Several cycles exist in the Jewish life: the daily cycle, the weekly cycle, the annual cycle and the cycle of life.

The daily cycle:

• The Jewish day begins at sunset to end at sunset the following day, as told in the verses concluding each of the six days of Creation (Genesis 1:1-31): “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day”, “And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day”, and so on.
• The three daily prayers are: Shacharit (morning), Mincha (oblation, a name referring to the sacrifices held at the Temple in Jerusalem) and Ma'ariv (Vesper). Prayers can be recited at home, at the synagogue or in any place. Some prayers require a minyan, meaning a quorum of ten adults, who are only men among the orthodox community, and men and women among "conservative" and liberal communities. The Mincha and Ma'ariv prayers are often recited together at sunset.
• The heart of religious services is the recitation of the Amidah (recited when standing, with the feet together turned towards Jerusalem), also called Chmone Esreh (Eighteen, because it originally included eighteen blessings). These blessings are related to different themes such as the memory of the patriarchs, God’s power to give life, health and food, God’s holiness, peace, the wish to preserve one’s lips from backbiting and to be preserved from offense.
• The Shema (Hear, because it starts with the words “Shema Israel ...”, “Hear O Israel, YHWH is our God, YHWH is One”) can be considered a Jewish profession of faith. The mezuzah (a box affixed to door frames) and the tefillin (phylacteries) boxes hold scrolls on which the first two paragraphs of the Shema are written. The Shema is recited at sunrise and sunset, during some services and also, when possible, when people make their last breath.
• On Shabbat and for festivals, a Mussaf (supplement) is added to the blessings and to the religious service in order to discuss the specifics of those days.
• Blessings are recited by observant Jews on numerous occasions: at sunrise and sunset, before and after meals, for a new event or an event renewed each year (when tasting fresh fruits or vegetables, during the first day of a celebration, etc.).
• There are two kinds of blessings:
• The blessings thanking God for His blessings, and beginning with the words: "Blessed are You, YHWH, our God, King of the Universe, who ..." brings out the bread from the earth, creates the fruit from the tree, creates the fruit from the earth, etc.
• The blessings thanking God for His commandments, and beginning with the words: “Blessed are You, YHWH, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and has commanded us to ...” wrap the tallit (prayer shawl) around us, raise our hands (that were washed before the meal), light the Shabbat candles, etc.
• Women are exempt from the commandments linked to a specific time, for example to wrap the tallit (prayer shawl) around them and to wear the tefillins (phylacteries) during the morning service of ordinary days. The tradition went from women being exempted to women being banned from doing that, a tradition that is now rejected by women belonging to liberal and “conservative” movements or to some orthodox movements.

All these prayers and blessings remind the believer that every gesture, every moment of life attests to the presence of God, from sunrise to sunset, and from birth to death.

The weekly cycle:
The whole Jewish week is turned towards the Shabbat.

• The days of the week are named in Hebrew after their ordinal number: the first day (Sunday), the second day (Monday), etc., the sixth day (Friday).
• Friday night is called movae Shabbat (beginning of Shabbat) and Saturday night is called motsae Shabbat (end of Shabbat). It is customary to start wishing Shabbat shalom (Shabbat of peace) on Friday and to wish Chavoua Tov (Good week) on Saturday night, after completing Shabbat. Sunday is the first day of the working week in Israel.
• The highlight of the morning service on Monday, on Thursday and on Shabbat is the reading of the parsha (pericope, the weekly section of the Torah text). The Torah is read in its entirety, from the first verse of the Genesis to the last verse of the Deuteronomy, week after week, starting at the end of Sukkot. Each Shabbat corresponds to a parsha, which gives it its name. For example, the second Shabbat after Sukkot is called Shabbat No'ah because the faithful read the parsha telling No'ah’s story.

What is the Sabbath?

• The Shabbat is a sanctification of the time of Creation. In the Jewish tradition, the Shabbat enables human beings to seize the time in a specific count of seven days that does not match any natural cycle (day, lunar month or solar year). Without the Sabbath, time would only be a succession of anonymous days. With the Shabbat, time gets its own meaning.
• The Account of Creation says that God created the world in six days. On the night of the sixth day, He stopped and blessed the seventh day (see Genesis 2:1-4). This pattern was adapted in Judaism, as written in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11). Human beings are responsible of the world created by God and continue the work of Creation but are exempt from work one day a week, as shown in the etymology of Shabbat – from the verb lacheveth, to sit.
• The halakha (law) defines prohibited work as the tasks required for the construction of the Tabernacle. Then derivatives were added. For example, it is forbidden to light a fire and therefore create all forms of energy, including using electricity in our contemporary world. The purpose of these restrictions is to stop doing material activities in order to devote the time of Sabbath for spiritual and family activities. All these restrictions are cancelled in case of Pikuach Nefesh (focus on a soul), i.e. in case of danger of life or death.
• The Shabbat is compared to a queen, to be welcomed with honor and joy in what is called 'Oneg Shabbat (Sabbath delight). Therefore people are requested to prepare their house and their table, dress well, cook three festive meals, welcome friends and sing songs during these meals. The night of Shabbat, couples are encouraged to be intimate in a shared pleasure, fulfilling a dual commandment: childbearing and rejoice Shabbat!
• Spiritual activities are held during the service of qaballat Shabbat (reception of Shabbat) at dusk on Friday and especially during the long service of the morning Shabbat when the parsha, followed by the corresponding chapter of the Book of Prophets, are chanted in public. A time for study usually precedes this service.
• At the beginning of the Shabbat, the mother of the family lights two candles before sunset. These two candles symbolise two commandments relating to the Sabbath: shamor (observe) and zakhor (remember), i.e. observe the Sabbath and remember the Creation of the World (God in nature) and the Exodus from Egypt (God in History). The father of the family blesses his children by placing his hands on their heads. When coming back from the synagogue, the family starts the meal with special blessings over wine and bread.
• The Shabbat ends after sunset on Saturday with a short family ceremony, the Havdalah (separation). Family members gather around a braided candle that was lit and is turned off in the wine surplus overflowing from the cup. A spice box goes from hand to hand to smell for the last time the scent of Shabbat that goes away. Then the family members go back to the secular activities of the forthcoming week.

The annual cycle:
The Jewish year includes many celebrations. The calendar combines the lunar months with the solar cycle. As the lunar year is shorter than the solar year, a thirteenth month is added seven times over a nineteen-year cycle in order to keep the season festivals. This explains the discrepancy with the solar calendar from one year to the next. For example, Rosh Hashanah is held between early September and late September, and never before or later. In the Jewish calendar, the names of the months have a Babylonian origin. There are special prayers for the Rosh Chodesh (beginning of month), which corresponds to the new moon.

The holidays are of several types:
The solemn convocations:

• Rosh Hashanah (Head of the year, in September), also called Yom HaDin (day of the Judgment), celebrates the anniversary of Adam’s creation as the first day of the Jewish calendar. Then starts a time for self-examination and for asking one’s sins and failings to be forgiven, with the fasting on Yom Kippur as a climax ten days later. People wish a good and sweet year to one another and also wish each other to be inscribed in the Book of Life. The shofar (horn of a ram) is blown in memory of the Binding of Isaac, when a ram replaced the son as a sacrificial offering (Genesis 22:1-18).
• For Yom Kippur (Day of recovery, in September or October), services include the selihot (Forgiveness) and the viddouy (collective Confession), and the shofar is blown at the end. To ask God for forgiveness is only possible when people already asked for forgiveness directly to those they hurt and offended in the past year.

Pilgrimage and agricultural festivals:

• Pesach (Passover, in March or April), also known as Hag Haaviv (Festival of spring) and Zman Cheiruteinu (Time of our liberation), celebrates both the Exodus from Egypt and spring. During a large meal called Seder (order), in a specific order, people read, sing and comment the history of both slavery and the Exodus by eating matzah (unleavened bread) and some dishes reminding them about the slaves’ work and poor condition (bitter herbs, fruit mixture symbolising the mortar). Children play an important part in the celebration.  The youngest child asks the ritual questions before the family ceremony taking place around the table.
• Pesach is followed seven weeks later by Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost, in May or June), which commemorates both the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the First Fruits which were brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. The night of Shavuot is devoted to the study of the Torah.
• In fall, five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot (Huts, in September or October) is held, and the whole week is spent eating, studying and sleeping in huts. Huts are the symbol of the fragility of the human condition and a memory of the Exodus. As Sukkot is also the harvest festival, huts are decorated with fruits and vegetables.

Historical and rabbinic festivals:

• Hanukkah (Inauguration, in November or December) celebrates the victory of Judah Maccabee over the Greek pagan oppressors by lighting candles for a week. The hanukkiya (seven-branched candelabrum) is placed in front of the window. Each night, an additional candle is lit with blessings and songs. The eight candles are all lit with the ninth candle.
• Purim (Fates, in February or March) is an opportunity for a day of fasting followed by a day of celebration in memory of the bravery of Queen Esther, who saved her people from a massacre. As Queen Esther first hid her identity, people usually wear disguises to read her story (Book of Esther, in the Hagiographers) and make all kinds of noise (rattles, whistles, etc.) when reading the name of Haman, the enemy of Jews. People also exchange sweet dishes, including the Ozne Haman (Haman's ears).
• The fasting on Tisha B'Av (9th of Av, in July or August) recalls the destruction of the Temple. In Jerusalem, the faithful gather in front of the Western Wall in order to pray, and sit on the ground as a sign of mourning.

Contemporary celebrations:
After Pesach, we also find two important days:

• Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Day, in April or May) to commemorate the extermination of European Jews;
• Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day, in April or May) to celebrate the independence day of the State of Israel.

There are other celebrations like the New Year of Trees in late January or early February, and minor celebrations for fasting.

In addition to the annual cycle, the Bible added a year of Shmita (surrender, release) or sabbatical year every seven years, and the Land of Israel had to be left fallow. The harvest made this year was the property of all, rich and poor, foreign and indigenous, and the rest was abandoned to wild animals. The year of shmita also corresponded to the debt forgiveness and to the liberation of Hebrew slaves.
The fiftieth year ended a cycle of seven times seven years. Its name was Chnat HaYovel (Jubilee year), from the word yovel, a horn blown at the start of this fiftieth year as a sign that the land had found again its ancestral owners. The word yovel gave the word jubilee.
These years reminded people of the need for justice and for an equitable distribution of wealth, and also reminded them that only God earns the land. The principle of shmita is specific to the Land of Israel. It is still observed nowadays in religious kibbutzim and adapted to a country with modern farming techniques, with crops distributed to charities.

The cycle of life:
All stages of life include specific rites and practices.

The birth

• Eight days after his birth, the Jewish boy is circumcised if healthy. This is the main Jewish custom followed by either practicing or not practicing Jews. Its Hebrew name is brit milah (covenant of circumcision) to remind the alliance concluded between God and Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). The baby is placed on the lap of his sandek (godfather), who sits on a high chair, sometimes with two seats, called chair of Prophet Elijah. Elijah is symbolically invited to each circumcision, supposed to announce the coming of Messiah. The man who circumcises the baby is called the mohel (peritomist) and must be a practicing Jew. During this ceremony, the child receives his Jewish name, always followed by his father's name, for example Yonatan ben Raphael (Jonathan son of Raphael). An uncircumcised man is called an 'arel, a word found in the terms 'arel lev (with a hardened heart), 'arel regech (insensitive) and 'arel oznayim (hard of hearing). The 'orla (foreskin) expresses the inability to open up to others, as shown in Prophet Yimeyah (Jeremiah)’s injunction to circumcise his heart in order to open it to the Word of God.
• After the birth of a daughter, the custom is that the father receives the honor of "going up to the Torah" (to read it) at the following Shabbat. The blessing he utters is followed by a Mazel tov (Congratulations!) of the gathered assembly. “Conservative” and liberal communities have chosen to further develop ceremonies for the birth of little girls, like the “going up to the Torah” by both parents holding their baby girl in their arms.
• The first-born male must be consecrated at the religious service held at the Temple in Jerusalem. But, as the Cohen inherited the priesthood, parents had to go to the Temple for a Pidyon ha-Ben (Redemption of the son, called “redemption of the firstborns”). As the temple is now destroyed, the ceremony takes place in the family. The child is presented and symbolically bought from a man of the Cohen family. The redemption of the first-born male reminds us that the Master of all things is God. In the Temple, God also received the first fruits and the firstborns of clean animals.

The marriage

• From their birth, people wish the children Chuppah ve Qiddouchin (a wedding canopy and sanctifications). Adam and Eve’s union since their creation shows the importance given to the couple in its spiritual, physical and family dimensions and the importance given to the transmission of life.
• In Biblical times, people were married in two stages:
• The engagement with the shiddukhin (arranged meetings) followed by the kiddushin (blessings), also called erusin (betrothal);
• Some time later, the nissuin (marriage), accompanied by seven blessings in the presence of the two witnesses, when the kallah (bride) moved in with the chatan (groom).
• In Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox families, it is still common to ask a shadchan (matchmaker) to celebrate the engagement. But a young woman is free to accept or refuse a young man as a future husband.
• Nowadays the whole ceremony is held on the same day. It can take place at home or in the synagogue. In Israel, the chuppah (wedding canopy), a main element symbolising the new home of the couple, is often dressed up in the garden.
• After the blessing over wine and the blessing over the erusin (betrothal), the engaged couple drinks from the same cup. The chatan (groom) slips the wedding ring on the right index finger of the kallah (bride) after saying: “With this ring, you are consecrated to me according to the law of Moses and Israel.” In liberal Jewish communities, there is a reciprocal exchange from the bride to the groom.
• The Ketubah (written agreement) is read and the seven blessings are sung. The Ketubah was previously signed by the groom and his witnesses - and both the groom and the bride and their witnesses among liberal Jews. At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass with his foot – as a remembrance of the destroyed Temple and as a symbol of a stage of life that is ending - and all the guests shout Mazal tov! (Congratulations! - Mazal tov literally meaning “right constellation” or “good luck”).
• The newlyweds then spend some time secluded for the yichud (isolation, privacy), which symbolises the consummation of marriage. The ceremony is followed by a joyous festival celebrating the start of a new couple, a necessary condition for the transmission of Judaism from generation to generation. During the week following the wedding, it is customary for the young couple to be invited to share a meal in their families’ homes or their friends’ homes.
• Divorce is permitted in Judaism. Its original form was the repudiation of the wife by the husband. Later on, the Talmud strengthened the wife's rights, for her to be able to file for divorce in case her husband beats her, refuses marital relations with her, or imposes marital relations to her. A taqqana (decree) of the late tenth century states that a man can divorce without his wife’s consent. Despite this, in Orthodox Jewish communities the husband gives the get (bill of divorce) to his wife, but can also refuse a divorce requested by his wife. The beth din (“house of judgment”, i.e. the rabbinical court) can exert pressure to convince the husband, but the husband is the only one who can make the decision. Those practices are considered as archaic, and “conservative” and liberal Jews grant equal rights to both spouses.

The education of children

• Educating children is a major commandment in Judaism. The prayer of the Shema, recited daily, says about the Torah – both law and text: “You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). The Talmud says: “Five years is the age for the study of the Scripture; Ten is the age for the study of the Mishnah; Thirteen is the age for observing commandments; Fifteen is the age for the study of the Gemara” (Tractate Avoth 5:21). But it also says: “The father is bound in respect of his son to (…) teach him a craft. He who does not teach his son a craft teaches him brigandage” (Tractate Kiddushin 29a).
• The division of roles between the father and the mother and the major place of the home in the Jewish religion give women an important role in the transmission of Judaism. As in all modern societies, the division of roles is presently evolving towards a new pattern. But education and transmission of Judaism remain a major goal in all Jewish homes.

The death

• The immortality of the soul and the stay of the dead in the Sheol were of little concern in Biblical Judaism, as expressed in the Psalms: “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever” (Psalm 115:18).
• The issue of the resurrection of the dead, and therefore the immortality of the soul, rose among the Pharisees at the time of the Second Temple.
• The Jewish rites are ment to separate what is tahor (pure) and living from what is is tame (impure) and dead. This explains why the bodies of the deceased are covered as soon as their death is recognized, and buried on the same day when possible. The goal is to avoid mortuary cults and to favour cults turned towards life. For the same reason, cemeteries are closed and located outside cities.
• The respect due to dead people prescribes to light a candle, symbol of the soul that came out of the body, and to place the candle near their head. It also prescribes to watch the dead until their funeral and to recite psalms at their bedside. Volunteers of the chevra kadisha (holy brotherhood) prepare the dead bodies, for the relatives not to have to take care of the corpses.
• The dead are naked in their shroud. If possible, they are buried directly in the ground. The ceremony takes place in the cemetery. The children, after making a laceration on the clothes they wear, recite the Kaddish – the sanctification of God's name -, a prayer also recited several times during daily services, and often wrongly called “prayer for the dead”.
• When returning from the cemetery, the faithful observe the shiva (a mourning lasting seven days) at home, where mirrors are covered as a sign of humility. The bereaved are barefoot, with little care taken to their toilet, and they are sitting on the ground or on low seats. They are visited by their relatives, who do not exchange greetings with them, but comfort them, often eat with them, or come to their home to recite the daily prayers. The shiva is interrupted publicly during the Sabbath, in order to show that life and joy must prevail over death and bereavement.
• Another mourning lasting thirty days follows the shiva. Mourning time is further reduced until the end of the first year.
• On the anniversary of their parents’ death, children recite the Kaddish at the synagogue and light a remembrance candle for it to burn all day.
• It is common practice to honor the memory of a deceased person by an act of generosity towards a charity, a donation to a school or hospital, or a plantation of trees in Israel. All these actions are intended to honour the memory of the dead by acts of life.
• This attention to life is so strong in Judaism that, even when people raise their glass for a toast, they say L’Hayim! (To life!)