Jewish festival

Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. Karaite Judaism#The calendar, Karaite Jews and Samaritans#Samaritanism, Samaritans also observe the biblical festivals, but not in an identical fashion and not always at exactly the same time. throughout the Hebrew calendar. They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: biblical ''mitzvot'' ("commandments"), rabbinic mandates, and the history of Judaism and the State of Israel.

Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian. This is because the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar (based on the cycles of both the sun and moon), whereas the Gregorian is a solar calendar.

General concepts

Groupings

Certain terms are used very commonly for groups of holidays.
* The Hebrew-language term ''Yom Tov'' (יום טוב), sometimes referred to as "festival day," usually refers to the six biblically-mandated festival dates on which all activities prohibited on Shabbat are prohibited, except for some related to food preparation. These include the first and seventh days of Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread / the Feast of Matzot - Exodus 23:15, Deuteronomy 16:16), irst day ofShavuot, both days of Rosh Hashanah, first day of Sukkot, and irst day ofShemini Atzeret. By extension, outside the Land of Israel, the second-day holidays known under the rubric ''Yom tov sheni shel galuyot'' (literally, "Second ''Yom Tov'' of the Diaspora")—including Simchat Torah—are also included in this grouping. Colloquially, Yom Kippur, a biblically-mandated date on which even food preparation is prohibited, is often included in this grouping. The tradition of keeping two days of Yom Tov in the diaspora has existed since roughly 300 BCE.
* The English-language term High Holy Days (or High Holidays) refers to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur collectively. Its Hebrew analogue, '' Yamim Nora'im'' (ימים נוראים), "Days of Awe”, is more flexible: it can refer just to those holidays, or to the Ten Days of Repentance, or to the entire penitential period, starting as early as the beginning of Elul, and (more rarely) ending as late as Shemini Atzeret.
* The term Three Pilgrimage Festivals (שלוש רגלים, ''shalosh regalim'') refers to Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread / Feast of Matzot), Shavuot and Sukkot. Within this grouping Sukkot normally includes Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
* ''Ma'agal Hashana'' (מעגל השנה; "year cycle"), a more general term, is often used - especially in educational settings - to refer to the overall study of the Jewish calendar, outlining the month by month events, with mitzvot and minhagim, and philosophical material, that occur over the course of the year.

Terminology used to describe holidays

Certain terminology is used in referring to different categories of holidays, depending on their source and their nature:

''Shabbat'' (שבת) (Ashkenazi pron. from Yiddish ''shabbos''), or Sabbath, is referred to by that name exclusively. Similarly, '' Rosh Chodesh'' (ראש חודש) is referred to by that name exclusively.
*''Yom tov'' (יום טוב) (Ashkenazi pron. from Yid. ''yontif'') (''lit.,'' "good day"): See " Groupings" above.
* ''Moed'' (מועד) ("festive season"), plural ''moadim'' (מועדים), refers to any of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. When used in comparison to ''Yom Tov,'' it refers to Chol HaMoed, the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot.
* ''Ḥag'' or ''chag'' (חג) ("festival"), plural ''chagim'' (חגים), can be used whenever ''yom tov'' or ''moed'' is. It is also used to describe Hanukkah and Purim, as well as ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'' (Israeli Independence Day) and '' Yom Yerushalayim'' (Jerusalem Day).
* ''Ta'anit'' (תענית), or, less commonly, ''tzom'' (צום), refers to a ''fast''. These terms are generally used to describe the rabbinic fasts, although ''tzom'' is used liturgically to refer to Yom Kippur as well.

"Work" on Sabbath and biblical holidays

The most notable common feature of Shabbat and the biblical festivals is the requirement to refrain from ''melacha'' on these days.This "negative" (refraining) requirement is paired with a positive requirement to honor and enjoy the Sabbath or festival day. For information on the positive requirements, see Shabbat: Rituals and Shabbat: Encouraged activities. ''Melacha'' is most commonly translated as "work"; perhaps a better translation is "creative-constructive work". Strictly speaking, ''Melacha'' is defined in Jewish law ''(halacha)'' by 39 categories of labor that were used in constructing the Tabernacle while the Jews wandered in the desert. As understood traditionally and in Orthodox Judaism:
*On Shabbat and Yom Kippur all ''melacha'' is prohibited.
*On a Yom Tov (other than Yom Kippur) which falls on a weekday, not Shabbat, most ''melacha'' is prohibited. Some ''melacha'' related to preparation of food is permitted.
*On weekdays during Chol HaMoed, ''melacha'' is not prohibited ''per se.'' However, ''melacha'' should be limited to that required either to enhance the enjoyment of the remainder of the festival or to avoid great financial loss.
*On other days, there are no restrictions on ''melacha.''There is a practice for women to refrain from some types of labor on Rosh Chodesh; see Rosh Chodesh and women.
In principle, Conservative Judaism understands the requirement to refrain from ''melacha'' in the same way as Orthodox Judaism. In practice, Conservative rabbis frequently rule on prohibitions around ''melacha'' differently from Orthodox authorities. Still, there are a number of Conservative/Masorti communities around the world where Sabbath and Festival observance fairly closely resembles Orthodox observance.This is especially, though not exclusively, true outside the US. For example, Masorti Judaism in Israel and the UK rejects North American Conservatism's position to permit driving to synagogue on Shabbat.

However, many, if not most, lay members of Conservative congregations in North America do not consider themselves Sabbath-observant, even by Conservative standards. At the same time, adherents of Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism do not accept ''halacha'', and therefore restrictions on ''melacha,'' as binding at all.See, for example, Reform Judaism's Position on Jewish Law and Reconstructionist Judaism (Jewish Law and Tradition), and references in those articles. Jews fitting any of these descriptions refrain from ''melacha'' in practice only as they personally see fit.

Shabbat and holiday work restrictions are always put aside in cases of '' pikuach nefesh,'' which is saving a human life. At the most fundamental level, if there is any possibility whatsoever that action must be taken to save a life, Shabbat restrictions are set aside immediately, and without reservation.The Babylonian Talmud (see at '' Sotah 20-21'') describes one who fails to do so as a ''chasid shoteh,'' a foolishly pious individual. Where the danger to life is present but less immediate, there is some preference to minimize violation of Shabbat work restrictions where possible. The laws in this area are complex.

Second day of biblical festivals

The Torah specifies a single date on the Jewish calendar for observance of holidays. Nevertheless, festivals of biblical origin other than Shabbat and Yom Kippur are observed for two days outside the land of Israel, and Rosh Hashanah is observed for two days even inside the land of Israel.

Dates for holidays on the Jewish calendar are expressed in the Torah as "day x of month y." Accordingly, the beginning of ''month y'' needs to be determined before the proper date of the holiday on ''day x'' can be fixed. Months in the Jewish calendar are lunar, and originally were thought to have been proclaimed by the blowing of a '' shofar''. Later, the Sanhedrin received testimony of witnesses saying they saw the new crescent moon.Similar practices are still used in Islam as well as in the Karaite and Samaritan communities. Then the Sanhedrin would inform Jewish communities away from its meeting place that it had proclaimed a new moon. The practice of observing a second festival day stemmed from delays in disseminating that information.

* ''Rosh Hashanah.'' Because of holiday restrictions on travel, messengers could not even leave the seat of the Sanhedrin until the holiday was over. Inherently, there was no possible way for anyone living away from the seat of the Sanhedrin to receive news of the proclamation of the new month until messengers arrived ''after the fact''. Accordingly, the practice emerged that Rosh Hashanah was observed on both possible days, as calculated from the previous month's start, everywhere in the world.This ''reasoning'' did not directly apply in the actual meeting place of the Sanhedrin, but there are other reasons that the ''practice'' was applied there as well. See Rambam, ''Mishnah Torah, Kiddush HaChodesh'' 5:8.
* ''Three Pilgrimage Festivals.'' Sukkot and Passover fall on the 15th day of their respective months. This gave messengers two weeks to inform communities about the proclamation of the new month. Normally, they would reach most communities within the land of Israel within that time, but they might fail to reach communities farther away (such as those in Babylonia or overseas). Consequently, the practice developed that these holidays be observed for one day within Israel, but for two days (both possible days as calculated from the previous month's start) outside Israel. This practice is known as ''yom tov sheni shel galuyot'', "second day of festivals in exile communities".

:: For Shavuot, calculated as the fiftieth day from Passover, the above issue did not pertain directly, as the "correct" date for Passover would be known by then. Nevertheless, the Talmud applies the same rule to Shavuot, and to the Seventh Day of Passover and Shemini Atzeret, for consistency.

Yom Kippur is not observed for two days anywhere because of the difficulty of maintaining a fast over two days.In practice, the Sanhedrin had the discretion to arrange the month proclamations so that Elul would almost never be extended to 30 days. See BT Rosh Hashanah 19b, as well as commentators there. This greatly reduced the practical level of doubt as to which day would be the first day of Tishrei. The doubt still existed, so ''Rosh Hashanah'' and ''Sukkot'' were observed for two days. However, the low level of the doubt–combined with the difficulty of a 49-hour fast–led to the exemption of ''Yom Kippur'' from the requirement for a second day of observance. This complex issue is discussed more full
here

: Shabbat is not observed based on a calendar date, but simply at intervals of seven days. Accordingly, there is never a doubt of the date of Shabbat, and it need never be observed for two days.There are differing opinions as to the location of the International Date Line for purposes of Jewish law. Accordingly, some ''halachic'' authorities do have doubts as to which (secular) day of the week should be considered Shabbat in some Pacific islands. See International date line in Judaism for details.

Adherents of Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism generally do not observe the second day of festivals, although some do observe two days of Rosh Hashanah.

Holidays of biblical and rabbinic (Talmudic) origin

Shabbat—The Sabbath

Jewish law ''(halacha)'' accords ''Shabbat'' (שבת) the status of a holiday, a day of rest celebrated on the seventh day of each week. Jewish law defines a day as ending at either sundown or nightfall, when the next day then begins. Thus,
* Shabbat begins just before sundown Friday night. Its start is marked by the lighting of Shabbat candles and the recitation of Kiddush over a cup of wine.
* Shabbat ends at nightfall Saturday night. Its conclusion is marked by the prayer known as Havdalah.
The fundamental rituals and observances of Shabbat include:
* Reading of the Weekly Torah portion
* Abbreviation of the Amidah in the three regular daily services to eliminate requests for everyday needs
* Addition of a musaf service to the daily prayer services
* Enjoyment of three meals, often elaborate or ritualized, through the course of the day
* Restraint from performing ''melacha'' (see above).
In many ways, ''halakha'' (Jewish law) sees ''Shabbat'' as the most important holy day in the Jewish calendar.
* It is the first holiday mentioned in the Tanakh