Annette Yoshiko Reed

Religion 212: Religions of the Western World: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Fall semester 2001; section 3

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

I. THE Jewish Liturgical year

Festival	Day/Date	Origins	Resonance with History	Religious Practices and Customs
WEEKLY
SABBATH (Shabbat)	Saturday	Biblical (Gen 1:1-2:4; Ex 16:22; 23:12; 34:21, etc.)	God’s rest from labor after the six days of Creation; the Israelites’ rest from gathering food on the sixth day, after God’s gift of Manna	The sacred time of the Sabbath is initiated with a special blessing (Kiddush) and normal time ushered in with another blessing (Havdalah). Sabbath also set aside as separate from other days through refraining from certain kinds of work; special synagogue services with different liturgy than weekday services (see below); observance in the home featuring candle lighting, festive meals, special blessings over wine and bread; obligation for enjoyment (Oneg).
MONTHLY
Rosh Chodesh	New Moon	Biblical (esp.  Num. 10:10; 28:11–15)		Beginning of new month in Jewish luni-solar calendar; additions to liturgy; customary for women to refrain from difficult labor
YEARLY
Rosh Hashanah (New Year)	Two days, beginning on 1 Tishri (this year = Sept 18)	Biblical (Lev 23:24-25; Num 29:1-6)	Creation of the cosmos (Gen 1), Binding of Isaac (Aqeda; Gen 22)	Blowing of shofar (ram’s horn), special liturgy, eating apples with honey. Tashlich (lit. “throwing off”): symbolically throwing something into a flowing river to represent the casting off of an old year.
Days of Awe	Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur			A time for introspection, reflection, and repentance (Teshuva), when Jews asks forgiveness from fellow humans—a necessary precondition for asking God for forgiveness on YOM KIPPUR
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)	10 Tishri (this year = Sept 27)	Biblical (Lev 16:29-31; 23:26; Num 29:7)		Fasting, no work of any sort, other deprivations (e.g., no Torah study, no anointing, no wearing of leather, no sexual relations), special liturgy (esp. Kol Nidre, Ne'ilah)
SUKKOT (Feast of Tabernacles)	Eight day festival, beginning on 15 Tishri (this year = Oct 2)	Biblical (Ex. 23:16; Lev 23:39-43; Deut 16); One of the three “pilgrim festivals”	Wandering of Israelites in the Wilderness after the Exodus	No work permitted on first day (first two days in Diaspora); building of a sukkah (hut; temporary structure), in which to eat and sleep; another obligation is to say Hallel while waving four species (arba’ah minim) of plants--citron (etrog). myrtle twigs (hadasim), palm branch (lulav), and willows (aravot)—to the east, south, west, north, above, and below
Shemini Azeret	22 Tishri (this year = Oct 9)	Biblical (Num 29:35)		Completion of Annual Cycle of weekly Torah readings, no work
Simchat Torah	23 Tishri (this year = Oct 10)	Post-talmudic festival		Commencement of new cycle of weekly Torah Readings, no work
HANUKHAH:  Festival of Lights, minor holiday	Eight days, beginning on 25 Kislev (this year = Jan 28)	Second Temple period	Maccabean Revolt against Seleucidic Rulers and the Rededication of the Temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BCE	The only religious obligation is the lighting of menorah with nine candles (one to light on each of the eight night plus another for lighting the others), with special blessings. Customs include giving of money (gelt) or other gifts, particularly to children; playing with a dreidel; and among Ashkenazim, eating latkes.

THE Jewish Liturgical year, continued

Festival	Day/Date	Origins	Resonance with History	Religious Practices and Customs
Tu b’Shevat: New Year for Trees, minor holiday	15 Shevat (this year = Jan 28)	Rabbinic: First reference found in Mishnah		The New Year for Trees was originally intended to help calculate tithes; it is now a festival commemorated by planting new trees and eating new fruits
PURIM	14 Adar (this year = Feb 26)	Biblical (Esther)	Joyfully celebrates Esther and Mordechai’s deliverance of Jews in Persia from persecution by the Persian official Haman when the Jews were under Persian rule. By extension, it celebrates the deliverance of Jews from persecution at any time.	Reading from Scroll of Esther (Megillah); costumes, merriment, drinking to excess (according to a rabbinic tradition, drinking until one cannot tell if one is blessing Mordechai or cursing Haman); carnivals, plays, parodies; giving gifts to charity; among Ashkenazim, eating hamentaschen (triangular pastries)
PASSOVER (Pesach)	A festival of seven days (eight in the Diaspora), beginning on 15^th Nisan (this year = Apr 8)	Biblical (Ex 12-15; Deut. 16); One of the three “pilgrim festivals”	Exodus from Egypt (Ex 1-15)	A festival centered in the home, not the synagogue. On the first night (first two nights in the Diaspora): there is a Seder, a dinner with a special liturgy (Passover Haggadah) that retells the story of the Exodus. Throughout the days of the festival, leavened bread (Hametz) is forbidden and only unleavened bread (Matzah) can be eaten.
Counting of the Omer	49 days between Passover and Shavuot	Biblical (Lev 23:15-21; Deut 16)		Counting of the days between PASSOVER and Shavuot
SHAVUOT (Festival of Weeks; Pentecost)	50 days after Passover (this year = May 28)	Biblical (Ex 34:22; Deut 16); One of the three “pilgrim festivals”	Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai (Ex 19:1-20:26)	Work not permitted. It is customary to stay up all night studying Torah. Dairy foods are often eaten. Reading of the Book of Ruth.
Tisha B’Av	9 Av (this year = July 29)	Unclear whether this fast day was instituted during the Second Temple period or after the Destruction of the Second Temple	Destruction of the First Temple by Babylonians in 586 BCE and destruction of Second Temple by Romans in 70 CE, which are thought to have occurred on the same day—along with other catastrophes, such as the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492	Day of mourning and fasting, plus other restrictions on comfort and pleasure similar to YOM KIPPUR (no Torah study; no washing); reading of Book of Lamentations (Ekha).

5 Minor Fasts:

Fast of Gedaliah (3^rd  Tishri) commemorates the killing of the Jewish governor of Judah.

Fast of Tevet (10^th Tevet) commemorates the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, as well as the deaths of six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Fast of Esther (13^th Adar; day before PURIM) commemorates the three days that Esther fasted before approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of the Jewish people (see Purim above).

Fast of the Firstborn (14^th Nissan; day before PASSOVER) is a fast observed only by firstborn males, commemorating the fact that they were saved from the plague of the firstborn in Egypt.

Fast of Tammuz (17^th Tammuz) commemorates the date when the walls of Jerusalem were breached both by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and by the Roman general Titus in 70 CE; begins season of mourning that culminates in TISHA B’AV

II. Summary Comparison of Prayers in Weekday and Sabbath Services

WEEKDAY	SABBATH
Maariv (evening service)
	Kabbalat Shabbat (songs and prayers welcoming the Sabbath)
SHEMA	SHEMA
AMIDA	AMIDA
Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)	Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)
Shacharit (morning service)
Preliminary Service	Preliminary Service
SHEMA	SHEMA
AMIDA	AMIDA
Tachanun (prayers of penitence)
(On festivals: Hallel [songs of praise])	(On festivals: Hallel [songs of praise])
Mondays and Thursdays: TORAH READING	TORAH READING
Kedusha d’Sidra (prayer that features Isa 6:3; Ezek 3:12; “Holy, holy, holy”)	Musaf (additional service; included on Sabbath and festivals)
Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)	AMIDA
	Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)
Mincha (afternoon service)
Preliminary Service	Preliminary Service
AMIDA	TORAH READING
Tachanun (prayers of penitence)	AMIDA
Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)	Alenu (a prayer that summarizes God’s special relationship to Israel)