Jewish Holidays are so Jewish! And how, you may ask? If you live outside of Israel you know that the holidays are never on time. They are either early or late.

Though Jewish Holidays are celebrated each year, the time of celebration depends on the Lunar based Hebrew Calendar, with each month beginning with the new moon. But since Jewish Holidays are also celebrating the solar seasons, Jewish leap years occur every two or three years.

Unlike the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world which arbitrarily sets the length of months to 28, 30 or 31 days, so it corresponds to the 365.5 days of the Solar year, the Jewish calendar coordinates the astronomical characteristics of our cosmological environment, the Months are either 29 or 30 days corresponding with the 29½-day lunar cycle, and the years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle.

As a result, some years we celebrate Chanukah around Thanksgiving time and other years closer to New Years Day, and the high holidays are upon us at times in early to mid September and other years Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot/Simchat Torah are celebrated in October. 
Click here for Holiday Calendar through 2014.

SHABBAT Every Week Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) occurs each Friday just prior to sundown and lasts through Saturday, until nightfall Saturday night. In practice, this 25-hour weekly occurrence emphasizes restraint from physical work and labor. More...

ROSH HASHANAH September 29-30, 2011 Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. Traditions include dipping apples in honey, blowing the shofar and more. More...

YOM KIPPUR October 8th, 2011 Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, a day marked by fasting and prayer. More...

SUKKOT October 13-19, 2011 Sukkot is the Festival of Booths, the Lulav and the Etrog and on Simchat Torah we rejoice in the Torah, as the new reading cycle begins. More...

SHMINI ATZERET & SIMCHAT TORAH October 20-11, 2011 Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה) means "Rejoicing in the Torah." Simchat Torah marks the completion of the annual cycle of weekly Torah readings.  More...

CHANUKAH December 21-28, 2011 Chanukah is mostly associated with Menorah lighting and dreidels. But there is much more to this holiday of lights. Click here for everything you always wanted to know about Chanukah and had no one to ask. More...

ASARAH b'TEVET January 5, 2012 The Tenth of Tevet  (עשרה בטבת) commemorates the onset of the siege that Nebuchadrezzar of Babylonia laid to ancient Jerusalem More...

TU b'SHVAT Ferbruary 8, 2012 Tu b'Shvat celebrates the New Year for the Trees, which is in essence a celebration of nature and the fruits of the land of Israel. More...

PURIM Mar 8,  2012 Purim - commemorate the escape from annihilation of the Jews of Persia. The Heroes, Esther and her uncle Morderchai are saluted with dress up, drink and merriment. More...

PASSOVER Apr 7, 2012 Pesach celebrates Freedom. In commemoration of the deliverance of our forefathers from Egypt we conduct a Seder, eat Matzah and read the Haggadah.. More...

YOM HA'ATZMAUT (ISRAEL'S INDEPENDENCE DAY) Apr 26, 2012 Every year since 1948, Israel celebrates its independence on the fifth day of Iyar, which is the formal Hebrew Calendar date of the establishment of the State. More...

LAG b'OMER May 10, 2012 Lag Ba'Omer is simply shorthand for the thirty-third day of the Omer, as Hebrew letters have numeric values, the "lamed" equals 30, and the "gimmel" three, Lamed Gimmel (L"G) Ba'Omer, literally 33 (days) in the Omer.  More...

SHAVUOT May 27, 2012 Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, is celebrated every year on the sixth and seventh day of the Hebrew month Sivan (and only on the sixth day of Sivan in Israel). More...

YUD ZAYIN (17) TAMUZ July 7, 2012 (Fast deferred to July 8, 2012) The Seventeenth Day of Tammuz is one of the four Rabbinically instituted Jewish fast days commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem prior to the destruction of the 2nd Temple. More...

TISHA b'AV July 28, 2012 (Fast deferred to July 29th) Tisha B'Av or Tish'ah b'Av (Hebrew: תשעה באב or ט׳ באב, tish‘āh bə-āv) is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, is it a month and a day fraught with tragedy.  More...