sundown arrives. Sara Bryan said that most people say it is when you can see 3 stars (or planets) in the sky.
Jewish Holidays fall on New Moons. Because they need to fall in certain seasons and the calendar is lunar instead of solar, the Jewish calendar adds a Leap Month to their calendar every 2 to 3 years to keep Holy Days in the correct season.
Shabbat or Sabbath is the most frequent Holy Day since it occurs every week from Friday Sundown to Saturday Sundown. It comes from the Biblical idea that God created earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Sheva in Hebrew means seven and it is a holy number used in many Jewish references, stories and occasions.
The traditional meal starts with lighting candles. This is done by a female in the household and is done prior to the saying of a prayer over wine. Lighting candles after this is prohibited for the duration of Shabbat. Since work is prohibited, the meal is pre-prepared and everyone bathes before Shabbat begins. People go to their House of Assembly (Temple or Synagogue) on Shabbat. You also set aside time to be still. There is a whole list of "can do's" and "can't do's". Writing more than 3 letters on Shabbat is prohibited. You also should set aside time to be with family and appreciate the week just past and yet to come. At the end of Shabbat, Havdalah is performed. Here you light a candle with at least two wicks. This symbolizes that on Shabbat, everyone gets a second soul. Since Havdalah occurs at the end of Shabbat, it means you are saying goodbye to your second soul. Prayers are also said over spices and wine.
So Shabbat is the most important holiday. There is a saying that Jews have kept Shabbat and Shabbat has kept the Jews.
Torah- Other holidays are reenactments of Biblical events. There are 3 Pilgrimage Holidays, called pilgrimage holidays because in the time of the Temple everyone who could was expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple for the celebration of these holidays:
(1) Pesach - Passover - Celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.
(2) Shavuot - (also called Pentecost in a book I have) celebrates getting Torah on Mt. Sinai.
(3) Sukkot - Commemorates the period immediately following the exodus when the Jewish people were in the desert living in temporary dwellings.
(1) Pesach seder (meal) celebrates the first night (or first and second nights) out of Egypt. Passover is an 8 day celebration. Matzot (unleavened bread) with bitter herbs (usually horseradish) is served as part of the meal to remind the Jewish people of the bitterness of their enslavement in Egypt and 4 cups of wine is drank by the adults (?). Four is a big number in Judaism and the four questions are asked as are the four kinds of children discussed. A mixture of nuts, apples, wine, cinnamon, and sugar is also served to symbolize mortar. Parsley is served to symbolize spring. A shank bone is on the table to symbolize the sacrifices and an egg is served to symbolize fertility and new life.The Hegadda is recited as if you lived it yourself. The Hegadda is the text telling the events surrounding the exodus from Egypt. Pesach is a home-based holiday. Jews clean their homes of leavened bread or anything that might be mistaken for leavened bread. During the Seder (means ordered meal), the story of the exodus from Egypt is told and the meal is reminiscent of that exodus.
(1a) Lag B'Omer: Time between Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot. This is a very solemn time recalling Jews suffering under Roman rule. There are no weddings during this time. However, Omer means wheat sheaf. It is a season of harvest, getting ready. On the 33rd day, there are celebrations with bonfires, etc. Lag is the number 33. Lag B'Omer is celebrated on the 33rd day of Iyar and is a celebration of the death of Simeon Bar Yochai who studied Torah in a cave in defiance of Roman decree. When he died, he asked his followers to celebrate rather than mourn.
(2) Shavuot falls 50 days after Pesach. It celebrates the receipt of Torah (both written and oral) on Mt. Sinai. Many Jews decorate their synagogues with green branches and plants because of the tradition that at the time Torah was received, Mt. Sinai was green and fragrant. Dairy products are served on the one or two days of Shavuot. Jewish people believe that all Jews whether alive then, alive earlier, or alive in the future, were present at the receipt of the Torah. Confirmations are held during Shavuot. Shavuot is a 2 day festival.
(3) Sukkot is a seven day festival and is exceedingly joyful. It is similar to Thanksgiving in western tradition. It falls 15 days after Rosh Hoshana (Jewish New Year) and 5 days after Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Observant Jews build little huts beside their homes made of tree branches, reeds, or bamboo and enclosed on 3 sides and they stay in the hut at least one night, eating and sleeping there, but some stay all 7 nights. In Hebrew, the word Sukkot means "shelters" and many people call the Holy Days of Sukkot the Tabernacle Festival of the Festival of the Booths. There is a mystical rite performed during Sukkot which involves taking 4 kinds of plants, a palm frond (represents spine), myrtle (represents eyes), willow branches (represents mouth), and a lemon-like fruit called an etrog (heart shaped and represents the heart) and shaking them in six directions: North, South, East, West, Up, Down. This wave dance is the Jewish version of a rain dance. At the end of Sukkot, there is a very energetic one-day festival called Simchat Torah which celebrates not the receipt of the Torah, but rejoices for the possession of the Torah by the Jews.
Other Holidays or festivals are:
(1) Yom Kippur which is the day of Atonement and has to do with personal and communal cleansing. It is a fasting time and should begin with a simple, not heavy, meal. Kol Nidre - concept that all souls are being considered by God and Kol Nidre is a song (chant) that is the highlight of the cantor's year. It is a difficult song/chant (I say song/chant because the teacher said he sings it but it is my understanding very little music is ever used in Jewish services so this may be a sing-song chant.) Jewish people go to services after the light meal mentioned above and penitential prayers are said. Even if the sins don't apply to you personally, you are to say the prayers in the spirit that the community has sinned and all need forgiveness. Sins are listed and people in the congregation tap their chests to indicate their sorrow for the sins. After these penitential services, you are new again and go to eat a celebratory meal. You go into the world resolved to do better from now on. Occurs 10 days after Rosh Hashana and these 10 days are referred to as Days of Awe.
(2) Purim - One day festival that occurs in the Jewish month of Adar. It celebrates the Jews not dying. They were saved in Persia by Queen Esther. The Megillah (Scroll of Esther) is read in public. This is a day of great celebration with most getting drunk and encouraged to do so. It celebrates the downfall of a tyrant who wanted to eradicate all Jews. The King's wife died and he had a beauty contest for the next queen. Esther won and hid the fact she was a Jew but she winds up revealing herself and saving the Jews. On Purim, you are expected to get so drunk you can't tell the difference between good and bad. It is Jewish Mardi Gras, a time of masquerades and hidden identity. It commemorates that good things come out of bad things.
(3) Hanukkuk or Chanukah - is a minor holiday, a festival really. Called Festival of Light where one new candle per day for 8 days is lit. It commemorates the revolt and victory of the Maccabees against the Syrian Greeks in about 165 BCE. The Maccabees rededicated the defiled Temple and brought back pure light to the menora, the seven branched candelabrum. These lights are wax candles or lamps of olive oil and are lit every night in each home. The custom is to add one additional light each night through the eight day period. It is a time of praise and thanksgiving.
(4) Rosh Hashana means head of the year and is the first Holiday of the Jewish year. Lasts 2 days. This represents the birthday of the Human Race which occurred on the first of Tishrei. We were created with free will to choose but we have responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Challah bread shaped in a circle is eaten. The Jewish concept of a calendar is round, not linear. Also eat apples and honey. Rosh Hashana occurs in the fall around September or October. The afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana is called Tishlich. Tishlich is for casting away sins. Micah says "and thou will cast all their since into the depths of the sea." Custom is to wear white because "Be your sins like crimson, they can turn whites as snow" (Isaiah 1:18). You wear white because you are getting ready to cleanse yourself. The first day of Rosh Hashana is Tashlich as mentioned earlier and custom is to carry bread crumbs to a body of running water and throw them in. This symbolizes the casting away of sin. Rosh Hashana has 10 days of awe which is a time of forgiving and getting forgiveness. It is said God has the book of life open and is considering your fate for the next year. The shofar is blown on Rosh Hashana and is symbolic of the ram that substituted for the sacrifice of Isaac. Tzedekah (giving) is important on Rosh Hashana because Nehemiah says "Drink the sweet and send portions to those who have none, for this day is holy to our God."
(5) Tish B'Av occurs on the 9th of Av. This is a fast day and the book of Lamentations is chanted in Houses of Assembly. It is chanted in a sad and sorrowful way because both the first and second temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av hundreds of years apart. The first temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av in 586 BCE. The second temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av in 70 CE.
(6) Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the Israelis getting to the Western Wall in 1967 so Israel reclaimed the Old City on that date. This is called Jerusalem Day.
(7) Yom Hashoah: Day of remembrance of the six million. Most temples have special services to remember the holocaust and 6 candles are lit, one for each million.
(8) Yom Ha-Zikaron: Israeli Memorial or Veterans Day. Remember all soldiers killed defending Israel.
(9) Yom Ha'atzmaut: Israeli Independence Day.
Other festivals were discussed but not much was said about some of them. I think the ones above were the major ones discussed during class.
Ms. Bryan was going through the Jewish year in order using the Jewish calendar. Since I am unfamiliar with the Jewish calendar, I used a book I have to help me see these holiday/festivals in order by our Western calendar. The ones listed in the book I have are:
March/April: Pesach or Passover, festival of 8 days, the first two and the last two of which are like Shabbat.
May/June: Shavu'ot or Pentecost, Festival of Harvest, Season of being given Torah. Two day festival like Shabbat, which occurs seven weeks (50 days) after Pesach.
August: Tisha b'Av (9th of the month of Av). Fast day for the destruction of the first and second temples.
September/October: Rosh Hashana (New Year) Two day festival like Shabbat.
September/October: Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment) One day festival similar to Shabbat except that it is a day of fasting. Ten days after HRosh Hashana. These ten days are referred to as the Days of Awe.
September/October: Sukkot (Tebernacles; Festival of Booths, Festival of the Ingathering, the seson of our joy). Festival of seven days, the first two of which are like Shabbat. This festival is immediately followed by a two day Sabbath like festival, Sh'mini At'tzeret (the Convocation of the Eighth Day) and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Law). In Israel this is a one-day festival.
December: Chanukka (Festival of Lights). Eight days of praise and thanksgiving with candles lit in the evening.
February/March: Purim, one day of feasting and rejoicing with the public reading of the Book of Esther.
Ms. Bryan gave us her email address at Temple Beth-El.
Sara Bryan, Youth Director, was the instructor for the class.
Jews have both Biblical and Historical Holidays and these holidays fall on dates in the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar is lunar-based with each year having 354 days which is 29.5 days per month. The months have Hebrew names and have no meaning to my Christian and American background. I read that it was even difficult for the Jewish people to determine when their holidays were in times before the internet was available. So it became tradition to celebrate Holy Days (except Shabbat or Sabbath) for 2 days to be sure they had celebrated on the correct date. This practice did not occur in Israel itself, just elsewhere. Today, even though there is plenty of information available to Jews everywhere to let them know the correct date for celebrations, those outside Israel continue to celebrate for 2 days as this has become a tradition. There are many things prohibited on Holy Days. Work is prohibited, not for the labor of it, but because you are supposed to do things on Holy Days that are different from the normal week. These things should include spending time with God and family. Cooking is prohibited and so is lighting of candles so people need to spend time preparing meals for the Holy Day just prior to the Holy Day. There is also controversy over whether it is okay to heat food on the Holy Day and different synagogues have different rules for that. At least some of these Holy Days require candles during the meal and women usually are in charge of lighting them. Since lighting candles is prohibited on the Holy Day, women are allowed to do that but it must be done prior to certain traditional prayers being said.
Also Jewish days begin at sundown on one day and end at sundown of the next day. There is also the question of determining when sundown arrives. Sara Bryan said that most people say it is when you can see 3 stars (or planets) in the sky.
Jewish Holidays fall on New Moons. Because they need to fall in certain seasons and the calendar is lunar instead of solar, the Jewish calendar adds a Leap Month to their calendar every 2 to 3 years to keep Holy Days in the correct season.
Shabbat or Sabbath is the most frequent Holy Day since it occurs every week from Friday Sundown to Saturday Sundown. It comes from the Biblical idea that God created earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Sheva in Hebrew means seven and it is a holy number used in many Jewish references, stories and occasions.
The traditional meal starts with lighting candles. This is done by a female in the household and is done prior to the saying of a prayer over wine. Lighting candles after this is prohibited for the duration of Shabbat. Since work is prohibited, the meal is pre-prepared and everyone bathes before Shabbat begins. People go to their House of Assembly (Temple or Synagogue) on Shabbat. You also set aside time to be still. There is a whole list of "can do's" and "can't do's". Writing more than 3 letters on Shabbat is prohibited. You also should set aside time to be with family and appreciate the week just past and yet to come. At the end of Shabbat, Havdalah is performed. Here you light a candle with at least two wicks. This symbolizes that on Shabbat, everyone gets a second soul. Since Havdalah occurs at the end of Shabbat, it means you are saying goodbye to your second soul. Prayers are also said over spices and wine.
So Shabbat is the most important holiday. There is a saying that Jews have kept Shabbat and Shabbat has kept the Jews.
Torah- Other holidays are reenactments of Biblical events. There are 3 Pilgrimage Holidays, called pilgrimage holidays because in the time of the Temple everyone who could was expected to make a pilgrimage to the Temple for the celebration of these holidays:
(1) Pesach - Passover - Celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.
(2) Shavuot - (also called Pentecost in a book I have) celebrates getting Torah on Mt. Sinai.
(3) Sukkot - Commemorates the period immediately following the exodus when the Jewish people were in the desert living in temporary dwellings.
(1) Pesach seder (meal) celebrates the first night (or first and second nights) out of Egypt. Passover is an 8 day celebration. Matzot (unleavened bread) with bitter herbs (usually horseradish) is served as part of the meal to remind the Jewish people of the bitterness of their enslavement in Egypt and 4 cups of wine is drank by the adults (?). Four is a big number in Judaism and the four questions are asked as are the four kinds of children discussed. A mixture of nuts, apples, wine, cinnamon, and sugar is also served to symbolize mortar. Parsley is served to symbolize spring. A shank bone is on the table to symbolize the sacrifices and an egg is served to symbolize fertility and new life.The Hegadda is recited as if you lived it yourself. The Hegadda is the text telling the events surrounding the exodus from Egypt. Pesach is a home-based holiday. Jews clean their homes of leavened bread or anything that might be mistaken for leavened bread. During the Seder (means ordered meal), the story of the exodus from Egypt is told and the meal is reminiscent of that exodus.
(1a) Lag B'Omer: Time between Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot. This is a very solemn time recalling Jews suffering under Roman rule. There are no weddings during this time. However, Omer means wheat sheaf. It is a season of harvest, getting ready. On the 33rd day, there are celebrations with bonfires, etc. Lag is the number 33. Lag B'Omer is celebrated on the 33rd day of Iyar and is a celebration of the death of Simeon Bar Yochai who studied Torah in a cave in defiance of Roman decree. When he died, he asked his followers to celebrate rather than mourn.
(2) Shavuot falls 50 days after Pesach. It celebrates the receipt of Torah (both written and oral) on Mt. Sinai. Many Jews decorate their synagogues with green branches and plants because of the tradition that at the time Torah was received, Mt. Sinai was green and fragrant. Dairy products are served on the one or two days of Shavuot. Jewish people believe that all Jews whether alive then, alive earlier, or alive in the future, were present at the receipt of the Torah. Confirmations are held during Shavuot. Shavuot is a 2 day festival.
(3) Sukkot is a seven day festival and is exceedingly joyful. It is similar to Thanksgiving in western tradition. It falls 15 days after Rosh Hoshana (Jewish New Year) and 5 days after Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Observant Jews build little huts beside their homes made of tree branches, reeds, or bamboo and enclosed on 3 sides and they stay in the hut at least one night, eating and sleeping there, but some stay all 7 nights. In Hebrew, the word Sukkot means "shelters" and many people call the Holy Days of Sukkot the Tabernacle Festival of the Festival of the Booths. There is a mystical rite performed during Sukkot which involves taking 4 kinds of plants, a palm frond (represents spine), myrtle (represents eyes), willow branches (represents mouth), and a lemon-like fruit called an etrog (heart shaped and represents the heart) and shaking them in six directions: North, South, East, West, Up, Down. This wave dance is the Jewish version of a rain dance. At the end of Sukkot, there is a very energetic one-day festival called Simchat Torah which celebrates not the receipt of the Torah, but rejoices for the possession of the Torah by the Jews.
Other Holidays or festivals are:
(1) Yom Kippur which is the day of Atonement and has to do with personal and communal cleansing. It is a fasting time and should begin with a simple, not heavy, meal. Kol Nidre - concept that all souls are being considered by God and Kol Nidre is a song (chant) that is the highlight of the cantor's year. It is a difficult song/chant (I say song/chant because the teacher said he sings it but it is my understanding very little music is ever used in Jewish services so this may be a sing-song chant.) Jewish people go to services after the light meal mentioned above and penitential prayers are said. Even if the sins don't apply to you personally, you are to say the prayers in the spirit that the community has sinned and all need forgiveness. Sins are listed and people in the congregation tap their chests to indicate their sorrow for the sins. After these penitential services, you are new again and go to eat a celebratory meal. You go into the world resolved to do better from now on. Occurs 10 days after Rosh Hashana and these 10 days are referred to as Days of Awe.
(2) Purim - One day festival that occurs in the Jewish month of Adar. It celebrates the Jews not dying. They were saved in Persia by Queen Esther. The Megillah (Scroll of Esther) is read in public. This is a day of great celebration with most getting drunk and encouraged to do so. It celebrates the downfall of a tyrant who wanted to eradicate all Jews. The King's wife died and he had a beauty contest for the next queen. Esther won and hid the fact she was a Jew but she winds up revealing herself and saving the Jews. On Purim, you are expected to get so drunk you can't tell the difference between good and bad. It is Jewish Mardi Gras, a time of masquerades and hidden identity. It commemorates that good things come out of bad things.
(3) Hanukkuk or Chanukah - is a minor holiday, a festival really. Called Festival of Light where one new candle per day for 8 days is lit. It commemorates the revolt and victory of the Maccabees against the Syrian Greeks in about 165 BCE. The Maccabees rededicated the defiled Temple and brought back pure light to the menora, the seven branched candelabrum. These lights are wax candles or lamps of olive oil and are lit every night in each home. The custom is to add one additional light each night through the eight day period. It is a time of praise and thanksgiving.
(4) Rosh Hashana means head of the year and is the first Holiday of the Jewish year. Lasts 2 days. This represents the birthday of the Human Race which occurred on the first of Tishrei. We were created with free will to choose but we have responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Challah bread shaped in a circle is eaten. The Jewish concept of a calendar is round, not linear. Also eat apples and honey. Rosh Hashana occurs in the fall around September or October. The afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana is called Tishlich. Tishlich is for casting away sins. Micah says "and thou will cast all their since into the depths of the sea." Custom is to wear white because "Be your sins like crimson, they can turn whites as snow" (Isaiah 1:18). You wear white because you are getting ready to cleanse yourself. The first day of Rosh Hashana is Tashlich as mentioned earlier and custom is to carry bread crumbs to a body of running water and throw them in. This symbolizes the casting away of sin. Rosh Hashana has 10 days of awe which is a time of forgiving and getting forgiveness. It is said God has the book of life open and is considering your fate for the next year. The shofar is blown on Rosh Hashana and is symbolic of the ram that substituted for the sacrifice of Isaac. Tzedekah (giving) is important on Rosh Hashana because Nehemiah says "Drink the sweet and send portions to those who have none, for this day is holy to our God."
(5) Tish B'Av occurs on the 9th of Av. This is a fast day and the book of Lamentations is chanted in Houses of Assembly. It is chanted in a sad and sorrowful way because both the first and second temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av hundreds of years apart. The first temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av in 586 BCE. The second temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av in 70 CE.
(6) Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the Israelis getting to the Western Wall in 1967 so Israel reclaimed the Old City on that date. This is called Jerusalem Day.
(7) Yom Hashoah: Day of remembrance of the six million. Most temples have special services to remember the holocaust and 6 candles are lit, one for each million.
(8) Yom Ha-Zikaron: Israeli Memorial or Veterans Day. Remember all soldiers killed defending Israel.
(9) Yom Ha'atzmaut: Israeli Independence Day.
Other festivals were discussed but not much was said about some of them. I think the ones above were the major ones discussed during class.
Ms. Bryan was going through the Jewish year in order using the Jewish calendar. Since I am unfamiliar with the Jewish calendar, I used a book I have to help me see these holiday/festivals in order by our Western calendar. The ones listed in the book I have are:
March/April: Pesach or Passover, festival of 8 days, the first two and the last two of which are like Shabbat.
May/June: Shavu'ot or Pentecost, Festival of Harvest, Season of being given Torah. Two day festival like Shabbat, which occurs seven weeks (50 days) after Pesach.
August: Tisha b'Av (9th of the month of Av). Fast day for the destruction of the first and second temples.
September/October: Rosh Hashana (New Year) Two day festival like Shabbat.
September/October: Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment) One day festival similar to Shabbat except that it is a day of fasting. Ten days after HRosh Hashana. These ten days are referred to as the Days of Awe.
September/October: Sukkot (Tebernacles; Festival of Booths, Festival of the Ingathering, the seson of our joy). Festival of seven days, the first two of which are like Shabbat. This festival is immediately followed by a two day Sabbath like festival, Sh'mini At'tzeret (the Convocation of the Eighth Day) and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Law). In Israel this is a one-day festival.
December: Chanukka (Festival of Lights). Eight days of praise and thanksgiving with candles lit in the evening.
February/March: Purim, one day of feasting and rejoicing with the public reading of the Book of Esther.
Ms. Bryan gave us her email address at Temple Beth-El.
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