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The Jewish year
Every holiday we mark, what it is, and when it falls this year. Dates on these pages come from the Hebrew calendar, so they are always the current year’s.
The fall run, from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah. There’s also a High Holidays overview with everything in one place.
The month of preparation: the Shofar every morning, and Selichot in the small hours.
Start the new year with meaningful prayer and a table full of family.
A ram's horn, and a walk to Almaden Lake.
The holiest day of the year, with soul-stirring prayer.
Warm and inviting services and meals in the Sukkah.
Dancing for all ages, and a little l’chaim.
Eight nights of light, and a public Menorah lighting.
The Megillah, costumes, and a festive dinner.
The story of the Exodus, told again at your own table.
A bonfire and a family fun fair in the park.
The Ten Commandments, read out loud, and a dinner on the eve.
The summer fast, what is mourned, and why it is still kept.
The four minor fasts, this year’s dates — and, first, who does not fast.
Longer pieces on how each holiday actually works — written for somebody who may never have done any of it, and would rather read about it before having to ask.
Why the calendar is lunar, what a leap year is, and where your Hebrew birthday comes from.
Candle lighting, the meals, what melacha means — and how to start if you never have.
The Shofar, apples and honey, Tashlich, and what a first service is actually like.
Kol Nidrei to Neilah — including, at length, who should not be fasting.
What makes a Sukkah kosher, how to hold a Lulav, Ushpizin, Hoshana Rabbah.
What hakafot are, why we dance, and how the two days differ.
The order of the candles, the brachos, and the real history behind the story.
Megillah, mishloach manos, matanos la’evyonim, the seudah — and the fast before.
Chametz, kashering a kitchen, selling chametz, and the search by candlelight.
All fifteen steps, and how to run one for guests who have never been.
Staying up learning, why cheesecake, the Ten Commandments, and Ruth.
What is mourned, what the practices are, and why it still matters.
Bonfires, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and the count the day interrupts.
You don’t need to be a member and there is no ticket to buy — every Jew is a member here. Walk in for any of it.