YOM KIPPUR/Day Of Atonement
SHEMIN! ATZERET/ Eighth Day Of Assembly
The most solemn day of the year (Tishrei 10), Yom
Kippur concludes the High Holy Days. Yom Kippur is
marked by fasting, prayer and teshuva (repentance)
as Jews reflect on their relationships with other
people and with God.
Prior to sunset on the evening before Yom
Kippur, families eat a pre-fasting meal, candles are
lit and everyone goes to services where the haunt-
ing Kol Nidre (All Vows) prayer is chanted just
before sundown.
Yom Kippur services continue throughout the
next day and conclude that evening at nightfall,
after the recitation of the Neila prayer, recited with
the Ark open, and a final blast of the shofar.
Shemini Atzeret (Tishrei 22) immediately follows
HoShana Raba on the seventh day of Sukkot,
which is the final day of judgment (Tishrei 21).
The prayer for rain is recited in services because
this holiday marks the beginning of the rainy season
in Israel. Yizkor, the memorial prayer for the dead,
also is said at this time.
SUKKOT/Feast Of Tabernacles
Sukkot (Tishrei 15-21) means "booths," and during
this seven-day holiday we eat many of our meals
inside a temporary booth, open to the sky, called a
sukka. "Do-it-yourself" sukkot kits are available from
Jewish bookstores or can be ordered. It is customary
to decorate a sukka with Rosh HaShana cards, draw-
ings, posters and strands of fruit.
Another mitzvah, or commandment, of Sukkot is
to shake the lulav, a palm branch with myrtle and
willow branches attached, and hold an etrog, a
lemon-like Israeli fruit, while reciting a special
blessing. Lulavim and etrogim can be ordered in
advance at many synagogues, temples and day
schools, and also are available at Jewish book-
stores.
A fun custom is "sukka hopping," inviting friends
over and visiting their sukka to share a meal or
snack.
The intermediate days are called chol haMoed,
when one may go to work and engage in other
weekday activities.
SIMCHAT TORAH/ Rejoicing In The Torah
Simchat Torah (Tishrei 23), the day after Shemini
Atzeret, is when we complete the annual cycle of
Torah reading and begin anew.
Both at evening and morning services, each
Torah is taken out of the congregation's Ark and joy-
ously paraded around the sanctuary seven times,
accompanied by much dancing and singing. Children
are encouraged to participate, and flags and apples
are traditional treats for them.
CHANUKAH /Festival Of Lights
Chanuka is an eight-day festival (Kislev 25-Tevet 2)
that celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over
the Hellenized Assyrians (influenced by the Greeks),
who had outlawed Jewish practices.
While cleaning the desecrated Temple, the
Maccabees found a small jar of oil. Although it con-
tained enough oil to last only one day, it miracu-
lously lasted eight. To commemorate these events,
we light a special eight-branched menora or cande-
labra, called a chanukiah.
Chanuka customs include giving children small
gifts of money called gelt, playing dreidel (a four-
sided top), singing Chanuka songs and eating fried
foods like potato latkes (pancakes), which recall the
miracle of the oil.
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T U B'SHEVAT/ Jewish Arbor Day
This holiday (Shevat 15) is the New Year of the
Trees and often marked by contributing to the
Jewish National Fund to have trees planted in
Israel.
It also is customary to eat foods and fruits from
the land of Israel. Some people also attend a Tu
b'Shevat seder. It is organized much like a Passover
seder, including four cups of wine, but starts with
white wine, representing winter, with red added to
each subsequent cup as a sign of the coming
spring.
PURIM/Feast Of Lots
Purim (Adar 14) marks the victory of Queen Esther
and her relative Mordechai over the evil Haman,
adviser to King Ahasuerus in ancient Persia. It is
traditional to wear costumes on Purim.
Four mitzvot, commandments, are associated
with Purim: read or listen to Megilat Esther, the
Book of Esther; send shalach manot, gifts of food,
to friends; send matanot le'evyonim, gifts of food or
money, to the poor; enjoy a seuda mitzvah, or feast.
Because Haman is associated with Amalek, an
enemy of the Jewish people, and we are told in the
Bible to blot out Amalek's name, noisemakers are
used enthusiastically to drown out Haman's name
when it is said during the Megilla reading.
Purim is preceded by Ta'anat Esther (Adar 13),
the Fast of Esther, which was instituted in honor of
this heroine who fasted as she prayed for the
Jewish people to be saved even as Haman was
plotting their destruction.
/A Minor Fast Day
This minor fast day (Tevet 10) recalls
1900_ DETROIT'S JEWISH
POPULATION REACHES 10,000,
WITH WORKERS IN FACTORIES,
OFFICES, CRAFTS AND TRADES.
THE JEWISH AMERICAN
BECOMES THE AREA'S FIRST
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE JEWISH
NEWSPAPER.
Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem. Rabbis also
use this day to commemorate those who died in the
Holocaust and whose yahrzeits are not known.
JEWISH HOLIDAYS continued on page 36
1914: DETROIT'S JEWISH POPULATION
REACHES 34,000, AND THERE ARE A
NUMBER OF ALL-JEWISH LOCALS OF
NATIONAL UNIONS.
1916: YESHIVA BETH
YEHUDAH IS FOUNDED.
0
1904: FRESH AIR
SOCIETY IS PLANNED
TO TAKE CHILDREN ON
DAYLONG OUTINGS.
0111.1111r
UNITED
HEBREW
SCHOOLS IS
FORMED FROM
INDEPENDENT
PROGRAMS.
1926: DETROIT'S JEWISH POPULATION
REACHES 75,000. THE JEWISH WELFARE
FEDERATION IS FOUNDED.
1907: ARRANGEMENTS
BEGIN FOR A JEWISH
HOME FOR AGED.
JN •
SOURCEBOOK 2002 •
35