Study topics
Every topic follows the same structure your course uses: Hebrew and English name, date and length, historical and agricultural reasons, symbols, observances, vocabulary and what you should be able to explain to the Beth Din.
Review schedule
The holiday cycle
Chag by chag, in calendar order.
Rosh HaShanah
The Jewish New Year and Day of Judgment, opening the ten Days of Awe that lead to Yom Kippur.
1–2 Tishrei (falls in September–October); opens the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe)
Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement: fasting, confession, forgiveness and the sealing of judgment.
10 Tishrei (September–October); the close of the Days of Awe
Sukkot
The harvest festival of booths, recalling the wilderness journey and our dependence on God.
Begins 15 Tishrei (September–October), five days after Yom Kippur
Shemini Atzeret
A distinct festival following Sukkot, marked by the prayer for rain and Yizkor.
22 Tishrei, immediately following the seven days of Sukkot
Simchat Torah
The joyous completion of the Torah reading cycle and its immediate new beginning.
Immediately after Shemini Atzeret
Chanukkah
The rededication of the Temple after the Maccabean revolt — a story of religious freedom and Jewish identity.
Begins 25 Kislev (late November or December, sometimes running into January)
Purim
The rescue of the Jews of Shushan, read from the Megillah with noise, costume and gifts.
14 Adar (usually March)
Pesach
The Master Story: the Exodus from Egypt and liberation from slavery, retold at the Seder.
Begins 15 Nisan (March or April)
Shavuot
The giving of the Torah and the festival of first fruits.
6 Sivan, at the end of the Counting of the Omer
Tisha B'Av
A fast of mourning for the destruction of the Temples and the turn to rabbinic Judaism.
9 Av
Yom HaShoah
Holocaust Remembrance Day, with study of the forms antisemitism takes.
27 Nisan
Yom HaAtzmaut
Israel's Independence Day and the study of Zionism, statehood and Jewish peoplehood.
5 Iyar
Ongoing practice
Shabbat, kashrut and ritual objects.
Lifecycle
From womb to tomb.
Themes and values
The ideas underneath the practice.