f.+Holy+Days

[[image:passover_stuff.jpg]]
====(Passover Plate)(http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/passover-disposable-seder-d.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/2007/04/seder_in_the_bl_1.html&usg=__mebWnwL-Svm0PeJ4gFXTwQlAO6E=&h=420&w=450&sz=66&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=D7F6QgmpTkczHM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpassover%2Bfood%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENUS277) As many religions do Judaism has countless amounts of holidays. The **Sabbath** is the holy day of rest. It begins at sundown on Friday and ends at the nightfall on Saturday, when the stars can be seen in the dark night. Jews attend worship services in the synagogue during the Sabbath and have special meals at home. Orthodox Jews do not go to work, travel or carry money on the Sabbath. Rosh Ha-Shanda and Yom Kippur are the most sacred days of the year. These holy days occur on different days each year because they revolve around the Hebrew calender. **Rosh Ha-Shanda** is the Jewish new year. On this day Jews celebrate the creation of the world and God's rule. Jews are judged on their good deeds. The cheif symbol is a rams horn (shofar) and it is sounded during worship. **Yom Kippur** is the day Jews fast and express their regrets for bad deeds of the past year and their want to do good deeds the next year. They do this mostly through synagouge worship. **Passover** is in either March or April depending on the Hebrew calender. During Passover Jews celebrate the departion of Jews from Egypt. They celebrate at home and have a ceremonial feast called Seder. They eat unleavened bread, called Matzah. Shavot (Pentecost)happens fifty days after the beginning of Passover. During **Shavot** Jews celebrate the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. Congregrates celebrate by holding confirmation ceremonies. **Sukkot** is a harvest festival five days after Yom Kippur. Jews build small huts as a rememberance to the Israelites living in huts while they wandered in the wild. On the last day (Simat Torah) Jew celebrate the completion of the yearly readings of the Torah. **Hanukkah** (Feast of Lights) is the celebration of God's bringing of Jews in 165 BC. Jews won the first fight for religous freedom by defeating the Syrians, who wanted them to give up their religion. Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of the Jewish calender month of Kislev and goes on for eight days and nights. Lighting the [|menorah] is the most imporant tradition of Haunukkah. The menorah is a candle stand with nine branches. Typically eight candles (one for every day of Hanukkah) are the same height, with a taller candle in the middle called the shamash (servant). The shamash is used to light the other candles. On every night of Hanukkah one more candle is lit with a special blessing. The menorah symbolizes the burning light in the temple, and indicates the eight days of Hanukkah. Some people say that it also commemorates the light of freedom that was won by the Maccabees for the Jewish people. **Purim** is a holy day that is in Febuary or March and it celebrates the rescue of the Jews from Persia(Iran) from a plot to kill them. Jews read the book of Ester which tells the story of their rescue and they fast for several days. ====