There are many Jewish feasts and festivals. Following is a chart compiled from several resources that list them out:
JEWISH FEASTS AND FESTIVALS |
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NAME | MONTH: DATE | REFERENCE | SIGNIFICANCE |
Passover | Nisan (Mar./Apr.): 14–21 | Exod. 12:2–20; Lev 23:5 | Commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. |
Unleavened Bread | Nisan (Mar./Apr.): 15–21 | Lev. 23:6–8 | Commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. Includes a Day of Firstfruits for the barley harvest. For 7 days unleavened bread was eaten. |
First Fruits (Reshit Kitzir) |
Nisan (Mar./Apr.) 22 | Lev. 23:11 | For acknowledging the fertility of the land that God gave the Israelites. |
Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, or Harvest) |
Sivan (May/June): 6 (seven weeks after Passover) | Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev 23:15–21 | Commemorates the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. Includes a Day of Firstfruits for the wheat harvest. Marked by offering of sacrifices. |
Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) |
Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 1 | Lev, 23:23–25; Num. 29:1–6 | Day of the blowing of the trumpets to signal the beginning of the civil new year. Hard labor ceased during this time. |
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) |
Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 10 | Lev. 23:26–33; Exod. 30:10 | On this day the high priest makes atonement for the nation’s sin. Also a day of fasting. It is only observed once a year (Ex 30:10). |
Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles (Sukkot) | Tishri (Sept./Oct.): 15–21 | Lev. 23:33–43; Num. 29:12–39; Deut. 16:13 | Lasts seven days, commemorates the forty years of wilderness wandering where the people dwelt in booths made of branches and boughs of trees. Jesus attended this feast (John 7:2-14). |
Dedication Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) |
Kislev (Nov./Dec.): 25–30; and Tebeth (Dec/Jan.): 1–2 | John 10:22 | Commemorates the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in 164/167 B.C. Lasted 8 days. Mentioned in John 10:22. |
Purim | Adar (Feb./Mar.): 14-15 | Esther 9 | Established by Mordecai, commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the days of Esther. |
This chart was compiled from the following sources.
- Smith, Marsha A. Ellis, June Swann, Trent C. Butler, Christopher L. Church, and David S. Dockery. Holman Book of Biblical Charts, Maps, and Reconstructions. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993.
- Wood, D. R. W., and I. Howard Marshall. New Bible Dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
- Bromiley, Geoffrey W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988.
- Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.
- http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Introduction/introduction.html