An encyclopedia of Jewish life
Holidays
The Jewish year follows a lunisolar calendar: holidays always fall on the same Hebrew date, so their Gregorian dates move every year.
Dates and times are calculated for Prague (diaspora). Change location
Shabbat
High Holy Days
- Rosh Hashanahרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה1 October 2027The Jewish New Year on 1–2 Tishrei: the sounding of the shofar, the day of judgment and the start of the Ten Days of Repentance before Yom Kippur. Apple and honey for a sweet year.
- Yom Kippurיוֹם כִּפּוּר10 October 2027The Day of Atonement on 10 Tishrei: a twenty-five-hour fast, a full day of prayer, confession of sins and forgiveness. The holiest day of the Jewish year.
Pilgrimage festivals
- Sukkotסֻכּוֹת15 October 2027The Festival of Booths, 15–21 Tishrei: a week in the sukkah, the four species, joy in the harvest and a remembrance of the wandering in the wilderness.
- Shemini Atzeretשְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת22 October 2027The Eighth Day of Assembly, 22 Tishrei: a festival in its own right after Sukkot, with the prayer for rain and, in Ashkenazi congregations, the Yizkor memorial.
- Simchat Torahשִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה23 October 2027Rejoicing in the Torah: the completion and new beginning of the annual Torah reading, dancing with the scrolls (hakafot) and calling everyone up to the Torah.
- Passoverפֶּסַח21 April 2027The festival of the Exodus from Egypt: the seder night with the Haggadah, matzah instead of leavened bread, and a week of freedom in the spring month of Nisan.
- Shavuotשָׁבוּעוֹת10 June 2027A pilgrimage festival seven weeks after Passover: the biblical festival of harvest and first fruits, and in rabbinic tradition the day the Torah was given at Sinai.
Minor holidays
- Hanukkahחֲנֻכָּה4 December 2026An eight-day festival of lights commemorating the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in the 2nd century BCE and the Talmudic story of the miracle of the oil.
- Purimפּוּרִים22 March 2027A joyful festival based on the Book of Esther, commemorating the rescue of the Jews in the Persian Empire; the Esther scroll is read, gifts are sent and the poor are given charity.
- Tu BiShvatט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט22 January 2027The New Year of Trees on 15 Shevat: originally the cut-off date for fruit tithes, today a festival of fruit, tree planting and our relationship with nature.
- Lag BaOmerל״ג בָּעֹמֶר24 May 2027The 33rd day of the Omer count: a break in the mourning customs between Passover and Shavuot, bonfires, outings and the hillula at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron.
- Tu B'Avט״וּ בְּאָב17 August 2027A joyful day on 15 Av, according to the Mishnah one of the two most joyful days in Israel; today in Israel a day of love and weddings.
- Sigdסִגְד8 November 2026A festival of the Beta Israel community (Ethiopian Jews) on 29 Cheshvan: renewal of the covenant, fasting and longing for Jerusalem; an Israeli national holiday since 2008.
Fast days
- Tisha B'Avתִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב11 August 2027The saddest day of the Jewish year: a full-day fast commemorating the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and other catastrophes.
- Fast of Gedaliahצוֹם גְּדַלְיָה4 October 2027A fast on 3 Tishrei commemorating the murder of Gedaliah, governor of Judah, which ended the last remnants of Jewish self-government after the fall of the First Temple.
- Tenth of Tevetעֲשָׂרָה בְּטֵבֵת20 December 2026A fast on 10 Tevet commemorating the start of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem; in Israel also a general day of kaddish for Holocaust victims whose date of death is unknown.
- Fast of Estherתַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר22 March 2027A minor fast on 13 Adar, the eve of Purim, linked to the fast of Queen Esther and the Jewish people before the decisive day.
- Seventeenth of Tammuzשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר בְּתַמּוּז22 July 2027A fast on 17 Tammuz commemorating the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem; it opens the three weeks of mourning before Tisha B'Av.
Modern commemorations
- Yom HaShoahיוֹם הַשּׁוֹאָה3 May 2027Israel's day of remembrance for the victims of the Shoah and the Jewish resistance, on 27 Nisan; it is also observed in the diaspora, including the Czech Republic.
- Yom HaZikaronיוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן10 May 2027Israel's day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, on 4 Iyar, immediately before Independence Day.
- Yom HaAtzma'utיוֹם הָעַצְמָאוּת11 May 2027Independence Day of the State of Israel, on 5 Iyar, the anniversary of the declaration of independence on 14 May 1948.
- Jerusalem Dayיוֹם יְרוּשָׁלַיִם3 June 2027An Israeli holiday on 28 Iyar, the anniversary of the capture of East Jerusalem and the Old City in the Six-Day War of 1967.
