One of life’s great joys is the birth of a new child into a young family. It is no different for a Jewish family, too. Yet when the child born is male and a first-born, certain traditional responsibilities fall on the parents to fulfil God’s laws.
On the eight day, the baby is to be presented for Brith Milah – circumcision of the foreskin of the penis. Why? Because God said so!
According to our sages, many tragic events occurred to our ancestors on this day:
The sin of the spies caused the Lord to decree that the Children of Israel who left Egypt would not be permitted to enter the land of Israel
The first Temple was destroyed
The second Temple was destroyed
Betar, the last fortress to hold out against the Romans during the Bar Kochba revolt in the year 135, fell, sealing the fate of the Jewish people
One year after the fall of Betar, the Temple area was plowed
In 1492, King Ferdinand of Spain issued the expulsion decree, setting Tisha B’Av as the final date by which not a single Jew would be allowed to walk on Spanish soil
World War I – which began the downward slide to the Holocaust – began on Tisha B’av
On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot, seven days for the Lord. — Leviticus 23:34
Sukkot is the remembrance of wandering in the dessert; also a harvest festival. Sukkot is observed by building and “dwelling” in a booth; waving branches and a fruit during services. The festival lasts 7 days.
The culmination of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. On this day, the final Parsha (selection of text) from Deuteronomy is read in synagogue. Everyone is called to the Torah reading, and this is the conclusion of the annual Torah reading cycle. Simchat Torah occurs on 22nd (outside of Israel 23rd) day of Tishrei and involves celebration and dancing in the synagogue as all the Torah scrolls are carried around in seven circuits (hakafot). Simchat Torah is related to the culmination of Sukkot (The Feast of the Tabernacles).
In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10), the Festival of Reaping Ḥag haKatsir (Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits Yom ha-Bikkurim (Numbers 28:26).
The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret, a solemn assembly, as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, “fiftieth day”).
Shabbat is a joyful day of rest. Shabbat is two commandments: to remember and to observe. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday each week. Shabbat is a time to refrain from work, spend time with family and attend synagogue.
For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested. — Exodus 31:15-17
Rosh Ha Shannah (the head of the year) marks the beginning of the new calendar year on the 1st of Tishre in the Hebrew calendar; usually sometime in September of each year.
The Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year.
Pirkei Avoth, (the Ethics of the Fathers) is a compilation of maxims assembled to enable the reader to glean the over-arching themes of sages of old.
This is the primary ethical tractate of the Talmud which, instead of expounding on a portion of the Torah, focuses on how we, as Jews, ought to conduct ourselves in various facets of daily life.
On the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord’s Passover is to be held. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a festival; for seven days eat bread made without yeast. — Numbers 28:16 -17
Passover is one of the major Jewish festivals which occurs on the 14th of Nissan in the Jewish calendar. It begins at sundown as the family traditionally gathers from far and wide to sit together in the home after weeks of preparation to clean and remove all leaven from the house.
The Kaddish is a prayer praising God and expressing a yearning for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. It is recited at funerals and by mourners. Sons are required to say Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a parent.
The word Kaddish means sanctification, and the prayer is a sanctification of God’s name. Kaddish is only said with a minyan (prayer quorum of ten men), following a psalm or prayer that has been said in the presence of a minyan, since the essence of the Kaddish is public sanctification.
