More Holidays
Your Guide to Jewish Holidays
The three categories of Jewish holidays, celebrations and commemorations.
Yom Ha’atzmaut: Israel Independence Day
The celebration of Israeli independence is marked each year on the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.
Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Memorial Day
This annual day of remembrance of the victims is observed by Jewish communities worldwide.
Why Tisha B’Av is Not Really About Mourning
The practices associated with this holiday are closer to the experience of being a refugee than to being a mourner.
When Prayer Fails Us
Tisha B'Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, is testament to the failure of prayer to avert national catastrophe.
The Book of Eicha: Faith in a Whirlwind
At the core of Lamentations is an expression of faith in the human capacity to survive in a broken world.
Modern Jewish Holidays 101
There are a handful of holidays that entered Jewish life in the latter half of the 20th century.
The Book of Lamentations
This special reading for Tisha B'Av sets the tone for this tragic and mournful day
By the Rivers of Babylon We Remember Zion
This famous psalm is read on the eve of Tisha B'Av and sets the tone for an emotionally challenging holiday.
The Prohibition Against Studying Torah on Tisha B’Av
Why would learning sacred Jewish texts be forbidden on this day of fasting and mourning?
The Three Weeks
The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem is commemorated with a period of mourning.
When Do Jews Fast?
In addition to Yom Kippur, there are many public and private fasts in Judaism.
A Timeline of the Holocaust
From Hitler's rise to power to the Nuremberg trials, key events of the Shoah.
Praying for the Welfare of the State of Israel
While following a tradition of praying for the government, this prayer has some significant differences.