Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Begins sunset of Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Ends nightfall of Friday, October 25, 2024
Following the seven joyous days of Sukkot, we come to the happy holiday of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.
In the diaspora, the first day is known by its biblical name, Shemini Atzeret. We still dwell in the sukkah, but without a blessing. Yizkor, the memorial for the departed, is also said on this day.
The second day is known as Simchat Torah, during which we complete and immediately begin the annual Torah reading cycle. This joyous milestone is marked with dancing, traditionally following seven circuits known as hakafot, as the Torah scrolls are held aloft.
Both days are celebrated by nightly candle lighting, festive meals at both night and day, and desisting from work. In Israel, the entire holiday is compacted into one heady 24-hour period.
Chanukah - Hanukkah
Begins sunset of Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Ends nightfall of Thursday, January 2, 2025
The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.
Fast of Tevet 10
Begins sunrise of Friday, January 10, 2025
Ends nightfall of Friday, January 10, 2025
On Asarah B’Tevet, the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet, in the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Thirty months later—on 9 Tammuz 3338—the city walls were breached, and on 9 Av of that year the Holy Temple was destroyed. The Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for 70 years.
Asarah B’Tevet (this year, January 10, 2025) is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance. We refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall, and add selichot and other special supplements to our prayers. The fast ends at nightfall or as soon as you see three medium sized stars in the sky (breaking the fast after Kiddush, when the fast is on Friday).
15 Shevat
Thursday, February 13, 2025
The 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar—celebrated this year on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025—is the day that marks the beginning of a “new year” for trees. Commonly known as Tu Bishvat, this day marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.
We mark the 15th of Shevat by eating fruit, particularly from the kinds that are singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. On this day we remember that “man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19), and reflect on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analogue.
Purim
Begins sunset of Thursday, March 13, 2025
Ends nightfall of Friday, March 14, 2025
The festival of Purim commemorates the Divinely orchestrated salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” It is celebrated with Megillah readings, gifts of food, charity, feasting, and merriment.
Pesach (Passover)
Begins sunset of Saturday, April 12, 2025
Ends nightfall of Sunday, April 20, 2025
Passover is celebrated every year, commemorating the anniversary of our miraculous Exodus from Egyptian slavery, as told in the Bible.
In the first two nights of Passover (just the first night in Israel), we hold a Sedar. After candles have been lit, we enjoy a ritual-rich 15-step feast, which centers around telling the story of the Exodus.
Second Passover
Monday, May 12, 2025
Pesach Sheni means “Second Passover [Sacrifice].” It marks the day when someone who was unable to participate in the Passover offering in the proper time would observe the mitzvah exactly one month later. It is customary to mark this day by eating matzah – shmurah matzah, if possible – and by omitting Tachanun from the prayer services
Lag B’Omer
Friday, May 16, 2025
Lag BaOmer – is a festive day on the calendar, celebrating the anniversary of the passing of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. It also commemorates another event. In the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva. On Lag BaOmer the dying ceased