SHABBAT *

Weekly: Friday sunset to Saturday sunset

"'Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Shabbat to the LORD in all your dwellings. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:3

Chanukah

December 12-19, 2009 | Kislev 25-Tevet 2

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors called the Hasmoneans defeated the Syrians who had defiled the Holy Temple and attempted to force the Jews to assimilate. It is celebrated for eight days by kindling the menorah each evening. We are reminded of how we are to be a "Light to the World".

Tevet 10: Jerusalem Under Siege

Sunday, December 27, 2009 | Tevet 10

On the 10th of Tevet in 425 BCE, the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Thirty months later -- on Tammuz 9 -- the city walls were breached, and on Av 9th of that year, the Holy Temple was destroyed. The Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for 70 years. Tevet 10 is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance. We refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall, and add the Selichot and other special supplements to our prayers.

Tu B'Shevat: the New Year for Trees

Saturday, January 30, 2010 | 15 Shevat

Tu B'Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar is the day that marks the beginning of a "New Year for Trees." This is 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. This isn't a moed you'll find in the Torah but it is still a time of renewal when we can thank the Almighty for a new season of life.

Fast of Esther

Thursday, February 25, 2010 | Adar 11

Observed to commemorate the three day fast observed in the story of Esther.
“Then Ester asked them to answer Mordekhai, "Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish." Esther/Ester 4:15-16

Purim

Sunday, February 28, 2010 | Adar 14

Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people, in the year 3405 from Creation (356 BCE), from Haman's plot "to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews." Purim is observed each year on the 14th of Adar, celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people from the wicked Haman in the days of Queen Esther of Persia, as described in the book of Esther. It is traditional to gather together for a time of dressing in costumes, joking, and celebration.

Pesach *

Monday, March 29, 2010 | Nissan 14

“ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's Pesach.” Leviticus/Vayikra 23:5

Days of Unleavened Bread *

March 30-April 5, 2010 | Nissan 15-21

“On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of matzah to the LORD. Seven days you shall eat matzah. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.” Leviticus/Vayikra 23-6-8

Resurrection Day / Counting of the Omer *

Sunday April 4, 2010 | Nissan 20

When the Shabbat was past, Miriam from Magdala, and Miriam the mother of Ya`akov, and Shalomit, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back.  Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, "Don't be amazed. You seek Yeshua, the Natzri, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! Mark 16:1-6 / Leviticus 23:10-13

Yom HaShoah / Holocaust Day

Monday, April 12, 2010 | Nissan 28

Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period.

Pesach Sheni / Second Passover

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Iyar 14

Pesach Sheni was traditionally celebrated by those who had been traveling or otherwise were unable to make their Pesach offering during the time of the Mishkan and the two Temples. Today, you can welcome guest to celebrate with you if they were unable to observe Pesach the month before. (Numbers/Bamidbar 9:1-13)

Yom HaAtzmaut / Jerusalem Day

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Iyar 28

Jerusalem Day is the national independence day of Israel, commemorating its declaration of independence in 1948.

Shavuot / Pentecost *

Sunday, May 23, 2010 | Sivan 10

"'You shall count from the next day after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Shabbatot shall be completed: even to the next day after the seventh Shabbat you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the LORD.  You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an efah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to the LORD. You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to the LORD. You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of shalom offerings. The Kohen shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the Kohen. You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:15-21

Fast of Tammuz

Tuesday June 29, 2010 | Tammuz 17

The Seventeenth of Tammuz commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. It marks the beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av.

Tisha B'Av

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 | Av 9

A day of mourning over the destruction of both the first and second Holy Temple that occurred on the same date.

Yom Teruah *

September 9, 2010 | Tishrei 1, 5771

 "Speak to the children of Yisra'el, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'" Leviticus/Vayikra 23:24-25  (Begins Year 3 or Ma’aser Ani of the Shemittah Cycle)

10 Days of Awe

Thursday, September 9-18, 2010 | Tishrei 1-10, 5771

We use this 10 day period to prepare for confession and repentance of our sins leading up to Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur *

Saturday, September 18, 2010 | Tishrei 10

"However on the tenth day of this seventh month is Yom Kippur: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.  You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is Yom Kippur, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.  Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Shabbat." Leviticus/Vayikra 23:28-32

Sukkot *

September 23-29, 2010 | Tishrei 14-21

"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to the LORD. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD….. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:34-36

Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah *

Thursday, September 30, 2010 | Tishrei 22

….On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:36