Feasts & festivals in Israel

Holidays are very confusing in this part of the world. Not only are there secular, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holidays, but the dates they fall on are related to the Hebrew calendar, the solar Gregorian Calendar, plus a sighting of the new moon at Mecca. And not only that, but various Christian denominations celebrate key events on different days.

 

Jewish festivals

The Jewish calendar is both lunar and solar. It follows the sun for the year and the moon for the month. Every three years is a leap year, and one month is added to keep the feasts and festivals as close as possible to the seasons as in Scriptures. The Sabbath is very important to the Jewish people and life in Israel in general. In most places around the country and especially in Jerusalem, Friday afternoon to Saturday evening, everything shuts down, including transportation. And In Jewish tradition, the day begins at sunset.

We will talk about the first Festival:

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year / Feast of Trumpets – Trumpets are blown to remind people to repent of their sins as the Day of Atonement is approaching. Though a solemn holiday, it is celebrated with apples and honey for a “prosperous and sweet” new year.

Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement – Holiest day of the year for the Jewish People and a national day of fasting. This tradition goes back to Biblical times of the Tabernacle, where once a year on Yom Kippur, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for the people’s sins.

Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles – A weeklong holiday that comes five days after Yom Kippur. It celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates God’s protection and provision for the Israelites after they left Egypt. The festival of Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage feasts and is celebrated by dwelling in a foliage-covered booth (sukkah) and by waving four species of plants – palm, myrtle, willow, and citron.

Simchat Torah: The Rejoicing of the Law – a joyous celebration that marks the end and beginning of the cycle of public Torah readings.

Hanukkah: Feast of Lights – An eight-day Jewish celebration of the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks in 165 BC. To remember the miraculous provision of oil for the light in the temple, Hanukkah is celebrated by daily lighting a new candle on a Hanukkiah (9-branched Menorah) and eating food deep-fried in oil, such as the sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).

Purim: The Festival of Lots – Celebrates the bravery of a Jewish girl who became queen and saved her people, the Jews, in ancient Persia. This bizarre holiday is celebrated by fancy dress-ups (to allude to the hidden features in the story), much feasting, and loud, interactive reading of the Book of Esther in the synagogues.

Pessah: Passover – Commemorates God’s Deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. A perfect lamb was slain, and its blood was painted on the doorposts, all so that the punishment of the Lord will “pass over” the homes of the children of Israel. The event is celebrated with a special family meal called the Seder by which the story is told. Another Passover tradition is cleaning the house from any yeast, and bread is replaced with a cracker called Matzah. Passover is one of the three pilgrimage feasts.

Shavuot: Festival of Weeks / Pentecost – it is celebrated 50 days after Passover as the day in which God gave the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage feasts. Today, it is customary to stay up all night reading the Torah.

Lag B’Omer: The 33rd day of the Omer – the Omer is the 49 days between Passover (Pessach) and Pentecost (Shavuot). The holiday celebrates a break in the dreadful plague at the time of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi, an important Jewish mystic) is also said to have died on that day, which in Jewish tradition means his life purpose was fulfilled and, therefore, a day of joy. Lag B’Omer is celebrated by building bonfires, playing sports, and enjoying picnics.

Tisha B’av: the Ninth of Av (Hebrew month) – is an annual fast day of communal mourning over a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

 

Israeli Secular Holidays

 

Yom Hashoah: (Holocaust Memorial) National remembrance day for the tragedy of the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were murdered.

Yom Hazikaron: (Remembrance Day) National remembrance day for all the soldiers who lost their lives defending the State of Israel. A siren is sounded, and all Israeli citizens stop what they are doing and stand firm in silence to honor the lives lost.

Yom Haatzmaut: (Independence Day) The day of Israel, a celebration of the Declaration of the State of Israel on the 14th of May 1948. The celebration day changes each year as it follows the Hebrew calendar (in this case, the 5th of Iyar), and it is always preceded by the Day of Remembrance for the fallen soldiers.

Yom Yerushalayim: (Jerusalem Day) commemoration of the reunification of Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967.

 

Christian Feasts

 

These Festivals are celebrated on different dates by Eastern Orthodox and western churches (Latin, Roman Catholic, and Protestant, etc.). For Christians, Sunday is a special holy day, and so, many Christians do not work on Sundays as they would be with their families at church. (Touristic places are generally still open though).

Christmas: 25th of December or 7th of January. With Christianity being a minority, it is less common to find Christmas symbols around Israel than in many other countries. However, major religious centers such as Nazareth, Bethlehem, and the Old City of Jerusalem experience festivities that bring the story of the Nativity to life! Lighting up the Christmas tree in different towns, Christmas markets, concerts, plays and more, Christmas in the Holy Land is like you have never seen it before!

Lent: 40 days of fasting observed by many churches in preparation for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday, a holy day for prayer and fasting for repentance and ends the day before Easter Sunday. The number 40 is related to Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days.

Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week and celebrates the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem. Today, Palm Sunday is celebrated with a procession in the footsteps of Jesus from Mount of Olives and through the Old City. Families from many denominations join in with their best attire and wave palm branches (or crosses made from palm leaves) on this joyful event led by marching bands. Palm Sunday and Easter are not only movable days but multiple in this region – the day in some years may be Palm Sunday for some people and Easter Sunday for others.

Good Friday: the day Jesus was crucified, it is commemorated by some churches by following in his footsteps from Gethsemane to Golgotha to be crucified. Thousands of pilgrims follow the path called Via Dolorosa (“Way of the Pain”) while holding crosses.

Holy Saturday: crowds gather at the Holy Sepulchre church to witness the miracle of the Holy Fire being lit, and the light is distributed to all and sent all over the world to light the churches for the next year.

Easter Sunday: The Tomb is empty and the Savior is risen! Easter, also known as Pascha, is celebrated all over Israel with the highlight being in Jerusalem. It is celebrated with family visits, egg hunts, and church services, but the highlight for Protestants is the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb. Eastern and Western churches usually celebrate on different days, yet it has happened where they coincide on the same day. Easter and the Jewish Passover often overlap as well as Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred during Passover.

 

Muslim Holidays

 

The Islamic calendar began on the 16th July 622 AD, the date of the Hijra, and follows a lunar calendar. For Muslims, Friday is the holiest day, and so many local areas with generally Muslim population close down on Fridays.

Ras Elsana al Hijriya: (The Hijri New Year / Islamic New Year) – The years in Islam started counting in 622 AD on the day Muhammad and his followers emigrated from Mecca to Medina – known as the Hijra.

The Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar with 354/355 days a year and consists of 12 months.

Mawlid al Nabi: (Birth of the Prophet) – Commemorates the birth of Prophet Muhammad and is celebrated in a carnival manner with large street processions and reading the stories of Muhammad’s life.

Lailat al Miraj: One of the most significant events in the Muslim calendar. This festival celebrates the night journey and ascent of prophet Muhammad. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad was taken from Mecca to Jerusalem on a mythical winged creature called Buraq, and from there, he ascends to heaven where he is validated as the last and final prophet.

Ramadan: The ninth month of the Islamic calendar and observed by Muslims worldwide as the month of fasting. It is remembered as the month in which the Quran was given to Muhammad. According to Muslims, during Ramadan, the gates of heaven are opened, and gates of Hell are closed. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, all Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and celebrate with feasts each night during this month.

Eid Al Fitr: (Festival of Breaking Fast) – Just as its name implies, it celebrates the end of the Ramadan fast with three days of festivities.

Eid El-Adha: (Festival of Sacrifice) – This festival celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. It is celebrated with gatherings and feasts, and it is customary to eat an abundance of meat during these three days. Eid Al Adha coincides with the completion of the Hajj – the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.