For a detailed description of the cycle of feasts, see Judaism II module, section 4.

The calendar
The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar. One month corresponds to a lunar cycle (approximately 29.5 days) so there is an alternation of 29- and 30-day months. A solar year has 11 more days than a lunar year. For the holidays to take place at the same time of the solar year, thus to observe the cycle of seasons, a leap month (the month of Adat) is added to the 12 months approximately every three years (seven times per 19-year cycle).

Since the beginning of the month depends on the lunar cycle, there can be variations in different regions around the world. This is why when Jews started spreading across the Mediterranean, the rabbis decided that those who observe feasts outside Eretz Israel have to celebrate them for two days instead of one, as prescribed by the Bible, except for Yom Kippur. But people who live in Eretz Israel also celebrate Rosh Hashanah for two days. When the calendar was definitively set in the Talmudic period, the Talmud required that Rosh Hashanah be observed for two days.

In the Jewish calendar, the division of time includes three fundamental components: the day beginning at nightfall, the week marked by the shabbat, and the year signalling the sequence of the seasons and recalling key moments in the sacred history of the Jewish people.
The cyclical dimension is important. The day is structured according to three prayers depending on the position of the sun: the evening prayer (maariv) recited after nightfall; the morning prayer (shaharit) to replace the daily morning sacrifice offering in the temple; the afternoon prayer (minha) to remember the daily afternoon sacrifice offering. The week ends with the shabbat [see Judaism II module, section 4]. Every autumn, a new cycle begins. In total, the entire Torah is read during the year. Day by day, week by week, year by year, an observant Jew is guided by the Jewish law and community.

The cycle
In the Torah, the feasts are linked to the cycles of the moon and the seasons, which recall the themes of remembrance and renewal. In Hebrew “yom tov” (good day) refers to every feast day of the Torah during which it is forbidden to work. Biblical law prescribes seven feast days during which work is prohibited (in addition to shabbat): Rosh Hashanah (the new year), Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), the first year of Sukkot (the feast of booths or tabernacles celebrating the gift of the Torah and the Tables of the Law to the Hebrews), followed by Shemini Atzeret (the eight day of Assembly), the first and last day of Pessach, and Shavuot (the feast of weeks to commemorate the protection of the Hebrews after their escape from Egypt). Additionally, certain intermediary days during Pessach and Sukkot (hol ha moed) are half-holidays, when work is permitted, but the Talmud requires treating them as holy days. All these feasts follow the seasons.

The three pilgrimage feasts of Pessach, Shavuot and Sukkot have both an agricultural and a national meaning. Pessach, which celebrates the exodus from Egypt, is also a “spring feast”; Shavuot (in the beginning of summer) is also a “harvest feast”, and Sukkot (in the autumn) is also a “feast of the crops” taking place when grains are stored in the barns. But Rosh Hashanah and Kippur have no agricultural or national aspect: they are days of reflection when the whole world is judged for the coming year. To those feasts was added the celebration of Hanukkah (to remember the re-consecration of the Temple after the victory of Maccabees) and Purim (the feast of the lots, connected with the history of Queen Esther of Persia and the miracle that saved the Jews from annihilation). The cycle of Jewish feasts also includes other special days, some of which have a religious character: Tisha B’Av to remember the mourning of the destruction of the two Temples. Others are more historical or national holidays: Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrating the creation of the state of Israel, and Yom HaShoah to remember the genocide of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War.

Pessach
There is a very strong link between the major Jewish festivals and commemorated biblical stories; in the case of Pessach, it is the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Its meaning is both religious and biblical since it commemorates the passage from slavery to freedom. For the Jews, the exodus from Egypt is the moment when they became a free people.

Pessach is the first of the three pilgrimage feasts, celebrating acts of God throughout history. They are called pilgrimage feasts because, before the destruction of the Temple, they involved a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The other two are Shavuot, commemorating the gift of the Torah 50 days later, and Sukkot observing the Jews who wandered in the desert. There are also feasts related to the seasonal patterns, which follow an agricultural calendar: celebrated in the spring, Pessach marks the beginning of the barley harvest.

The feast lasts eight days when in the diaspora and seven days when in Israel and begins on the 15th of the month of Nisan (March-April). Only the first two days (the first in Israel) and the last two days (the last in Israel) are non-working days. It is primarily a celebration of spring and originally people used to bring a new crop of barley (omer) to the Temple.

The celebration involves a particular meal. It is forbidden to consume any form of leavened bread (hamets). Instead of bread, Jews consume specially prepared foods and matzah, and they have to clear the house from any traces of leavening agents.

The meal requires the use of specific tableware or at least tableware that has been kosherized.

The key moment of the feast is the seder on the first night (the first two nights in the diaspora). It is a family celebration during which the meal is organized according to readings from a Hagadah, which recites and explains the exodus from Egypt. It involves symbolic gestures around symbolic dishes. Children are invited to ask questions on the meaning of this special night.

Hanukkah
Hanukkah is a feast that begins on the 25th of the month of Kislev (November-December in the Gregorian calendar). It is not a very important holiday and does not involve any restrictions on work and daily activities. It celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians who wanted to destroy the Jewish religion and Hellenize their entire kingdom (2nd century BC); it also commemorates the restoration of the Temple of Jerusalem, after it was desecrated by enemies, and the return to worshiping a sole God within the sanctuary.

The term Hanukkah originates from the root “hanakh”, meaning inauguration and renovation. The holiday is, therefore, a post-biblical feast, introduced by the rabbis. The events it commemorates are recounted in the book of Maccabees, which is an apocryphal text in the Hebrew Bible, dating from the period of the Second Temple, but it exists in the Greek translation (the Septant).

In the Talmudic tradition, one of the key moments of the story is about a miracle that took place during the purification of the Temple. A small jar of holy oil was found in the Temple for lighting the lamp. Even though the oil was enough to only last for one day, the lamp stayed alight for eight days. This is why the feast lasts eight days.

Hanukkah is partly a home-based celebration. Each night, one must light the lamp of Hanukkah (the hanukiah): this is why Hanukkah is also called the “festival of lights”. This practice aims to publicly spread the miracle of the Temple: the lamps are placed inside the home by the entrance or behind a window ledge and meant to be seen by everyone in order to show the celebration of the miracle. The forms of these hanukiot vary according to the geographic origins of the Jewish communities. Hanukkah lamps have become decorated objects of true workmanship demonstrating a great deal of creativity and imagination. Most importantly, the hanukkiot recall the menorah of the Temple, which had eight branches with the addition of a ninth, the holder (shamash).

The candle is lit at nightfall, except on Friday when the candles of Hanukkah must be lit before those for shabbat. They must burn at least 30 minutes in front of everyone participating in the celebration. The custom is to light one candle on the first night, two on the second, three on the third and so on, going from left to right, until the eight day, when all the candles are lighted. A ninth candle (the shamash) is used to light the other candles.

Even though it is an entirely home-based custom, the candles are also lit in the synagogue. Hanukkah is signalled in the liturgy with the recitation of a prayer (the al hanissim prayer). Additionally, each day, a specific passage is recited from the Torah.

Nowadays, Hanukkah has become a more important holiday for a variety of reasons. It falls near Christmas in the Christian world: it acts as a sort of substitute for Jewish children living in a Christian environment that is strongly influenced by Christmas in November-December. In Israel, the feast has a strong national meaning and symbolizes resistance to the enemy and national independence. Zionist movements have promoted Hanukkah and made the revolt of the Maccabees a key moment in the history of Israel. Every year, a flaming torch is transported from Modiin (Israel), the home of the Maccabees, to different places across the country. Constructed as the model of the “new Jew”, the Maccabees have also become the emblem of sports clubs, a type of beer and the heroes of numerous popular songs and books.

In the diaspora as in Israel, Hanukkah celebrations for the children include singing and games. Children, especially in the Christian world, receive presents or small amounts of money. The most well-known Hanukkah game is that of the spinning-top (sevivon in Hebrew): on the 4 faces of the spinning-top are written 4 Hebrew letters (נ / ג / ה / ש) (noun / gimmel / he / chin) with the acrostic Nes Gadol Haya Sham (“a great miracle happened there”). In Israel, chin is replaced by פ (pe) for poh (“here”). According to the tradition, potato pancakes and jam-filled donuts are served.

In the diaspora, Hanukkah is a real substitute to Christmas. In mixed families, the celebration of Hanukkah and Christmas indicates an attachment to both traditions. This is evident in the United States, where there is a mixing of the two traditions and the creation of the neologism Chrismukkah.
The fact that the dates of these two celebrations are so close to each other is probably not entirely accidental. Taking place during the winters’ solstice, at a time when the nights are the longest but the days are starting to get longer, Hanukkah celebrates the victory of light over darkness. We, therefore, have two re-interpretations of the same symbol: Hanukkah for the Jewish side, Christmas for the Christian.

Since the end of the 1970s, the practice of public lightings associated with Hanukkah has spread. Since 1977, the Habad Hassidic movement has organized public lightings in New York city in response to the rabbinical prescription to spread the miracle and promote the “spiritual survival of the Jewish flame”. These public lightings have spread also in Europe, in Israel and elsewhere.