Jerusalem

Ta'anit Bechorot (Fast of the Firstborn)

It is an ancient and widespread custom for the firstborn to fast on the day before Passover. This commemorates the miracle which spared the firstborn Jewish sons from the plague which struck down the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.The firstborn of the Jews were saved in Egypt because they humbled themselves before God, admitting and declaring that all greatness, power, and sovereignty are His alone.

Pesach

Pesach (Passover) is a festival of freedom. It commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, and their transition from slavery to freedom. The main ritual of Pesach is the seder, which occurs on the first two night (in Israel just the first night) of the holiday — a festive meal that involves the re-telling of the Exodus through stories and song and the consumption of ritual foods, including matzah and maror (bitter herbs). The seder’s rituals and other readings are outlined in the Haggadah.

Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918). In Israel, a commemorative ceremony is held at Jerusalem British War Cemetery on Anzac Day, attended by the ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand. It is also remembered at The Be'er-Sheva Anzac Memorial Centre. Photo credit: User:Cfulbright, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

International Museum Day in Israel

International Museum Day marks a day of many free museum visits. Please call the museums you plan to visit to verify this information before you go.

Memorial Day for Ethiopian Jews

Each year on the 28th of Iyar, the Israeli Ethiopian community remembers those who perished on their way to Israel. From 1980 to 1984, a mass immigration of Ethiopian Jews took place from their villages in Gundar and through Sudan. Those who managed to flee Ethiopia and walk for long periods, up to several months, arrived at the Ethiopian-Sudanese border and waited in provisional camps to make Aliyah. Immigrants were met at the Sudanese border by the Mossad, who instructed the Ethiopians to hide their Jewish identity. During their escape from the Sudanese camps in an attempt to arrive at Israel, 4,000 community members died from disease, hunger, and violent robberies. Due to the instructions to hide their Jewish identity, it was difficult for them to observe Jewish law and traditions, for fear of the Sudanese guards. In November 1984, "Operation Moses" began its the first national operation to bring the Ethiopian Jewry to Israel. This secret operation brought 8,000 Ethiopian Jews over on Israeli aircrafts. However, due to a leak of information, the operation ended before schedule and several families were left behind or torn apart, until May 1991, when 14,324 more immigrants were brought within 36 hours during "Operation Solomon." In 2003, the  government decided that a national memorial ceremony to honor those who perished would be held each year on the 28th of Iyar, Jerusalem Day.

Shavuot

Shavuot, the feast of weeks, is celebrated seven weeks after the second Passover seder. Although Shavuot began as an ancient grain harvest festival, the holiday has been identified since biblical times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The word Shavuot means "weeks", and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. One of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in the Land of Israel for one day and for two days in the Diaspora. While there is more awareness of the festival in Israel among secular Jews, generally Shavuot is widely ignored by non-practicing Jews. The practice of staying up all Shavuot night to study Torah – known as Tiqun Leyl Shavuot – is linked to a Midrash which relates that the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead. They overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop. To rectify this perceived flaw in the national character, many religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah. Any subject may be studied on Shavuot night, although Talmud, Mishnah, and Torah typically top the list. People may learn alone or with a chavruta (study partner), or attend late-night shiurim (lectures) and study groups. In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, leading 16th century kabbalist Isaac Luria arranged a recital consisting of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of Tanakh (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of creation, the Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 tractates of Mishnah, followed by the reading of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a Kaddish d-Rabbanan is recited when the Tiqun is studied with a minyan. Today, this service is held in many communities, with the notable exception of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. The service is printed in a book called Tiqun Leyl Shavuot. There exist similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.  

Tzom Tammuz

The fast of the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, known as Shivah Asar B’Tammuz, is the start of a three-week mourning period for the destruction of Jerusalem and the two Holy Temples.

Tisha B'av

Tisha B'Av is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem. Tisha B'Av is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar and it is thus believed to be a day which is destined for tragedy. Tisha B'Av falls in July or August in the Gregorian calendar. The observance of the day includes five prohibitions, most notable of which is a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem is read in the synagogue, followed by the recitation of kinnot, liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and Jerusalem. As the day has become associated with remembrance of other major calamities which have befallen the Jewish people, some kinnot also recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans, massacres in numerous medieval Jewish communities during the Crusades, and the Holocaust.

Tu B'Av

Tu B'Av (the 15th of Av) is undoubtedly a most mysterious day. A search of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) reveals no observances or customs for this date, except for the instruction that the tachanun (confession of sins) and similar portions should be omitted from the daily prayers, and that one should increase one’s study of Torah, since the nights are growing longer, and “the night was created for study.” The Talmud tells us that many years ago the “daughters of Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards” on the 15th of Av, and “whoever did not have a wife would go there” to find himself a bride.

Fast of Gedaliah

The Fast of Gedaliah is a day set aside to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed official charged with administering the Jewish population remaining in Judah following the destruction of the Temple and exile in 586 B.C.E. It is observed on the third of Tishrei (the day after Rosh Hashanah ) with a fast from sunrise to sundown, and like on other fast days, the recital of special prayers (“Anenu”) and the reading of selected biblical readings (Exodus 32:14; 34:1-10).

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of communal and personal atonement for sins committed during the past year. Fasting is one of the central components of the Yom Kippur holiday. Prayer is the other central component of the holiday. The Kol Nidrei service kicks off the holiday, and Neila comes at the very end, bookending the holy day with solemn prayer.

Jerusalem Day of Prayer for All Nations

The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is a prayer meeting organized by Pentecostal evangelists Jack W. Hayford and Robert Stearns through their organization "Eagles Wings". They annually invite people around the world to pray for Jerusalem on the first Sunday of every October, close to the time of Yom Kippur. The first prayer meeting organized by this group occurred in 2004. Hayford and Stearns organize the primary meeting in Israel. According to a CBN interview with Stearns, he believes that prayer meetings are important to combat various dangers to the Judeo-Christian worldview, such as secular humanism and Radical Islam, and he believes that Christians are especially obligated to support the State of Israel. According to "Jerusalem Newswire" a small independent Christian publication, organizers of the 2006 event claimed that they had scheduled prayer meetings to be held in 150,000 churches around the world. The coordinators scheduled for prayer meetings to be organized in 169 nations. In 2004, 500 global Christian ministries representing 50 countries and 53,000 churches said prayers for peace in Jerusalem on the same day. The organization's goal in 2006 was to have over 100 million people in over 100 countries participate in prayer meetings. The prayer meeting in Jerusalem in 2006 was held inside the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem and was attended by "hundreds of Christian lovers of Israel gathered with Jewish friends." International denominations Assemblies of God, and Elim Fellowship took part in the 2006 prayer and support the annual prayers.

Sukkot

Sukkot is known as the “Festival of Tabernacles” and the “Feast of Booths.” It is one of Judaism’s three central pilgrimage festivals, along with Passover and Shavuot. It is tradition to build a sukkah, a temporary hut to dwell in during the holiday. It is also the custom to buy a lulav and etrog and shake them daily throughout the festival. For more information about the traditions, rituals and celebrations of Sukkot and the rest of the September Jewish Holidays check out our blog: https://worldjewishtravel.org/listing/from-rosh-hashanah-to-sukkot-bringing-in-the-jewish-new-year/

Shemini Atzeret

Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in the Bible, but its exact function is unclear. In Second Temple times, it appears to have been a day devoted to the ritual cleansing of the altar in the Temple. With the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, this function of the day became obsolete. Although it marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and, therefore includes the year’s first prayer for rain.

Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah, a celebration of the conclusion of one and the beginning of another annual cycle of readings from the Torah. Simchat Torah conveys a clear message about the centrality of Torah in Jewish life. It is both a source of Jewish identity and a precious gift from God. Simchat Torah is the day on which the whole community gathers to come into direct contact with the Torah and to express our joy in having received it.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, it’s celebrated as the head of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of God as king. The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) on both mornings of the holiday, which is normally done in synagogue as part of the day’s services but may be done elsewhere for those who cannot attend.

Diaspora Day

Welcome to Diaspora-Israel Day is a worldwide festival of Jewish Peoplehood on the 7th of Cheshvan! We invite you to celebrate your partnership in the wider Jewish world and to mark the deep bond between Jewish communities around the globe and between these communities and Israel – a bond that has lasted for thousands of years. For thousands of years Jews have lived around the world, scattered across five continents. The relationships among the Jews in each place where they settled, and between these places and the Land of Israel, underwent numerous and diverse changes over the generations. Throughout the centuries, a complex and rich dialogue has been maintained between all Jewish communities, creating a delicate and unique thread that binds Jews living in different parts of the world.  Diaspora Israel Day, which was initiated by project Domim-aLike - a joint program of the Israeli Reform movement and the Israeli government, is a holiday celebrating the ongoing connections between Jewish communities worldwide, and the continues sense of peoplehood among them. The festival cherishes thousands of years of united and full Jewish life in different locations around the world.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, which is Hebrew for “dedication,” is the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of rededicating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and restoring its menorah, or lamp. The miracle of Hanukkah is that only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil to illuminate the Temple lamp for one day, and yet it lasted for eight full days. Check out the following Hanukkah Lighting Events: New York, London, Campo del Ghetto, Hudson Valley