At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the "Festival of Fast-Breaking." On the day of Eid, fasting is prohibited. The end of Ramadan is generally celebrated by a ceremonial fast-breaking, as well as the performance of the Eid prayer in an open, outdoor area or mosque.
To our Jewish friends, Chag Pesach kasher vesame’ach, or "May you have a kosher and joyous Passover." The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. Passover (Pesach) commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Pesach is […]
On Yom HaShoah, Jews all over the world mourn the six million Jewish lives lost during the Holocaust. 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 […]
Shavuot is the celebration of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, also known as the Festival of First Fruits. The Torah was given by the Lord on Mount Sinai on Shavuot more than 3,300 years ago. Every year on the holiday of Shavuot, Jews renew their acceptance of the gift, and the […]
At the end of the annual pilgrimage, Muslims celebrate the "Festival of Sacrifice." It includes a ritual sacrifice of a sheep, camel, or goat, to honor the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God'scommand.
Al-Hijra, the first day of the month of Muharram, marks the beginning of the Islamic New Year. Muhammed’s popularity was seen as threatening by the people in power in Mecca, and so Muhammad took his followers on a journey from Mecca to Medina in 622. This journey is called the Hijrah (migration) and the event […]
An important fast day commemorating the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 CE. It is the culmination of the Three Weeks, an annual mourning period that falls in the summer. Jews mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple and their launch into a still-ongoing exile. Tisha B’Av, or 9th […]
Mawlid al-Nabim, celebrated on the 12th of Rabiulawal, marks the birth of Muhammad in A.D. 570. The holy day is celebrated in different ways by different Islamic sects. Mohammed (ca. 570–632) is considered by Muslims to be the prophet and messenger of Allah. Mohammed was raised an orphan in Mecca. As a young man he […]
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, takes place at the beginning of the month of Tishrei, which is actually the seventh month of the Jewish year (counting from Nisan in the spring). It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking […]
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year, when we are closest to the Lord and to the essence of our souls. Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement,” as the verse states, “because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean […]
A celebration of the fall harvest that begins five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is named after the booths or huts ('sukkot' in Hebrew) in which Jews are asked to dwell during this week-long celebration. According to rabbinic tradition, these flimsy structures represent the huts in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of […]
Simchat Torah is a joyful feast that marks the end of the old Torah reading cycle and the beginning of a new cycle. All the synagogue's Torah scrolls are removed from the ark and arec arried around the sanctuary in a series of seven hakafot (circuits). Although each hakafa needonly encompass one circuit around the […]
