The various holidays and occasions celebrated by Jews such as Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Passover, and Yom Kippur.
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year.
Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement.
Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles.
Simchat Torah: The Celebration of the Torah.
Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights.
Tu Bishvat: The New Year of the Trees.
Purim: The Feast of Esther.
Passover: The Feast of Freedom.
Shavuot: The Feast of Weeks.
Tisha B'Av: The Ninth of Av.
High Holidays: These are the most holiest days in the Jewish calendar and comprises Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgement and reflection, marking the beginning of the Jewish new year, while Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and atonement, the holiest day of the year.
Passover: Passover honors the liberation of Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This eight-day holiday is celebrated with special meals, the elimination of leavened bread, and the recitation of the Exodus story.
Sukkot: Also known as the Feast of the Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths, Sukkot is a week-long harvest festival in which Jews build and dwell in temporary shelters, or sukkahs, to commemorate the transient homes of the Israelites during their desert wanderings.
Hanukkah: Hanukkah or Chanukah is an eight-day, wintertime holiday celebrating the miracle of a drop of oil burning in the Jewish Temple for eight days after the Maccabees defeated the Greeks in the second-century BCE.
Purim: Purim celebrates the triumph over an attempted genocide of the Jews in ancient Persia. It is marked by the reading of the Book of Esther, dressing up in costumes, and sharing food and drink.
Shavuot: Shavuot is a two-day holiday, seven weeks after Passover and celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. This holiday concludes the counting of the Omer.
Tisha B'Av: Tisha B'Av is a day of mourning and fasting that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as other tragedies in Jewish history.
Minor Jewish holidays: There are a variety of minor Jewish holidays that vary by community and practice, including Rosh Chodesh, the New Month, and Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for Trees.
Fast Days: There are several fast days throughout the Jewish calendar, including the Fast of Gedaliah, the Tenth of Tevet, and the Seventeenth of Tammuz. These days commemorate various tragedies in Jewish history and typically involve fasting and prayer.
Simchat Torah: Simchat Torah marks the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle and the commencement of a new cycle. This holiday is celebrated with dancing, singing, and rejoicing.