Jewish Holidays 2026

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Passover (Pesach) commemorates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. For eight days (seven in Israel), Jews remove all leavened grain products (chametz) from their homes and eat only matzah. It's the most widely observed Jewish holiday, celebrated with the Passover Seder — a ritual meal that retells the story of the Exodus through food, song, and storytelling.

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Rosh Hashanah (literally 'Head of the Year') is the Jewish New Year, marking the beginning of the High Holy Days — the Ten Days of Repentance that culminate in Yom Kippur. It's a time of prayer, reflection, and renewal. The shofar (ram's horn) is blown in synagogue, and symbolic foods like apples and honey represent the hope for a sweet new year.

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Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE, after the Maccabees' victory over the Seleucid Empire. The central mitzvah is lighting the chanukiah (Hanukkah menorah) — one candle the first night, adding one each night until all eight are lit. Traditional foods are fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days.

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Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement — is the holiest day of the Jewish year, the solemn culmination of the Ten Days of Repentance that begin on Rosh Hashanah. Observed with a 25-hour complete fast (no food or water), the day is spent almost entirely in synagogue prayer, moving through five distinct services: Maariv with the haunting Kol Nidre on the eve, Shacharit, Musaf, Mincha, and the climactic Ne'ilah as the gates of heaven are said to close. Jews wear white, symbolizing purity and the angelic, and many don a kittel (white robe). The Yizkor memorial prayer honors those who have passed. As Ne'ilah ends, a single long shofar blast pierces the silence, sealing the day's judgment and sending the congregation into the new year cleansed and renewed.

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Sukkot is a joyous seven-day harvest festival — one of the three biblical pilgrimage holidays — during which Jews build and eat (and some sleep) in a sukkah, a temporary outdoor hut with a roof of natural vegetation (schach). The sukkah commemorates the fragile booths in which the Israelites dwelled during their 40 years in the desert, and its temporary nature reminds us of life's impermanence. A central mitzvah is the waving of the arba minim — the four species: a lulav (palm branch), etrog (citron), hadassim (myrtle branches), and aravot (willow branches) — which are held together and waved in six directions. Sukkot is immediately followed by Shemini Atzeret, a distinct holiday of its own, and Simchat Torah, when the annual Torah reading cycle is joyously completed and restarted with dancing and singing.

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Purim is the most joyous and raucous holiday on the Jewish calendar, celebrating the miraculous salvation of the Jewish people of ancient Persia as recounted in the Megillah — the Book of Esther. When the wicked Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews, Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai outmaneuvered him, turning the tables in a dramatic reversal that Jews celebrate to this day. The holiday is anchored by four mitzvot: reading the Megillah twice (evening and morning), sending food gifts to friends (mishloach manot), giving charity to the poor (matanot l'evyonim), and enjoying a festive celebratory meal (seudah). Costumes and masks are worn by children and adults alike, groggers (noisemakers) drown out Haman's name whenever it's read, and the atmosphere is one of unbridled joy. The Talmudic instruction to celebrate 'ad d'lo yada' — until you cannot tell the difference — makes Purim uniquely exuberant in Jewish life.

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Tu B'Shvat is the 'New Year of the Trees,' a minor holiday that falls on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shvat. Originally a date used for calculating the age of trees for tithing purposes, Tu B'Shvat has blossomed into a celebration of nature, ecology, and the Land of Israel. The day is marked by eating fruits, particularly the Seven Species of the Land of Israel, and by holding a Tu B'Shvat Seder, a mystical meal developed by the Kabbalists of Safed in the 16th century. In modern Israel, the day is associated with tree planting and environmental awareness. Many communities use Tu B'Shvat as an opportunity to reflect on our responsibility to care for the natural world.

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Yom Hashoah, formally known as Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-laGvurah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), is the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Established by the Israeli Knesset in 1953, it falls on the 27th of Nisan, chosen for its proximity to the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In Israel, a two-minute siren sounds across the entire country, bringing all activity to a standstill as citizens stand in silence. Around the world, Jewish communities hold memorial ceremonies, light memorial candles, read the names of victims, and listen to survivor testimony. The day is a solemn call to remember, to bear witness, and to ensure the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

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Lag B'Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer count between Passover and Shavuot, celebrated on the 18th of Iyar. The Omer period is traditionally a time of semi-mourning, during which weddings, haircuts, and live music are avoided. Lag B'Omer breaks that mourning with joyous celebration. The day marks the yahrzeit (anniversary of passing) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the great Talmudic sage and mystic credited with authoring the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah. According to tradition, Rabbi Shimon revealed the deepest secrets of the Torah on this day and instructed his students to celebrate rather than mourn. In Israel, hundreds of thousands gather at his tomb on Mount Meron for bonfires, music, and dancing. Around the world, communities light bonfires, hold outdoor celebrations, and give three-year-old boys their first haircut (upsherin) in a festive ceremony.

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Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, falls exactly 50 days after Passover, marking the culmination of the Omer count. It is one of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals and celebrates two interconnected themes: the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel. According to tradition, the entire Jewish nation stood at Sinai and collectively received the Torah from God, making Shavuot the anniversary of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. The holiday is marked by all-night Torah study sessions (Tikkun Leil Shavuot), the reading of the Book of Ruth in synagogue, and the eating of dairy foods. Many synagogues are decorated with flowers and greenery, symbolizing the lush vegetation that miraculously bloomed on Mount Sinai when the Torah was given. In Israel, Shavuot is also associated with agricultural celebrations and the offering of first fruits (bikkurim).

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Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av, is the most solemn day on the Jewish calendar, a day of mourning for the catastrophic events that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history. Both the First Temple (destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE) and the Second Temple (destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE) were destroyed on this date. Jewish tradition holds that numerous other tragedies also occurred on Tisha B'Av, including the decree against the generation of the Exodus, the fall of Betar during the Bar Kochba revolt, and the expulsion of Jews from England (1290) and Spain (1492). The day is observed with a 25-hour fast, similar to Yom Kippur, along with the reading of Eicha (the Book of Lamentations) and kinot (elegies). Congregants sit on low chairs or the floor, lights are dimmed, and the parochet (ark curtain) is removed, reflecting a communal state of mourning.

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Simchat Torah ('Rejoicing of the Torah') is the jubilant holiday that marks the completion and immediate restart of the annual Torah reading cycle. Falling immediately after Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, it is a day of pure, unbridled joy. In synagogue, every Torah scroll is removed from the ark, and the congregation dances with the scrolls in seven joyous circuits called hakafot. The last portion of the Torah (the final chapter of Deuteronomy) is read, and immediately the first portion of Genesis ('In the beginning') is chanted, symbolizing that Torah study is a continuous, never-ending cycle. Two special honors are given: the Chatan Torah (Groom of the Torah), who is called to the final Torah reading, and the Chatan Bereishit (Groom of Genesis), who is called to the first reading. Children wave flags, often topped with apples and candles, and candy is thrown in celebration. The day represents the deep and joyful relationship between the Jewish people and the Torah.

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