Festivals & Holidays : Isreal

All Jewish holidays, including Shabbal (Sabbath), are officially observed. Each holiday begins at sundown on the evening preceding its calendar date and ends at sundown the next day. The holidays fall on different days each year with respect to the Gregorian calendar because their dates are fixed according to the Jewish lunar calendar. On most holidays and the afternoon before, stores, banks, and government-run offices and services close in Jewish areas.

In 1994, Rosh haShana, the Jewish New Year, will be celebrated September 6-7. Soon after is Yom Kippur (Sept. 15), when observant Jews fast in atonement for their sins, and Israel shuts down entirely (check out the beaches, though). Then comes Sukkot (Sept. 20-27), the festival of the harvest, when open-roofed booths called sukkot are built. October 20 and 27 are holidays in Israel. Simhat Torah is also Oct. 27. Hanuka (Nov. 28-Dec. 5; not a major holiday), the Festival of Lights, and Purim (Feb. 25. Feb. 26 in Jerusalem), rich in pageantry and skits, are the two winter holidays. The eight-day holiday of Pesah (Passover, March 27-April 2) marks the flight of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.