Simchat Torah              5 October 2007              22 October 2008

Chanukah                  5 December 2007          22 December 2008

Purim                         21 March 2008               10 March 2009

Pesach                      20-21 April 2008              9-10 April 2009

Shavuot                     9-10 June 2008               29-30 May 2009

Tisha B’Av                     10 August 2008                 10 July 2009
    

Shabbat, the Sabbath, is the day of rest on the seventh day of the week which commemorates God's day of rest on the seventh day of Creation. Shabbat begins on Friday evening at sundown and ends on Saturday evening at nightfall. Most Jews have a special family dinner on Friday night and many also attend synagogue and eat with family and friends on Saturday.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and marks the anniversary of the birthday of the world. It is the start of a ten-day period of repentance and prayer ending on Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. Spent in prayer, meditation and fasting, it is a very solemn day meant to begin the new year clear of all sins. It marks the end of the Ten Days of Repentance.

Sukkot is the Feast of Tabernacles, and a harvest festival. It commemorates the Israelites' wandering in the desert. Temporary huts called 'sukkot' are set up in observant homes to recall those traditionally used during harvest time. It is observed for eight days and culminates with Simchat Torah. Work is forbidden on the first, second, seventh and eighth days of the festival.

Shemini Atzeret is the Eighth Day of Assembly. Shemini means 'eighth', symbolizing perfection. This holiday is the additional day that brings Sukkot to a state of perfection.

Simchat Torah celebrates the completion of the public reading of the entire Five Books of Moses. Known as the Rejoicing of the Torah, it is a day of joyful celebration and festivities where the scrolls of the Torah are paraded around the synagogue.

Chanukah is the Festival of Lights, an eight-day celebration of the miraculous victory of the Jews over pagan persecution and oppression in the second century BCE. Chanukah also celebrates the miracle of a small flask of oil that burned for eight days at the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. In commemoration, a chanukiah (9-branched candelabra) is lit for the eight days of Chanukah.

Purim is the Festival of Lots, a joyous holiday commemorating the deliverance of the Jews in ancient Persia by Queen Esther. The King's adviser, Haman, cast lots and chose this day to carry out his plan to exterminate the Jewish people. Esther, the Jewish queen, discovered the plot and persuaded the king to spare the Jews. This happy occasion is marked by sending gifts, giving extra charity and holding fancy-dress parties.

Pesach (Passover) is an eight-day holiday marking the birth of the Jews as a people. It commemorates the Exodus of the Jews, led by Moses, freeing them from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of Jewish independence. To recall and celebrate the story of liberation, a ritual family meal called the Seder is held on the first two nights of the holiday.

Shavuot is the Festival of Weeks (falling seven weeks after Pesach) and the festival at which the first fruits were offered at the Temple. The holiday commemorates Moses and the Jews receiving the Torah from God at Mount Sinai, and the Book of Ruth is read.

Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av, is a fast day in mourning for the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Book of Lamentations from the Hebrew Bible is read in the synagogue as the congregation sits on the floor or on low stools.