| High Holy
Days
The holy days in autumn begin with
Rosh Hashanah ("Beginning of the Year") which begins as a
period of time in which the Jewish people tell how they have cared
for the creation which has been entrusted to them. The culmination
of this festival is Yom Kippur ("The Day of Atonement")
which consists of five worship services and a confession from the
entire community of Jewish people.
The holy days in the spring include
Passover ("Pesach") which commemorates God's deliverance of
Israel from Egypt. God had instructed the Israelites to mark their
doorposts with the blood of a lamb. When the angel of death killed
the firstborn of all the Egyptians, he would "pass over" the homes
of the Israelites.
Perhaps the most famous of all Jewish
holidays is the late autumn Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah,
which lasts for eight days. The menorah, an eight- or nine-branched
candlestick, recalls how a one day supply of oil miraculously
lasted for eight days during the Maccabean rededication of their
temple, which had been converted into a temple honoring the Greek
god, Zeus. After the Jewish people retook their temple, they only
had one day's supply of oil with which to light their menorah. The
miracle of the oil gave the Jews time to get more oil to keep the
menorah lit. Today's Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by
lighting a new candle every night to celebrate this
miracle.
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