Judaism

===Jewish holidays===
{{Main|Jewish holiday}}
Jewish holidays are special days in the Jewish calendar, which celebrate moments in Jewish history, as well as central themes in the relationship between God and the world, such as [[Creation myth|creation]], [[revelation]], and [[salvation|redemption]].

====Shabbat====
{{Main|Shabbat}}
[[File:Shabbat Challos.jpg|upright=1.15|right|thumb|Two braided Shabbat [[challah|challot]] placed under an embroidered [[challah cover]] at the start of the Shabbat meal]]
''[[Shabbat]]'', the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to nightfall on Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation. It plays a pivotal role in Jewish practice and is governed by a large corpus of religious law. At sundown on Friday, the woman of the house welcomes the Shabbat by lighting two or more candles and reciting a blessing. The evening meal begins with the Kiddush, a blessing recited aloud over a cup of wine, and the Mohtzi, a blessing recited over the bread. It is customary to have [[challah]], two braided loaves of bread, on the table. During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to engage in any activity that falls under [[39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat|39 categories of ''melakhah'']], translated literally as "work". In fact, the activities banned on the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: They include such actions as lighting a fire, writing, using money and carrying in the public domain. The prohibition of lighting a fire has been extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel and using electricity.<ref name="JEsabbath">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Emil G. Hirsch |last1=Hirsch |first1=Emil G. |display-authors=etal |title=Sabbath|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12962-sabbath}}</ref>

====Three pilgrimage festivals====
{{Main|Shalosh regalim}}
Jewish holy days (''chaggim''), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the [[Exodus from Egypt]] and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. The three major festivals, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, are called "regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or foot). On the three regalim, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple:
* [[File:Farhi_Haggadah_736756_0024.tif|thumb|A [[haggadah]] used by the Jewish community of Cairo in Arabic]] [[Passover]] (''Pesach'') is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of [[Nisan]] (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] from Egypt. Outside Israel, Passover is celebrated for eight days. In ancient times, it coincided with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the [[Passover Seder|Seder]]. [[leavening agent|Leavened]] products ([[chametz]]) are removed from the house prior to the holiday and are not consumed throughout the week. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to ensure no bread or bread by-products remain, and a symbolic burning of the last vestiges of chametz is conducted on the morning of the Seder. [[Matzah|Matzo]] is eaten instead of bread.
* [[Shavuot]] ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the [[Torah]] to the [[Israelite]]s on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Shavuot customs include all-night study marathons known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, eating dairy foods (cheesecake and blintzes are special favorites), reading the Book of Ruth, decorating homes and synagogues with greenery, and wearing white clothing, symbolizing purity.
* [[File:Sukkoth_-_IZE10160.jpg|thumb|A [[sukkah]]]] [[Sukkot]] ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called ''sukkot'' (sing. ''[[sukkah]]'') that represent the temporary shelters of the Israelites during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. Jews around the world eat in ''sukkot'' for seven days and nights. Sukkot concludes with [[Shemini Atzeret]], where Jews begin to pray for rain and [[Simchat Torah]], "Rejoicing of the Torah", a holiday which marks reaching the end of the Torah reading cycle and beginning all over again. The occasion is celebrated with singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are technically considered to be a separate holiday and not a part of Sukkot.

[[File:Breaking_of_Yom_Kippur_fast_with_Roti_and_Samosas_(8034851404).jpg|thumb|Jews in Mumbai break the Yom Kippur fast with [[roti]] and [[samosa]]s]]

====High Holy Days====
{{Main|High Holidays}}
The High Holidays (''Yamim Noraim'' or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and forgiveness:
* [[Rosh Hashanah]], (also ''Yom Ha-Zikkaron'' or "Day of Remembrance", and ''Yom Teruah'', or "Day of the Sounding of the [[Shofar]]"). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year (literally, "head of the year"), although it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the [[Hebrew calendar]], [[Tishri]]. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the year. Holiday customs include blowing the shofar, or ram's horn, in the synagogue, eating apples and honey, and saying blessings over a variety of symbolic foods, such as pomegranates.
* [[Yom Kippur]], ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of communal fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's sins. Observant Jews spend the entire day in the synagogue, sometimes with a short break in the afternoon, reciting prayers from a special holiday prayerbook called a "Machzor". Many non-religious Jews make a point of attending synagogue services and fasting on Yom Kippur. On the eve of Yom Kippur, before candles are lit, a prefast meal, the "[[seuda mafseket]]", is eaten. Synagogue services on the eve of Yom Kippur begin with the Kol Nidre prayer. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, especially for Kol Nidre, and leather shoes are not worn. The following day, prayers are held from morning to evening. The final prayer service, called "Ne'ilah", ends with a long blast of the shofar.

====Purim====
{{Main|Purim}}
[[File:Jerusalem Purim street scene.jpg|right|thumb|Purim street scene in Jerusalem]]
[[File:Hanukkah-US-Military-GITMO-Dec-28-08.jpg|thumb|Jewish personnel of the US Navy light candles on Hanukkah]]
[[Purim]] (Hebrew: {{Audio|He-Purim.ogg|פורים}} {{transl|he|Pûrîm}} "[[Cleromancy|lots]]") is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the [[Persian Jews]] from the plot of the evil [[Haman (Bible)|Haman]], who sought to [[genocide|exterminate]] them, as recorded in the biblical [[Book of Esther]]. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, mutual gifts of food and drink, [[Alms|charity]] to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22). Other customs include drinking wine, eating special pastries called [[hamantash]]en, dressing up in masks and costumes, and organizing carnivals and parties.

Purim has celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of [[Adar]], which occurs in February or March of the Gregorian calendar.

====Hanukkah====
{{Main|Hanukkah}}
[[Hanukkah]] ({{lang-he|חֲנֻכָּה}}, "dedication") also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of [[Kislev]] ([[Hebrew calendar]]). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.

The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration by [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]]. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] following the victory of the [[Maccabees]] over the [[Seleucid Empire]], there was only enough consecrated oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days—which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.

Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times, mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel.

====Fast days====
{{Main|Tisha B'Av|Seventeenth of Tamuz|10th of Tevet|Tzom Gedaliah}}
[[Tisha B'Av]] ({{lang-he|תשעה באב}} or {{lang|he|ט׳ באב}}, "the Ninth of [[Av (month)|Av]]") is a day of mourning and fasting commemorating the destruction of the [[First Temple|First]] and [[Second Temple]]s, and in later times, the [[Alhambra Decree|expulsion of the Jews from Spain]].

There are three more minor Jewish fast days that commemorate various stages of the destruction of the Temples. They are the [[Seventeenth of Tamuz|17th Tamuz]], the [[10th of Tevet]] and [[Tzom Gedaliah]] (the 3rd of Tishrei).

====Israeli holidays====
{{Main|Yom Hashoah|Yom Hazikaron|Yom Ha'atzmaut}}
The modern holidays of [[Yom Ha-shoah]] (Holocaust Remembrance Day), [[Yom Hazikaron]] (Israeli Memorial Day) and [[Yom Ha'atzmaut]] (Israeli Independence Day) commemorate the horrors of the [[Holocaust]], the fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of terrorism, and Israeli independence, respectively.

There are some who prefer to commemorate those who were killed in the Holocaust on the [[Tenth of Tevet#Day of general kaddish|10th of Tevet]].
[[File:ReadingOfTheTorah.jpg|thumb|A man reads a torah using a [[yad]]]]