The Jewish year is a circle of memory and joy.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year — tradition calls it the birthday of the world, the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve. It opens the Ten Days of Repentance, a time when Jews believe God lovingly reviews the year and each person’s deeds, and every heart can turn a new page. The mood is serious yet hopeful: sweetness and prayer side by side. Families wish one another a good, sweet year and ask to be inscribed in the Book of Life.

How it’s celebratedThe shofar (ram’s horn) is sounded in the synagogue as a wake-up call to the soul, and festive meals feature apples dipped in honey and round challah for a sweet, whole new year.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish year. Tradition teaches it is the day God forgave the Jewish people after the sin of the Golden Calf, and ever since it has been a day of forgiveness and fresh starts. For 25 hours, Jews step away from food, drink, and everyday comforts to stand humbly before God, ask forgiveness, and forgive one another. Far from being sad, it is deeply hopeful — a day when everyone is trusted to be able to change.

How it’s celebratedIt is observed with a 25-hour fast, white clothing, and a full day of synagogue prayer that opens with the haunting Kol Nidrei melody and closes with a final shofar blast at nightfall.

Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, remembers the forty years the Israelites wandered the desert after leaving Egypt, living in fragile huts under God’s sheltering care. It is also the ancient harvest festival of thanksgiving in the Land of Israel. The Torah calls it “the time of our rejoicing” — after the solemn days of awe, Sukkot bursts with joy and gratitude. Sitting in a simple hut open to the sky, families remember that true security comes not from walls but from faith.

How it’s celebratedFamilies build and eat (and some sleep) in a sukkah — a temporary hut roofed with branches — and wave the Four Kinds: the lulav (palm, myrtle, and willow) together with the etrog (citron).

Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing of the Torah,” and it is exactly that — the happiest day of the synagogue year. On this day the yearly cycle of reading the Torah is completed: the last lines of Deuteronomy are read, and without missing a beat the scroll is rolled back to “In the beginning” and started again. The message is beautiful: the Torah is never finished, and its study is a circle of joy that never ends. Everyone — scholars and children alike — celebrates as equals, because the Torah belongs to every Jew.

How it’s celebratedCongregations take out all the Torah scrolls and dance and sing with them in seven joyous circuits (hakafot) around the synagogue, with children waving flags and receiving sweets.

Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates two miracles from over 2,100 years ago. A small band of faithful Jews, the Maccabees, stood up to a mighty Greek-Syrian empire that had outlawed Jewish practice, and against all odds won back the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. When they came to rekindle the Temple’s menorah, they found only one small jar of pure oil — enough for one day — yet it burned for eight. Chanukah teaches that a little light pushes away a great deal of darkness, and that faith can outlast any empire.

How it’s celebratedEach night for eight nights, an added candle is lit on the menorah in the window or doorway; families eat foods fried in oil like latkes and jelly doughnuts, spin the dreidel, and give children Chanukah gelt.

Tu BiShvat is the “New Year for Trees” — the day when, in the Land of Israel, the winter rains have soaked the soil and the earliest trees quietly begin a new cycle of life, with the almond tree the first to blossom. In ancient times this date mattered for tithing the fruit of the Land; over the centuries it grew into a gentle celebration of trees, fruit, and the Holy Land itself. The Torah says “man is a tree of the field,” and on this day Jews reflect on growing deep roots and bearing good fruit. It is a small holiday with a big heart — a love letter to the Land of Israel in the middle of winter.

How it’s celebratedIt is celebrated by eating fruits of the Land of Israel — especially grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates — and many hold a Tu BiShvat seder or plant trees in Israel.

Purim celebrates the events of the biblical Book of Esther, when the wicked Haman plotted to destroy all the Jews of the ancient Persian Empire. Through remarkable “coincidences,” the hidden hand of God turned everything upside down: Queen Esther, a Jewish woman in the palace, found the courage to speak up, and the day marked for destruction became a day of deliverance. God’s name never appears in the Book of Esther — tradition teaches that His care was hidden in every twist of the story. Purim is the most playful day of the Jewish year, a celebration of hidden miracles and everyday courage.

How it’s celebratedThe Megillah (Scroll of Esther) is read aloud twice, with noisemakers drowning out Haman’s name; people dress in costumes, send gifts of food to friends (mishloach manot), give charity to the poor, and share a festive meal.

Passover celebrates the defining moment of the Jewish story: the Exodus, when God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt with signs and wonders more than 3,300 years ago. Its name recalls how God “passed over” the Israelite homes during the final plague. Leaving in such haste that their bread had no time to rise, the Israelites carried flat matzah into freedom — and Jews have eaten it on this holiday ever since. Every generation is asked to feel as if it personally left Egypt, making Passover a living memory of freedom, faith, and hope passed from parents to children.

How it’s celebratedHomes are cleaned of all chametz (leavened food), and on the first nights families gather for the seder — a storytelling feast with the Haggadah, four cups of wine, matzah, bitter herbs, and the Four Questions asked by the children.

Lag BaOmer is a joyful break in the solemn seven-week Omer period counted between Passover and Shavuot. Tradition teaches that a devastating plague among the students of the great sage Rabbi Akiva ceased on this day, turning it into a day of relief and celebration. It is also the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the beloved mystic of the Talmudic era, who asked that the day of his passing be marked with joy for the inner light of Torah he revealed. Weddings, music, and haircuts — paused during the Omer — joyfully resume on this day.

How it’s celebratedIt is celebrated with bonfires, outings and picnics, children playing with bows and arrows, and — in Israel — huge festive gatherings at Rabbi Shimon’s resting place in Meron.

Shavuot marks the day the Jewish people stood together at Mount Sinai, seven weeks after the Exodus, and received the Torah and the Ten Commandments from God. Tradition teaches that every Jewish soul of every generation was present at that moment, and that the covenant made there is renewed each year. The holiday’s name means “weeks,” for the seven weeks of eager counting that connect the freedom of Passover to the purpose given at Sinai. It is also an ancient harvest festival, when the first fruits were lovingly brought to the Temple in Jerusalem.

How it’s celebratedMany stay up all night studying Torah, synagogues are decorated with greenery and flowers, the Ten Commandments are read aloud with everyone standing, and dairy foods like cheesecake and blintzes are traditionally served.

Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the Jewish year, the day both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed — the first by Babylon, the second by Rome — sending the Jewish people into long exile. Over the centuries other tragedies also fell on this date, and the day became a vessel for the tears of Jewish history. Yet even in mourning there is faith: tradition teaches that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’Av, and that the deepest sorrow carries the seed of redemption. Jews mourn what was lost while trusting that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and comforted.

How it’s celebratedIt is observed with a 25-hour fast; the Book of Lamentations is read by candlelight while sitting low to the ground, and other comforts are set aside, as the community mourns the Temples and prays for Jerusalem’s rebuilding.