Coming2Israel.com - Jewish and National Holidays

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Coming2Israel.com - Jewish (Religious) and National (State)

Holidays:

Jewish Holiday And Sabbath Primer.

The first thing to know about the Holidays in Israel, is that the Hebrew/Jewish Calendar is lunar based. That is, the day starts at sunset and ends at sundown the next day. What this means, is that for the Sabbath and holidays the observances will start the night before the Gregorian calendar date. So, as an easy example, the Sabbath, which is traditionally on Saturday for the Jewish people, observing the Sabbath starts at sundown on Friday night. And, of course ends at sundown on Saturday night. It is important to note that as the length of sunlight varies per day during the year, the actual start and finish times will vary as well. The other thing to know is that, since the day is lunar based, a Jewish Calendar month is only 29 or 30 days - following the cycle of the moon, full to full. This also means a couple of interesting things. the first thing being that, since the Jewish holidays are based on the Hebrew calendar, the time of year that they occur with direct reference to the Gregorian calendar will change. Christmas is always on December 25, but Hanukkah, since its date is derived from the Hebrew lunar calendar, will vary from year to year. Which leads to the second interesting thing about the Hebrew calendar. If we don’t offset the missing days - remember, the Hebrew calendar month is only 29-30 days, sooner or later, Hanukkah will occur in July and Rosh Hashanah in May. So, like the Gergorian calendar, the Jewish calendar also has leap years. But in a Jewish calendar leap year, an entire month is added to that year’s calendar. Sounds confusing? For more detailed information, you can read more on the Wikipedia Hebrew Calendar Web Page, here: Wikipedia Hebrew Calendar Web Page

Erev = Evening

In Hebrew, evening is ‘erev’ and holiday is ‘chag’, so we will usually talk about the night before the day of the holiday as “erev chag”. Also can be said as ‘erev’ and then the name of the holiday itself – i.e. “Erev Pesach” – evening of the Passover holiday. The end of the Sabbath or holiday is referred to as ‘motze’ – pronounced as motzay. So the evening at the end of the Sabbath is Motze Shabbat. Okay, so, the Jewish People start their day at night... what does this mean to me? What this means for the average English speaker coming to Israel, is that most places of business, public transit, banks and government offices will be closed from sundown, or even earlier-around 3 or 4 pm - the Erev Shabbat or erev chag, until sundown on the day of the holiday or Sabbath, motze chag or Motze Shabbat. Most, but not necessarily all, shops, malls, stores and kosher restaurants will reopen about an hour after sundown on the day in consideration. In most major cities, there are restaurants, clubs and bars that will be open on Friday nights. On Saturdays there are some malls that will open for the day as well. Note that not all shops within those malls will open until after the day ends at sundown. Also note that gas stations and there attached convenient stores are usually open on Friday nights and Shabbat. See our section on gas stations in Driving In Israel.

There are some days when it ALL shuts down…

There are a few days in the year where just about everything closes for the erev - evening before the actual holiday. These are: 1) Yom Kippur, 2) Yom HaShoah, (see Air-Raid Sirens below), and 3) Tisha B’Av (ninth day of the month of Av). For Yom Kippur, ninety-nine percent of everything is closed from the erev before to the evening on the day of the holiday. For the other two days, Yom HaShoah and Tisha B’Av, most businesses will be open on the day portion of the holiday.

Air-Raid Sirens:

In Israel, other than for a real impending air strike, there are a few times during the year that the air-raid sirens are sounded. Usually, at least a few times during the year, they are sounded to test the readiness of the population and emergency services for an actual attack. If there is such an alarm is scheduled, your hotel or the English language newspapers will list or tell you about these occurrences. There are three other times that the air-raid sirens are sounded during the year - throughout the entire country: 1) Yom Ha’Shoah - The Holocaust Remembrance Day, one time, and, 2) Yom HaZikaron - Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror Remembrance Day, twice. On Yom Ha’Shoah the siren sounds once at 10:00 am during the actual day of the memorial day. On Yom HaZikaron, the siren sound twice during the memorial day, The first siren sounds in the evening, at 8:00 pm, and marks the beginning of Memorial Day and the second siren sounds on the following morning at 11:00 am. The morning siren is sounded immediately prior to the public recitation of kaddish - the memorial prayer service - in military cemeteries. In all three of these instances, everyone stops what they are doing and they stand in silence for the duration of the siren sounding. It is interesting to note that this stoppage of activity includes people stopping their cars on roads and highways and getting out of their cars to stand in silence as well. Israel is a small country, and the chances are that someone has been directly affected by these events, or that they know someone that has been directly affected by a loss from these events is fairly high. So, the whole country will respond and react accordingly to these sirens. What can you do? Or, at least, what should you do when you hear these sirens on these days? Simple. If you are in a public place, or with other people, simply stand in silence out of respect. If you are driving a car, stop and wait. If you are so inclined, feel free to get out of the car and stand in silence as well. The choice is entirely up to you. Either way, your respect is entirely appreciated.

Would You Like To Know More About The Jewish Holidays and the Sabbath?

Here is a link to a Wikipedia page showing the days that the Jewish Holidays fall on in relation to the Gregorian calendar: Link to Wikipedia Gregorian Dates for Jewish Holidays 2000-2050 (e) Next we have the Wikipedia Web Page describing the Jewish Holidays: Link to Wikipedia Jewish Holidays Listing (e) Link to the Wikipedia Sabbath / Shabbat Web Page; Wikipedia Sabbath Web Page (e) Below is a listing of the major holidays in Israel and a link to the Israeli Government GoIsrael.com web site with information regarding these holidays:

The GoIsrael.com Main Holiday Page:

Link to the GoIsrael.com Holiday Web Page (e) Here is the list of the holidays (listed according to the Jewish Yearly calendar:

The Jewish Holidays

1) Rosh Hashanah (also following day - the holiday is two days)

The Jewish New Year - Literally, Head Of The Year. Link to the GoIsrael,com Rosh Hashanah Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Rosh Hashanah Web Page (e)

2) Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement. We seek forgiveness of our sins from God. Link to the GoIsrael,com Yom Kippur Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Yom Kippur Web Page (e)

3) Sukkot (first of seven days)

Remembering the time we spent in temporary dwellings after leaving Egypt. Consider it a harvest festival / holiday. Link to the GoIsrael,com Sukkot Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Sukkot Web Page (e)

4) Shemini Atzeret

The eighth day of Sukkot, but with religious and spiritual connotations. Link to the GoIsrael.com Shemini Atzeret Web Page, Use the link for Sukkot above. Link to the Wikipedia Shemini Atzeret Web Page (e)

5) Simchat Torah

The Jewish People reach the end of the Torah readings and start again from the beginning. Link to the GoIsrael.com Simchat Torah Web Page, Use the link for Sukkot above. Link to the Wikipedia Simchat Torah Web Page (e)

6) Hanukkah (first of eight days)

The Festival of Lights - The Miracle of the oil in the temple lasting 8 days. Link to the GoIsrael,com Hanukkah Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Hanukkah Web Page (e)

7) Tu Bishvat

New Year for the trees. Often considered the Israeli Arbor day. Gifts of dried fruits and nuts are customary. Link to the GoIsrael,com Tu Bishvat Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Tu Bishvat Web Page (e)

8) Purim

Celebrating escape from annihilation in Persia. Link to the GoIsrael,com Purim Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Purim Web Page (e)

9) Pesach / Passover (first of seven days, or eight outside of Israel)

Exodus from Egypt, The Ten Plagues, The Ten Commandments and Charlton Heston as Moses. Yul Brenner was Pharaoh. Link to the GoIsrael,com Pesach Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Pesach Web Page (e)

14) Shavuot (outside of Israel, Shavuot lasts two days)

Literally means weeks. A period of 7 weeks has passed since Pesach. This is the day considered to be the day that the Jewish People received the Torah at Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt. Link to the GoIsrael,com Shavuot Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Shavuot Web Page (e)

15) Tisha B'Av

Day of mourning commemorating the destruction of both the first and second temples. Link to the GoIsrael,com Tisha B’Av Web Page (e): Link to the Wikipedia Tisha B’Av Web Page (e)

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