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. The fast commemorates five tragic events that occurred on this date: Moses broke the tablets when he saw the Jewish people…
The “Three Weeks” and Tisha B’Av are designated as a time of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple and the galut (exile).
Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of Av (August 12-13, 2024), is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, on which we fast, deprive ourselves, and pray. It is the culmination of the Three Weeks, a period during which we mark the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Rosh Hashanah, the first of the High Holidays, is the Jewish New Year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of G‑d as king.
Fast day mourning the assassination of the Jewish royal Gedaliah ben Achikam, governor of the Land of Israel for a short period following the destruction of the First Temple. Gedaliah’s killing spelled the end of the small remnant of a Jewish community that remained in the Holy Land after the destruction.
Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, when we fast, pray, seek forgiveness from G-d and our fellows, and come closer to G-d. It is the peak of the High Holidays.
The seven days of Sukkot—celebrated by dwelling in the sukkah, taking the Four Kinds, and rejoicing—is the holiday when we expose ourselves to the elements in covered huts, commemorating G‑d’s sheltering our ancestors as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Four Kinds express our unity and our belief in G‑d’s omnipresence. Coming…
Following the seven joyous days of Sukkot, we come to the happy holiday of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.
