Jewish Holidays

The Jewish religion is one of the oldest religions in the world. It has had much impact on many events in history, including the branching off of other religions, such as Christianity and Islam. But the one thing about this religion that leaves many interested is the year round traditions and holidays. Many of these holidays celebrate the many events in history of the Jews. In this essay, there will be information on the most popular holidays.

Shabbat

Shabbat is one of the most important traditions because it is remembered every seven days. Shabbat means “to rest”, which demonstrates what God did on the seventh day of creating the earth. On Shabbat, Jews are to rest for the day, and follow many other rules of this tradition. Preparation begins Friday afternoon. Since Shabbat is a holy day, the nicest silverware, clothes, and nicest meal of the week is served to show its importance. Two candles are set on the table to show sanctification and remembrance. The woman of the house says the blessings for the meal. According to rabbis, Shabbat does not officially start until the women of the house open their eyes from prayer. When the candles are lit, blessings are said over the wine or grape juice that is in a special cup called the Kiddush cup. The Kiddush Cup stands for God providing for us everyday of us lives. Next, the traditional challah, or twisted bread, is blessed then broken by hand to symbolize that one day the world will not have any weapons. Then, a final blessing is said over the children. After that, the dinner is enjoyed by the family, and many songs are sung during the evening. An important part of Shabbat is acknowledging organized worship services, so on Saturday morning the morning service is attended.

The typical structure of the morning service is reading from the book of psalms, then public reading of the torah, and a sermon on the passage for that week. Then, the service is closed with a small cup of grape juice with refreshments, called Oneg Shabbat. During the afternoon, Shabbat is typically resting at home or visiting with friends. To end Shabbat, a ceremony, Havdalah, is celebrated. Havdalah contains symbolic practices. First, a braided candle is lit to symbolize that the light of Shabbat will be gone soon. Then, a box of spices is passed around to remember the sweetness of the Sabbath. A cup of wine or juice is shared with everyone in the group, and the candle is put out with the leftover juice. Havdalah is closed with a special song, “Eliyahu Ha-Navi”.

Pesach

Pesach means to “pass over” or “pass through”. This holiday celebrates the time when God delivered the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh, by killing all the firstborn sons in Egypt, but passed over the Jews homes, which was recorded in the book of Exodus. Pesach is celebrated on the 15th of the month of Nissan, which is the entrance of spring.