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Holidays
Holidays
Not all Jewish Holidays are created equal!
In fact, it would be hard to answer the question, "Which Jewish holiday is most important?" Is it Shabbat which comes the most frequently- once a week? Is it Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year? Is it Passover, which really is the first 'official' Jewish holiday and referred to dozens of times in the Torah and the reason for not oppressing the stranger?
It is similarly difficult to organize the Jewish holidays. Historically: the ones in Torah (Pesach, Sukkot, Yom Kippur), then other biblical ones (Purim), post biblical (Chanukah), and finally modern (Yom Ha-Shoah and Yom Ha-Atzmaut); or by category: Pilgrimage festivals: Pesach, Sukkot, and Shavuot, the High Holy Days, Minor Festivals; or (what is usually done): chronologically according to the secular calendar, starting in September with Rosh Hashanah.
While time moves ever forward (as the popular bumper sticker has it: 'today is the first day of the rest of your life', time also moves in a circle. Day follows night, spring follows winter. The Jewish holidays punctuate the yearly cycle. To understand a holiday, we usually examine its historical development, and learn how to practice the special customs associated with it.
Find resources on the navigation bar for the closest upcoming holidays. Enjoy!
The Jewish Calendar: Why is Rosh Hashanah so early/late this year?
Why does Rosh Hashanah sometimes fall at the beginning of September, and sometimes fall as late as the beginning of October? The Jewish and Julian calendars are not identical.
The Torah's word for month (chodesh) comes from the root 'chadash' (meaning new) because each Jewish month begins with a new moon. Even in English, we can recognize that the word month is related to the word for moon, but the English month can be 28, 29, 30 or 31 days long. The Jewish month follows the lunar cycle and is 29 (or 30) days long. (Note also: in English, the 'new moon' actually is 'no moon'; in our context, the new moon is when the moon is first sighted.)
Unlike the Julian or secular calendar, where months are no longer bound to their lunar origins, in the Jewish calendar, a new (Hebrew) month always coincides with the new moon, and the full moon always falls on the fifteenth of the Hebrew month. (Note that many Jewish holidays and special dates- Sukkot, Tu B'Shevat, Purim, Passover, Tu B'Av- occur in the middle of the month: on the night with the most available natural light!) Compare this to the Julian calendar where the new moon and full moon have to be graphically indicated on calendars, as they can move around from the beginning to the end of the month. There can even be (rare but possible) an English month with two full moons, (the second one called a 'blue moon,' heard in the expression 'once in a blue moon' to mean very rarely).
Measuring the months so faithfully according to the lunar cycle creates one small problem. Since many of the Jewish holidays are season-specific (Passover is a holiday of spring) it cannot move more than a few weeks either way, and so the 'lunar' months must also be calibrated to the [solar] seasons. The present Jewish calendar is therefore 'lunisolar,' and to keep holidays from 'wandering' into another season, adjustments must be made on leap years by adding an extra month of Adar.
Tue, September 2 2025
9 Elul 5785
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Upcoming Events
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Saturday ,
SepSeptember 13 , 2025Selichot Program
Motzei Shabbat, Sep 13th 10:00p to 11:59p
We complete our preparation for the introspection, repentance, joy and celebration of the High Holy Days with an evening of study, quiet reflection, prayer and song on Saturday, September 13th. -
Monday ,
SepSeptember 22 , 20252025 Erev RH Dinner
Monday, Sep 22nd 7:30p to 8:45p
Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner with Rabbi Stephanie Crawley and Hazzanit Tara Abrams -
Wednesday ,
SepSeptember 24 , 2025Shofarpalooza 5786 - Rosh Hashanah Day 2
Wednesday, Sep 24th 10:00a to 12:30p
Join us for a music-filled Rosh Hashanah Service, which we affectionately call Shofarpalooza! The event begins at 9:45 AM, with a quiet shmooze, as the band sets up. The service will begin at 10 AM. The event concludes with some frozen treats, followed byTashlich at Lake Ontario. -
Saturday ,
SepSeptember 27 , 2025Shabbat Shuvah Special Event: Singing Circle
Shabbat, Sep 27th 4:30p to 6:00p
The Shabbat between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is an especially spiritual time. Explore how the Rabbis viewed these 10 Days of Repentance through study of the midrash, followed by a session on how high holiday music guides and affects our experience, and conclude with a special guided meditation experience to set a meaningful intention for Yom Kippur. This special Shabbat event ends with Kaddish and brunch. The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Shabbat Shuvah) is a time for reflection upon experiences of the year that has passed. We will gather to mark the end of Shabbat Shuvah, and to reflect upon the anniversary of October 7 with song and prayer, and an opportunity to share our feelings of mourning, grief and peace in a safe, non-confrontational environment.