Holidays
There are several holidays that are commemorated within the House of Israel and Judah. They are commemorated using the Hebrew calendar.
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Click here to see the Hebrew Calendar
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Below are the main important holidays:
Passover
Passover commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites, our ancestors, from Egypt. ​We commemorate this event based on the instructions given in Exodus, chapter 12.
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Exodus 12:14-16 - ““This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.”
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Exodus 12:21-24 "Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. "
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashana is the new Hebrew year.
It is celebrated on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which falls during September or October.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is a day of atonement. It is done by abstaining from food for one Hebrew day, which starts when the sun sets to when the sun sets again.
It is celebrated after Rosh Hashanah, on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which is during September or October.
Hannukah
After the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 168 BCE during the Maccabean Revolt, a jug of pure oil that was to be enough to light the lamp for one day in the temple lasted for eight days instead.
Hannukah is the festival of lights that lasts for eight days. It starts on the twenty fifth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually falls on December.
Purim
Purim is a festival to commemorate the saving of the Israelites from Haman, an official of the First Persian Empire whose plan was to kill all the Israelites, as recounted in the Book of Esther. Queen Esther, an Israelite who married the King of Persia fasted for three day and nights before she approached the King to thwart the genocide of the Israelites.
Purim is celebrated by exchanging food and drinks. It is celebrated on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, which takes place during March or April.
