Spiritual Life : Holidays
Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 - Friday, September 30th, 2011
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year is a time when Jews reflect on their actions and try to make amends with each other and God. In synagogue, the shofar is sounded. At home, munching on apples and honey is an expression of hope for a new year pure, happy, and free from past transgressions.
Yom Kippur
Friday, October 7th, 2011 - Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Yom Kippur is often considered the holiest day of the Jewish year. This day of fasting, prayer, and introspection begins with Kol Nidre, a prayer that asks for absolution from vows, and ends with the Neilah prayer. In between is a liturgy that runs the emotional gamut, from the solemn to the celebratory.
Sukkot
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 - Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Sukkot is a week-long fall festival. The sukkah, the non-permanent outdoor hut, is meant to recall the time the Israelites spent wandering in the desert. Sukkot was also once a holiday of agricultural thanksgiving, and this is celebrated with the holiday's other great ritual items: the lulav and etrog.
Shemini Atzeret
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Shemini Atzeret is the final day of festivities at the end of Sukkot. It is followed by Simchat Torah, the holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual reading of the Torah and its beginning again--amid dancing, song, and celebration.
Simchat Torah
Friday, October 21st, 2011
Shemini Atzeret is the final day of festivities at the end of Sukkot. It is followed by Simchat Torah, the holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual reading of the Torah and its beginning again--amid dancing, song, and celebration.
Hanukkah
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 - Thursday, December 9th, 2010
The Festival of Lights commemorates the victory of the Jews over the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE, and is celebrated by lighting a hanukkiah, or menorah, for eight days, eating latkes, and playing dreidel.
Tu Bishvat
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Tu Bishvat, traditionally known as the birthday of the trees, is a time to think about relating to the natural world. This holiday can be celebrated by planting trees, eating fruits, and having a Tu Bishvat Seder, a ritual that began with the kabbalistic masters of the 15th century.
Fast of Esther/ Purim
Fast of Esther: Thursday, March 17th, 2011
Purim: Saturday, March 19th, 2011 - Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Purim is the most carnivalesque Jewish holiday. It is a day when norms are subverted and reversed to commemorate the reversal of fortune recorded in the Book of Esther. Purim is celebrated with drinking, dressing up, and satirical performances, all recalling the evil decrees of Haman that were ultimately overturned.
Passover (Pesach)
Monday, April 18th, 2011 - Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Passover celebrates the biblical exodus from Egypt, but its focus on freedom in general has earned it a special place on the Jewish calendar. More Jews participate in a seder--to drink wine and eat haroset and matzah (not to mention, matzah ball soup)--than any other Jewish ritual.
Lag B'omer
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
The 49 days between Passover and Shavuot are considered a time of mourning. One interruption in this doleful period is Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the omer,which falls on the 18th of the Hebrew month of Iyar. This day is observed as a semi-holiday, and suspends many of the mourning customs up until this point in time.
Shavuot
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 - Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Shavuot began as a harvest festival, but it also commemorates the revelation at Sinai and the giving of the Torah. While Shavuot has few rituals associated with it, many Jews stay up all night studying Torah. Other customs include eating dairy foods and reading the Book of Ruth.
Tisha B'av
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
Tisha B'Av is a fast day that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples. It has also became a day of general mourning for other major disasters that have befallen the Jewish people, from the Edict of Expulsion from England in 1290 to the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.
(Yom Hashoah)
Holocaust Rememberance Day
(Yom Hashoah)
Sunday, May 1st, 2011
The full name of the day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust is "Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah"--literally the "Day of (Remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism." It is marked on the 27th day in the month of Nisan. The date was selected by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) on April 12, 1951. The full name became formal in a law that was enacted by the Knesset on August 19, 1953. Although the date was established by the Israeli government, it has become a day commemorated by Jewish communities and individuals worldwide.
(Yom Hazikaron)
Israel Memorial Day
(Yom Hazikaron)
Monday, May 9th, 2011
The fourth of Iyar, the day preceding Israel's Independence Day, was declared by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) to be a Memorial Day for those who lost their lives in the struggle that led to the establishment of the State of Israel and for all military personnel who were killed while in active duty in Israel's armed forces. Joining these two days together conveys a simple message: Israelis owe the independence and the very existence of the Jewish state to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.
9/ 11
Given NYU’s proximity to Groundzero, 9/11 holds special significance for our campus. The Bronfman Center participates in the university-wide commemoration led by the Chaplain’s Circle at NYU.
Kristallnacht
Wednesday, November 9th - 2011
The Nazis, using the assassination of a German official as an excuse, organized the “Night of Broken Glass,” the night of November 9-10, 1938. In anti-Jewish attacks across Germany and Austria 91 Jews were murdered, 1,400 synagogues were desecrated, and Jewish shops and homes were destroyed. Some 30,00 Jewish men were arrested. The Jewish community was fined for the damage it received.
(Yom Ha'atzamaut)
Israel Independence Day
(Yom Ha'atzamaut)
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
Israel's Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the "provisional government" read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv.