Jewish festivals
Jewish community observes a number of festivals throughout the year. These festivals have their own significance and vary from being a simple rest day to celebrate the harvest.
Shabbat is the weekly rest day. This day, public transport and businesses are closed. Rosh Hashanah is the new year festival of Jewish. This is a two day festival, usually falls on september in the Gregorian calendar. Israel’s new year starts from Rosh Hashanah. Felicitations for the new year are generally tendered before Rosh Hashanah, not in late December.
Yom Kippur is celebrated eight days after Rosh Ha-Shana, is the day of atonement, of Divine judgment, and of “self denial”, so that the individual may be cleansed of sins. The only fast day decreed in the Bible. Sukkot happens after five days of Yom Kippur. Sukkot is the festival which is celebrated with mass pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. Thus known as the “pilgrimage festivals.” On Sukkot, Jews commemorate the Exodus from Egypt. Sukkot is also celebrated as Chag Ha’asif (the harvest festival).
During the period between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, tens of thousands of householders and businesses erect sukkot — booths for temporary dwelling, similar to the booths in which the Israelites lived in the desert, after their exodus from Egypt. They acquire the palm frond, citron, myrtle sprigs, and willow branches with which the festive prayer rite is augmented. All around the country, sukkot line parking lots, rooftops, lawns, and public spaces. No army base lacks one. Some Israelis spend the festival and the next six days literally living in their sukkot.
In Israel, the “holy day” portion of Sukkot (accompanied by two pilgrimage festivals, Passover and Shavu’ot) is celebrated for one day.
After the festive day, Sukkot continues at a lesser level of sanctity, as mandated by the Torah. During this intermediate week-half festival, half ordinary-schools are closed and many workplaces shut down or shorten their hours. Most secular Israelis spend the interim days of Sukkot and Passover at recreation sites throughout the country.
