Jewish Feasts and Festivals
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List of Jewish feasts and festivals and related scriptures.
JEWISH FEASTS AND FESTIVALS | |||
---|---|---|---|
NAME | MONTH: DATE | REFERENCE | SIGNIFICANCE |
Passover | Nisan (Mar./Apr.): 14 | Ex 12:2-20; Lv 23:5 | Commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. |
Festival of Unleavened Bread | Nisan (Mar./Apr.): 15-21 | Lv 23:6-8 | Commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. Includes a Day of Firstfruits for the barley harvest. |
Festival of Weeks, or Harvest (Pentecost) | Sivan (May/June): 6 (seven weeks after Passover) | Ex 23:16; 34:22; Lv 23:15-21 | Commemorates the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. Includes a Day of Firstfruits for the wheat harvest. |
Festival of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) | Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 1 | Lv 23:23-25; Nm 29:1-6 | Day of the blowing of the trumpets to signal the beginning of the civil new year. |
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) | Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 10 | Lv 23:26-33; Ex 30:10 | On this day the high priest makes atonement for the nation’s sin. Also a day of fasting. |
Festival of Shelters, or Tabernacles (Sukkot) | Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 15-21 | Lv 23:33-43; Nm 29:12-39; Dt 16:13 | Commemorates the forty years of wilderness wandering. |
Festival of Dedication, or Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) | Kislev (Nov./Dec.): 25—Tebeth (Dec./Jan.) 2 or 3 | Jn 10:22 | Commemorates the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. |
Festival of Purim, or Esther | Adar (Feb./Mar.): 14 | Est 9 | Commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the days of Esther. |