Jewish Traditions

Passover is one of the most widely observed holidays and one of the most sacred to the Jewish people. It is a time of songs, family, and celebration. During this time, the Jews commemorate the bondage of the Israelites to Egypt. This weeklong celebration includes several rituals such as the meal known as the seder, removal of leavened bread and readings from the Haggadah. Passover customs between the Yemenites (Eastern Jews) and the European Jews vary in certain ways. One variation is in their musical interpretations of the Passover seder.

There are six Jewish holidays. Which are the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Purim, the Passover, the Shavout, and the Sukkot. According to Julianne Jacques during Hanukkah as a child her family would sing the Jewish Version of the twelve days of Christmas. She didn’t sing it for me but she told me that it goes like this “10 are the Commandments 9 are the festivals, 8 are the lights of Han, 7 days of the week, 6 days of creation, 5 books of Moses, 4 mothers of Israel, 3 Patriarchs, 2 tables of covenant and 1 God.” Jewish Americans celebrate all of these holidays with pride of their heritage.

Answer: Yes a few are: the high holy days, sukkot, hannukkah, pesach, the omer period, Shavuot, and tishah.

A pomegranate on the holiday table announces to the heavenly court that as many seeds as there are, that's how many good deeds have been performed over the year. Hallah bread is commonly served on Rosh Hashanah. A ladder, turban like shape, to the Hallah bread expresses the wish that the family's prayers might ascend to heaven. Dough baked in the shape of a bird also represents the same wish. It also stands for the words of the prophet Isaiah: As birds protect their young,

This is where the holiday’s name- Pesach- meaning “passing over” or protection in Hebrew is derived. From the instructions given to Moses by Jehovah, in order to encourage the pharaoh to free the Israelites, Jehovah Himself came and slew the first-born in Egypt, passing over the homes of the Israelites, who were told to mark their dwellings with lamb’s blood so that Jehovah could identify and “pass over” their homes. The pharaoh finally agreed to free the Israelites. They left their homes so quickly that there wasn’t even time to bake their breads. Therefore, they packed the raw dough to take with them on their journey. As they fled through the desert, they would quickly bake the dough in the hot sun into hard crackers called matzohs.

Christians commonly celebrate the New Year January 1st, according to the Julian calendar; For orthodox Christians whom follow the Gregorian calendar New Year is marked on January 14th or sometime around that date. (Christian Observances and Rituals) Orthodox or not the New Year is a day celebrated most Christians, many attending mass. Another commonly celebrated day is, “Epiphany Sunday, commonly known as Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events. The United States (US) Virgin Islands observe the day as a public holiday.” (Epiphany in the United States) On this day children, bake cookies and cakes in honor of the Three Wise Men. This day is exactly twelve days after Christmas, another Christian

It is a day on which one should show humility to God and acknowledge that whatever our intentions may be we will descend into sin. On this day one should become particularly aware of sin, as it is a day for reflection. It is not intended to be a negative activity, but to induce positive behavior, as it is very brave to face up to weaknesses and mistakes . Rosh

After the destruction of the temple, Judaism was forced to modify several of their traditions and rituals, specifically due to transitioning from a temple and ceremonial centric community into a bible centric religion. We now call this new form of the faith

In case you did not know Hanukkah is a religious holiday that jewish people celebrate. Instead of Christmas they celebrate Hanukkah. Secondly, the first Hanukkah started in 138 BCE. The first Hanukkah was held in a temple.

Kwanzaa is traditionally celebrated on December 26 through January 1 and focuses on the values of family,

The Passover in Hebrew is known as Pesach. It begins in the Sunset of Monday, April 10, 2017, and ends at the nightfall of Tuesday, April 18, 2017. The Pesach is depicted in the book of Exodus 12:23. It describes the day when God passed over Israelites. During the Passover, the Israelites usually celebrate their Liberation from the Egyptian bondage. This is when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The Passover is also considered to be one of the most theologically important holidays in the Jewish calendar. It normally goes for eight days but in other communities, it lasts for only one week. The Jews are prohibited to eat any bread or leavened food. They are only allowed

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and to celebrate it is an ever lasting commandment. This is also a sabbath. In Leviticus chapter 16 verse 29-31 it says “And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourns among you... It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever."

This month, people who practice Judaism will be celebrating two very important holidays: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. This year Rosh Hashanah will begin at sundown on September 13 and will go until sundown on September 15. Rosh Hashanah is comparable to the American New Years celebration because it involves reflecting upon one's mistakes and faults from the past year and planning resolutions for how to be better for the coming year. While Rosh Hashanah is a very jovial time of celebration, there is much more of an emphasis on introspection and silent reflection than the American New Years.

I think Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because of the special atmosphere that you can feel everywhere, in shops, restaurants , pubs and even streets, where you can hear the magical carols, or maybe it's because of its religious background, but what I can tell you for sure is that I can't think of anything more exciting than the image of the entire family preparing the Christmas Tree or fixing the Christmas dishes.

The Muslims also have very important religious holidays like other religions of the world, perhaps the most important religious holiday for the Muslims is Ramadan. Ramadan is a month long period of fasting that comes once every lunar calendar. The fasting is observed from sunup to sundown and during this period no eating, sex or lying is allowed. During this time a Muslim must also give to others in the name of Islam. At the end of the period of Ramadan large celebrations occur with lots of giving and exchanging of food. This seems to be similar to the Christian Easter or Christmas. Islam seems to be a very interesting religion and I intend to study it further with the help of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, of which Moe gave me a copy as a gift.