Judaism has several Holy days:
1 Rosh Hashanah - The Jewish New Year
2 Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement
3 Sukkot - Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles)
4 Pesach - Passover
5 Shavuot - Feast of Weeks - Yom HaBikurim
6 Shabbat (Saturday, beginning at Friday sunset) - Shabbat is considered the holiest day, and occurs every week.
Here is a list of almost all of the Holy Days, festivals and other celebrations:
1 Rosh Hashanah - The Jewish New Year
2 Aseret Yemei Teshuva - Ten Days of Repentance
3 Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement
4 Sukkot - Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles)
5 Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
6 Hanukkah - Festival of Lights
7 Tenth of Tevet
8 Tu Bishvat - New Year of the Trees
9 Purim - Festival of Lots
10 Pesach - Passover
11 Sefirah - Counting of the Omer
12 Lag Ba'omer
13 Shavuot - Feast of Weeks - Yom HaBikurim
14 Seventeenth of Tammuz
15 The Three Weeks and the Nine Days
16 Tisha B'av - Ninth of Av
17 Rosh Chodesh - the New Month
18 Shabbat - The Sabbath
19 Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance day
20 Yom Hazikaron - Memorial Day
21 Yom Ha'atzmaut - Israel Independence Day
22 Yom Yerushalaim - Jerusalem Day
Many of these holidays are found in Leviticus ch.23. The holidays begin at sunset and last until after nightfall around 25 hours later.
Many of these holidays are found in Leviticus ch.23. Other occasions are more recent; specifically Purim (2375 years), Hanukkah (2200 years), and the fasts marking the Destruction of the Temple (Zechariah 7:3 and 8:19).The holidays begin at sunset and last until after nightfall around 25 hours later. They serve to enrich the Jewish year and to connect the people with their past.
All of these days are marked by added prayers and Torah-readings; and each has its specific observances.
Fast days:
Judaism has six yearly fasts. The fasts start shortly before dawn and end at twilight, except for Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av which start the evening before at sunset and last for 25 hours.
Link: The destruction
The Fast of Esther commemorates the danger that the Jews were in, during the events described in the Book of Esther.
The sixth fast, Yom Kippur, is the Day of Atonement, commanded in Leviticus 23:26-32.
Each festival has its specific purpose and laws:
Reasons for the holidays:
Every one of them has as its purpose "remembering the Exodus from Egypt" (as stated in our prayers and the kiddush over wine). In addition, Passover is a Thanksgiving to God for the barley-harvest, Shavuot is a thanksgiving to God for the wheat-harvest, and Sukkot is a thanksgiving to God for the ingathering of grain.
Shavuot also celebrates the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, and Sukkot commemorates God having protected us in the wilderness.
It may also be noted that it is instinctive and a moral and emotional need to celebrate in front of God every so often. This was Cain's motivation in making his offering in Genesis ch.4 without having been commanded.
Had God not given us the Torah-festivals listed above, we might instinctively seek out those of the Canaanites, which the Torah warns against (Exodus 34:15) immediately before listing the Jewish festivals (in the following verses).
See the attached Related Link.
Judaism's major Holy Days are:Passover/Festival of MatzahShavoutRosh HaShanahYom KippurSukkotSimchat TorahMinor holidays include:PurimLag B'OmerTisha B'vHanukkahSee the attached Related Link.
Judaism
1) The theological difference that leads to the difference in the observance of holy days by the various branches of Judaism is (on the one hand) the complete acceptance of the details of the Torah including its holy days (by Orthodox Judaism), or on the other hand, the belief that Torah-laws may be observed more leniently or adapted to modern or personal needs (by Liberal Judaism). 2) The cultural difference is that Jews in different countries have minor differences in customs such as what foods to seve on the holy days.
Most of the annual holy days are concentrated in the month of Tishrei. However, Judaism doesn't have the concept of a holy month.
The traditions of Judaism include its beliefs and its laws and practices, of which the holy days are one part. These all have the role of making Judaism what it is, since without them, Judaism becomes a mere cultural phenomenon that evaporates within a couple of generations (as history has shown). See also:Jewish beliefsJewish lawsThe Jewish festivals
Judaism is a religion, not a place.
Judaism was in what is now called Israel. Its holy book is the Tanakh, which contains the Torah and the prophetic books.
Judaism: Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) Christianity: Bible Islam: Holy Quran
Abraham was the founder of Judaism, in the Holy Land.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have all claimed the Holy Land for themselves.
The same as they do now, at the very least. God does not change His commands. See also:Jewish holy daysJewish traditions