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Jewish holidays

Candles are lit on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath ("Shabbat") and on Jewish holidays.

Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or Yamim Tovim (Hebrew: יָמִים טוֹבִים, romanizedyāmīm ṭōvīm, lit.'Good Days', or singular Hebrew: יוֹם טוֹב Yom Tov, in transliterated Hebrew [English: /ˈjɔːm ˈtɔːv, jm ˈtv/]),[1] are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.[Note 1] They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from three sources: mitzvot ("biblical commandments"), rabbinic mandates, the history of Judaism, and the State of Israel.

Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian. This is because the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar (based on the cycles of both the sun and moon), whereas the Gregorian is a solar calendar. Each holiday can only occur on certain days of the week, four for most, but five for holidays in Tevet and Shevat and six for Hanukkah (see Days of week on Hebrew calendar).

Date ranges for Jewish holidays[2]
Holiday Date range
Rosh Hashanah 5 Sep to 5 Oct
Yom Kippur 14 Sep to 14 Oct
Sukkot (first of seven days) 19 Sep to 19 Oct
Shemini Atzeret 26 Sep to 26 Oct
Simchat Torah 27 Sep to 27 Oct
Hanukkah (first of eight days) 28 Nov to 27 Dec
Tu Bishvat 15 Jan to 13 Feb
Purim 24 Feb to 26 Mar
Shushan Purim 25 Feb to 27 Mar
Pesach (first of seven/eight days) 26 Mar to 25 Apr
Yom HaShoah 8 Apr[3] to 7 May[4]
Yom Ha'atzmaut 15 Apr[5] to 15 May[6]
Lag B'Omer 28 Apr to 28 May
Yom Yerushalayim 8 May to 7 Jun
Shavuot 15 May to 14 Jun
Tzom Tammuz 25 Jun to 25 Jul
Tisha B'Av 16 Jul to 15 Aug
Tu B'Av 22 Jul to 21 Aug
  1. ^ "yom tov". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Valid at least from 1999 to 2050. Outside this period the ranges for the holidays in the months from Kislev to Adar I might be slightly larger. After 2089 the early dates will be a day later, and after 2213 the last dates will be a day later.
  3. ^ Possibly April 6 or 7, but not in 1999–2050.
  4. ^ Possibly 8 May, but not in 1999–2050.
  5. ^ Possibly 14 April, but not in 1999–2050.
  6. ^ Possibly 16 May, but not in 1999–2050.


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