Holy Days

A Popular Dictionary of Judaism

Five holy days besides the weekly *Sabbath are mentioned in the *Bible:- Passover (*Pesah), Weeks (*Shavuot) and Tabernacles (*Sukkot)—the three *pilgrim festivals—and the *High Holy Days—the New Year (*Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (*Yom Kippur). As both Pesah and Sukkot are seasons only the first and last days of each period count as holy days, (for the intermediate days see *HOL HA-MOED). All work is forbidden on holy days and each *festival or *fast has its own particular customs.

In the *diaspora among the *Orthodox, each holy day (except for Yom Kippur and the Sabbath) is celebrated for two days because of the doubt of the dating of each new month (See *SECOND DAY OF FESTIVALS). In *Israel and among the *Progressive only one day is observed. On the post biblical festivals such as *Hanukkah, *Purim, *Lag Ba’Omer and on fasts such as the Fast of *Gedaliah and *Tishah b’Av, work is permitted. (Also see entries under individual holy days).