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's command.
Al-Hijra: Muslim New Years Day 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 supposed 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 are carried around the sanctuary in a series of seven hakafot (circuits). Although each hakafa need only encompass one circuit around […]
Chanukah or Hannukah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers, and fried foods. In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and […]
The Isra and Mi'raj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج, al-’Isrā’wal-Mi‘rāj) are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621. Within Islam it signifies both a physical and spiritual journey, and is remembered in prayer.
Each year, corresponding with the ninth month of the lunar calendar, Muslims spend a month in daytime fasting. This observance is called Ramadan. From dawn to sunset during this month, Muslims abstain from food, liquids, tobacco, and sex. This fast is an extremely important aspect of the Muslim faith: in fact, it is one of […]
The festival of Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, in late winter or early spring. It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day,” […]
