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How many Jewish holidays are there? What are they about? What do they do to celebrate them? Do you know any of the answeres? Would you lke to know?

Of course there is the holy Saturday, the Seventh day of the week, when the Jews are resting just like the Lord did on the Seventh day of the creation. No other religion takes this rest as serious as the Jews do. Since the Jewish calendar still a Sun based (unlike other Moon based ones) calendar, the Jews count the beginning of the from Sun rise and the end of the day is the Sun set. So Friday evening is the beginning of Saturday, which is Shabbat in Hebrew (the language of the Torah and the State of Israel) and Shabes in Jiddish (a language created by orthodox Jews who believe that the Hebrew language is a holy language therfore is forbidden to use it every day communication - these people speak Jiddish to each other and use Hebrew only for the purpose of praying). During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to do any of the basic type of works, or their related forms, that they were foced to do as slaves in Egypt. Also, creating fire is forbidden, because it creates light, power and heat. Today electricity is a form of fire therefore it is not to use dorung Shabbat. Not much left to do, huh? Well, it's OK. Shabbat is a day when the Jewish people should sleep in, go to pray, have at least three meals at home together with their families and disconnect from the out side world's rush and stress. No TV, no cell phones, no money problems, no house work, no cooking - just simple quality time with the Lord and our loved ones. There are even subjects they are not allowed to touch on Shabbat like money or fire making hazards. A huge part of Shabbat is the Friday cooking and cleaning, which is done to have a clean house for the holiday and no worries for the resting. The food must be ready before Sun set, so the women shall not do any cooking on Shabbat.

During the year there are several big holidays and festivals, and in upcomming articles I will introduce them to my readers. There are also non religious holidays that are connected to Jewish history and the State of israel.
By following my articles I'll lead you into the wonderful world of the Jewish holidays and traditions.

Learn more about this author, Zsuzsa Oren.
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