Hebrew Calendar - Festivals and Holidays

On the 28th of Iyar every year, we gather to celebrate the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem.  The fascinating story about this special day, called Jerusalem Day, begins back during the War of Independence.

The saddest day of the Jewish calendar is the 9th day of the month of Av. It commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples (on the same Hebrew date!) in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by the Babylonians and once again in 70 CE by the Romans. The destruction marked the end of the first and second Jewish commonwealths in the Land of Israel and the exile of the Jews from their homeland...

The 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz is a fast day. Eating and drinking are forbidden.  A special portion of the Torah for fast days is read, and certain additional blessings are added to the prayer service. 

This is the day, during the Second Temple period, on which Jerusalem's walls were breached following a siege that had lasted for three months.  This breach eventually led to the destruction of the Temple...

The Festival of the Harvest, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, Festival of the First Fruits, Assembly – the holiday we know as “Shavuot” (“Weeks”) has many names that can teach us many things...

“This day the world was created, and upon this day all creatures will be judged…”(from the Rosh HaShanah liturgy).
On this day, according to Jewish tradition, the first man was created, and on this day he sinned with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Many concepts are associated with Rosh HaShanah, but above all it is known as the “Day of Judgment” – the day that the Master of the Universe judges all His creatures...