From Birth to Death
Circumcision
Circumcision is an initiation rite for Jewish newborn babies. This usually takes place in a ceremony called a Brit milah witnessed by family and community members. Milah is Hebrew for Covenant of Circumcision.
The ritual is an ancient practice that has been carried out by Jewish parents for more than 3,000 years.
The ritual is an ancient practice that has been carried out by Jewish parents for more than 3,000 years.
Bar and Bat Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah is the Hebrew term for ‘son of the commandment’. It refers to the time from which a Jewish male is obliged to fulfil all the commandments prescribed to Jews and accept his religious responsibilities as an adult. The bar mitzvah is a momentous occasion in the life of every Jewish boy and a Jewish boy fulfils the obligations of bar mitzvah at the age of 13.
Bat Mitzvah is the Hebrew term for ‘daughter of the commandment’. According to Jewish law, a girl reaches the age of bat mitzvah at 12 and from this time she is obliged to fulfil all the commandments prescribed to Jews and accept her religious responsibilities as an adult. From this time she is expected to fulfil the commandments pertaining to Jewish women, including
lighting Shabbat candles and fasting on fast days.
Becoming ‘bat mitzvah’ is automatic and age-related, so even without having a formal celebration of the event, a Jewish girl can pray privately as an adult. She is not required by Orthodox tradition to attend synagogue.
Bat Mitzvah is the Hebrew term for ‘daughter of the commandment’. According to Jewish law, a girl reaches the age of bat mitzvah at 12 and from this time she is obliged to fulfil all the commandments prescribed to Jews and accept her religious responsibilities as an adult. From this time she is expected to fulfil the commandments pertaining to Jewish women, including
lighting Shabbat candles and fasting on fast days.
Becoming ‘bat mitzvah’ is automatic and age-related, so even without having a formal celebration of the event, a Jewish girl can pray privately as an adult. She is not required by Orthodox tradition to attend synagogue.
Marriage
In traditional Jewish literature marriage is actually called 'kiddushin', which translates as ‘sanctification’ or ‘dedication’. The word ‘sanctification’ indicates that what is happening is not just a social arrangement or contractual agreement, but a spiritual bonding and the fulfilment
of a mitzvah, a Divine precept. ‘Dedication’ indicates that the bride and groom now have an exclusive relationship that involves total dedication to each other.
It takes place under a wedding canopy known as a huppah, and incorporates the ritual breaking of a glass underfoot, an act that commemorates a sad event in Jewish history, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E.
of a mitzvah, a Divine precept. ‘Dedication’ indicates that the bride and groom now have an exclusive relationship that involves total dedication to each other.
It takes place under a wedding canopy known as a huppah, and incorporates the ritual breaking of a glass underfoot, an act that commemorates a sad event in Jewish history, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E.
Death
In Judaism the deceased is buried as soon as possible. This takes place following a short period of time, during which the Jewish burial society prepares the body for burial. Observant Jews of all branches of Judaism do not cremate. At the funeral, each member of the family makes a short tear in one of their garments.This action, known as keriah, symbolises the way the death has torn, or broken their heart.
Holidays
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and is the day of rest and abstention from work as commanded by God. Shabbat involves two commandments: to remember and to observe.
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah celebrates both the religious New Year and the creation of the earth, it takes place on the first and second days of the Hebrew month Tishrei, roughly the middle of September to the middle of October.
Days of Awe
The Days of Awe are the 10 days from the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the end of Yom Kippur. This time, which occurs in the autumn, is devoted to introspection, repentance, and atonement for sin.
Yom Kippur
On this day, which takes place shortly after Rosh Hashanah on the tenth day of Tishrei, a day is set aside for fasting, depriving oneself of pleasures, and repenting from the sins of the previous year.
Sukkot
The harvest celebration known as the Feast of Booths lasts for eight days and generally takes place late in the month of October. The “booth” is a small hut (sukkah) erected for the occasion; meals are eaten in it.
Chanukah (Hanukkah)
Chanukah is often presented as a “Jewish alternative” to Christmas. This is unfortunate, as the Festival of Lights as it is otherwise known, deserves honor, attention, and recognition on its own terms and within its own tradition. The holiday of the Festival of Lights celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians in the second century B.C.E. It begins on the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev which is around early to mid December.
Purim
Purim commemorates the deliverance of Persian Jews from destruction, as recounted in the book of Esther. It is a festival celebration commencing on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month Adar or around late February and early March.
Pesach (Passover)
This major holiday, which begins on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan or around late March and early April honors the delivery of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.
Shavuot
This holiday celebrates both the spring harvest season and God’s gift of the Torah. It takes place on the sixth and seventh days of the month of Sivan, which corresponds to May or June.