Explanation of Major Jewish Holidays

 

FIELD GUIDE*

 

This guide is designed to inform you about the Jewish calendar and cycle of holidays.
Jews observe these holidays according to their family traditions and personal
preferences, with some observing each of them according to traditional practice while
others only rarely. The holidays are each based on biblical festivals or commemorations.
The Jewish calendar follows the lunar cycle, which runs shorter than the solar cycle used
for the standard calendar. Thus, most Jewish holidays do not fall on the same date each
year. Jewish holidays begin and end at sundown. Therefore, all holidays begin at
sundown on the first day and end at nightfall on the last day shown in the calendar
below.

 

At the end of the document, please find a five-year calendar of the Jewish holidays that
fall during the academic year for planning purposes.

 

Shabbat

 

Description:

 

Shabbat is the weekly day of rest for the Jewish faith, when Jewish people refrain
from typical weekday behaviors and participate in restful activities to honor the day. Shabbat is
considered by many to be the most important day in the Jewish faith. Shabbat meals are
typically celebrated with a cup of wine and challah, a special braided bread.

 

Practice:

 

Shabbat is marked by attending synagogue Friday night, Saturday morning, and
Saturday afternoon, in addition to three festive meals and eating challah. Students who observe
Shabbat traditionally will also refrain from working, traveling, spending money, and using
electronics, and will engage in restful activities.

 

What to expect:

 

While Shabbat falls over the weekend so students will not have to miss school,
they may miss any extracurriculars that occur over the weekend and will be unable to complete
homework Friday night to Saturday night.
 

How to support your Jewish students:

 

Be mindful of the amount of homework assigned over the
weekend, as some Jewish students will not be able to complete any work beyond reading from
Friday night to Saturday night.

Rosh Hashanah

Description:

Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year” and is the beginning of the Jewish New
Year. Orthodox and Conservative Jews observe the traditional two-day holiday, while Reform
Jews observe only the first day. Rosh Hashanah is one of three most observed holidays by all
Jewish families. The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is listening to the blowing of the
shofar (ram’s horn) during prayer services. Rosh Hashanah meals traditionally include round
challah bread and apples dipped in honey that symbolize our wishes for a sweet year.

Practice:

Jewish students will likely attend prayer services and convene with their families. Rosh
Hashanah is considered a day of rest; therefore, some students will not do work, write, spend
money, or travel.

What to expect:

Jewish students might miss school and extracurricular activities.

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during or the day after the holiday.

Yom Kippur

Description:

Yom Kippur translates to “Day of Atonement” and is one of the holiest days of the
year in the Jewish calendar. It is focused on atonement and repentance through prayer, fasting
and acts of charity. Yom Kippur is a fast day, where Jewish people over the age of 13 do not drink
or eat anything for 25 hours. The holiday is spent in synagogue and is concluded by the blowing
of the shofar.

Practice:

Jewish students will likely attend prayer services and convene with families. For those
over the age of 13, students will traditionally fast for 25 hours and refrain from all food and drink.
Yom Kippur is considered a day of rest, and some students will therefore not do work, write,
spend money, travel, or use electronics.

What to expect:

Jewish students will likely miss school and extracurricular activities.

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during or the day
after the holiday.

Sukkot

Description:

Sukkot, which means “festival of booths,” is a week-long holiday commemorated by
dwelling in huts called ‘sukkot,’ which the Israelites lived in after the Exodus from Egypt. The
festival of Sukkot also references the types of dwellings that farmers would live in during
harvesting, making Sukkot important both as a holiday recognizing the Exodus from Egypt and a
harvest festival. Another important feature of Sukkot is making a blessing over the four species,
four different types of leaves, and the etrog, a type of citrus.

Practice:

The first two days are considered days of rest, where work (including writing, use of
electricity, spending money and travel) cannot be done. While many Jewish students may not
observe the holiday restrictions, many Jewish students will attend prayer services and convene
with family. As a festive holiday, it is common for people to gather in sukkot for meals and
celebrations. During the intermediate days of the festival, the use of electricity, writing, and
other things are permitted, but many Jewish people still use these days as a time to rest and enjoy
the holiday. Nonetheless, students can participate fully in academic activity during the
intermediate days. Please note that the intermediate days often include a Shabbat (see above)
when work is prohibited.

What to expect:

For the first two of Sukkot, Jewish students may miss school and extracurricular
activities. (Reform Jews generally observe only one day at the beginning of the holiday.)

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during or the day
after the holiday.

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Description:

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are two holidays that occur at the end of the
weeklong holiday of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is a sort of celebration of the end of the high holiday
season in the Jewish calendar, and is celebrated on the last day of Sukkot. Simchat Torah is the
celebration of when the Jewish people finish their annual Torah (Hebrew bible) reading cycle, and
the holiday is often joyous, with much singing and dancing.

Practice:

Jewish students will likely attend prayer services and participate in festive events and
parades with the Torah.

What to expect:

Jewish students may miss school and extracurricular activities, and may also
refrain from working, traveling, spending money, and using electronics.

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during or the day after the holiday.

 

Hanukkah

Description:

Hanukkah is an eight-day long holiday commemorating the victory of the Jewish
Maccabees over the Greeks, the procurement and rededication of the Beit HaMikdash (Second
Holy Temple) in Jerusalem, and the miracle of oil burning for eight days. Hanukkah is a festive
and joyous holiday.

Practice:

Hanukkah is typically celebrated by lighting a Chanukiyah (a nine candle menorah lamp) every night for eight nights, making a blessing over the lighting of the candles. Other important practices of the holiday include playing a game dreidel, a spinning top game, eating oil-based foods such as

latkes (fried potato pancakes) and
sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and singing Hanukkah songs. Work is permitted during Chanukah.

What to expect:

Jewish students will attend all extracurriculars and school during this holiday.

How to support your Jewish students:

Incorporate educational material about Hanukkah into your holiday curriculum! Jewish students may often feel left out if there is curriculum about other winter holidays without including Hanukkah, so incorporating information about Hanukkah into lesson plans is a great way to support and include Jewish students.

 

Purim

Description:

Purim is an annual holiday commemorating the Jewish people being saved from
destruction in Persia by a man named Haman, the court vizier. The heroes of the story are Queen
Esther, a young woman who becomes Queen of the Persian Empire and saves the Jewish people,
and her cousin Mordechai. There are many customs celebrated on Purim, including giving gifts of
food and drinks, known as Mishloach Manot, dressing up in costumes, and listening to the Scroll of
Esther in synagogue.

Practice:

The day before Purim is a fast day, commemorating the fast of Queen Esther as she
prayed for the redemption of the Jewish people from the genocidal designs of the Persian vizier.
On Purim, Jewish students will likely attend prayer services at night, and may dress up in
costumes. They may also participate in Purim parades, and eat festive cookies known as
Hamentashen. Many will participate in a festive meal on the afternoon of Purim. Work is
permitted on Purim.

What to expect:

Jewish students will attend all extracurriculars and school during this holiday,
but will likely be busy after the school day ends.

How to support your Jewish students:

Be mindful of the amount of homework given, as Jewish students may be at synagogue during the night.

Passover

Description:

Passover is one of the most widely observed holidays in the Jewish calendar. It
commemorates the Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt, where the Jewish people were held as slaves
for 400 years. The most important and main tradition of the holiday are large meals calledSeders, where the story of the Exodus from Egypt is recounted, and Matzah, an unleavened bread, is eaten.

Practice:

Passover Seders, large family meals, occur on the first two days of the holiday. Both
the first two days and last two days are considered rest days, where some students will not
partake in any sort of work or writing. As this is one of the most central family holidays of the
year, many Jewish students will make every effort to go home prior to Passover to join in their
family seder. Campus organizations also host seders for students who cannot get home for the
holiday. Many Jewish students will not eat any bread or other food items made with wheat, oats,
spelt, barley or rye, along with other prohibited food items.

What to expect:

Jewish students will likely miss school and extracurricular activities for the first
two days and last two days of Passover. Some students will also refrain from working, traveling,
spending money, and using electronics. Students will also be unable to eat bread or any product
made with risen flour for eight days.

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during the rest days
of the holiday. Work to provide matzah and fresh fruits and vegetables for students observing
the holiday to eat.

Shavuot

Description:

Shavuot is one of the three traditional pilgrimage holidays, celebrating the wheat
harvest and the gifting of the Torah and Ten Commandments to the Jewish people from God.
Shavuot is traditionally observed by studying Torah all night and eating only dairy foods such as
cheesecake.

Practice:

Jewish students will likely attend prayer services and convene with their families.
Depending on their age, they may also partake in overnight studying. Shavuot is considered a
day of rest; therefore, some students will not do work, write, spend money, or travel.

What to expect:

Jewish students will likely miss school and extracurricular activities.

How to support your Jewish students:

Please try to avoid scheduling tests during or the day
after the holiday.

 

 

Five-Year Academic Calendar of Jewish Holidays

 

2025-2026
Holiday Start Date End Date
Shabbat Weekly, Friday sunset Saturday night
Purim Monday sunset, March 2, 2026 Tuesday night, March 3, 2026
Passover Wednesday sunset, April 1, 2026 Thursday night, April 9, 2026
Shavuot Thursday sunset, May 21, 2026 Saturday night, May 23, 2026

 

2026-2027
Holiday Start Date End Date
Shabbat Weekly, Friday sunset Saturday night
Rosh Hashanah Friday sunset, September 11, 2026 Sunday night, September 13, 2026
Yom Kippur Sunday sunset, September 20, 2026 Monday night, September 21, 2026
Sukkot Friday sunset, September 25, 2026 Friday night, October 2, 2026
Shemini Atzeret Friday sunset, October 2, 2026 Saturday sunset, October 3, 2026
Simchat Torah Saturday sunset, October 3, 2026 Sunday night, October 4, 2026
Hanukkah Friday night, December 4, 2026 Saturday night, December 12, 2026
Purim Monday sunset, March 22, 2027 Tuesday night, March 23, 2027
Passover Wednesday sunset, April 21, 2027 Thursday night, April 29, 2027
Shavuot Thursday sunset, June 10, 2027 Saturday night, June 12, 2027

 

2027-2028
Holiday Start Date End Date
Shabbat Weekly, Friday sunset Saturday night
Rosh Hashanah Friday sunset, October 1, 2027 Sunday night, October 3, 2027
Yom Kippur Sunday sunset, October 10, 2027 Monday night, October 11, 2027
Sukkot Friday sunset, October 15, 2027 Friday night, October 22, 2027
Shemini Atzeret Friday sunset, October 22, 2027 Saturday sunset, October 23, 2027
Simchat Torah Saturday sunset, October 23, 2027 Sunday night, October 24, 2027
Hanukkah Friday night, December 24, 2027 Saturday night, January 1, 2028
Purim Saturday sunset, March 11, 2028 Sunday night, March 12, 2028
Passover Monday sunset, April 10, 2028 Tuesday night, April 18, 2028
Shavuot Tuesday sunset, May 30, 2028 Thursday night, June 1, 2028

 

2028-2029
Holiday Start Date End Date
Shabbat Weekly, Friday sunset Saturday night
Rosh Hashanah Wednesday sunset, September 28,2028 Friday night, September 22, 2028Yom Kippur Friday sunset, September 29, 2028 Saturday night, September 30, 2028

Sukkot Wednesday sunset, October 4, 2028 Wednesday night, October 11, 2028
Shemini Atzeret Wednesday sunset, October 11, 2028 Thursday sunset, October 12, 2028
Simchat Torah Thursday sunset, October 12, 2028 Friday night, October 13, 2028
Hanukkah Tuesday night, December 12, 2028 Wednesday night, December 20,2028

Purim Wednesday sunset, February 28, 2029 Thursday night, March 1, 2029
Passover Friday sunset, March 30, 2029 Saturday night, April 7, 2029
Shavuot Saturday sunset, May 19, 2029 Monday night, May 21, 2029

 

 

2029-2030
Holiday Start Date End Date
Shabbat Weekly, Friday sunset Saturday night
Rosh Hashanah Sunday sunset, September 9, 2029 Tuesday night, September 11, 2029
Yom Kippur Tuesday sunset, September 18, 2029 Wednesday night, September 19, 2029

Sukkot Sunday sunset, September 23, 2029 Sunday night, September 30, 2029
Shemini Atzeret Sunday sunset, September 30, 2029 Monday night, October 1, 2029
Simchat Torah Monday sunset, October 1, 2029 Tuesday night, October 2, 2029
Hanukkah Saturday night, December 1, 2029 Sunday night, December 9, 2029
Purim Monday sunset, March 18, 2030 Tuesday night, March 19, 2030
Passover Wednesday sunset, April 17, 2030 Thursday night, April 25, 2030
Shavuot Thursday sunset, June 6, 2030 Saturday night, June 8, 2030