Festival hub
The Jewish festival year is governed by the Hebrew calendar – a lunisolar system traditionally attributed to Hillel II in the 4th century, in which 12 lunar months totaling 353–355 days are kept in step with the solar year by the periodic insertion of a 13th month, Adar II, in seven of every nineteen years. Each month begins at the new moon, and every observance starts at sundown the evening before the listed civil date because the Hebrew day runs from evening to evening, following Genesis 1's repeated formula "and there was evening and there was morning."
Three festivals are described in the Torah as the regalim, the pilgrimage festivals when Israelites historically travelled to the Temple in Jerusalem: Pesach (Passover) in spring, Shavuot seven weeks later, and Sukkot in autumn. These remain the structural backbone of the year. Layered onto them are the High Holy Days of Tishrei – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – and the post-biblical festivals of Purim and Hanukkah. Jewish observance ranges from strictly halakhic (Orthodox and Haredi communities) through Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Renewal traditions, and includes a strong cultural-secular Jewish identity especially in Israel, the United States, and parts of Europe and Latin America. About 15.7 million Jews live worldwide today, with the largest communities in Israel (about 7.2 million), the United States (about 7.5 million), France, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Russia, and Australia.
The festival year traditionally opens with Rosh Hashanah on 1 Tishrei and the ten "Days of Awe" that lead to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on 10 Tishrei. Five days later Sukkot begins, and the autumnal cycle closes with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of lights, begins on 25 Kislev in late November or December. Tu BiShvat (the new year for trees) and Purim follow in winter. Pesach and the seven-week Counting of the Omer dominate spring; Shavuot, the wheat harvest and the receiving of the Torah, lands in late May or June.
Israeli memorial days – Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance), Yom HaZikaron (fallen-soldiers memorial), Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day in late April or May), and Yom Yerushalayim (May or June) – sit alongside the religious calendar and structure civic life in Israel.
The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, fixed by Hillel II's algorithm. Months alternate between 29 and 30 days; a 19-year Metonic cycle inserts seven leap years (a second Adar) in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. The result is that festivals fall in the same season every year but drift across a roughly 30-day window in the Gregorian calendar – Rosh Hashanah moves between early September and early October, Hanukkah between late November and late December, Pesach always in late March or April. Three rules ("dechiyot") shift Rosh Hashanah by a day to prevent Yom Kippur from falling on Friday or Sunday and Hoshana Rabbah from falling on Shabbat. Holidays begin at sundown the evening before the listed civil date because the Jewish day runs from evening to evening.
Most Jewish festivals are observed identically worldwide, but Diaspora Jews observe a second day of Yom Tov for Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, the first and last days of Pesach, and Shavuot – a custom rooted in the ancient uncertainty about the exact date when news of the new moon's sighting in Jerusalem had not yet arrived. In Israel, only Rosh Hashanah is two days; the rest are one. Sephardic and Mizrahi traditions differ from Ashkenazi in liturgy, melody, and food: the Mimouna feast at the close of Pesach is a Moroccan-Jewish tradition now widely observed in Israel; Kurdish Jews observe Saharane after Sukkot.
For festivals of light parallels, see Diwali in the Hindu festival hub. For another lunisolar calendar's festival cycle, see the Chinese festival hub. For new-year-in-autumn traditions, see Chinese New Year and the Hindu Sharad Navratri cycle.
Why does Rosh Hashanah fall in autumn rather than at the start of the calendar year? The Hebrew calendar has multiple new years; Rosh Hashanah is the religious "head of the year" on 1 Tishrei, while Nisan in spring is the start of the festival counting cycle.
Why do Jewish holidays start the night before? Because the Hebrew day runs from sundown to sundown, following the Genesis creation narrative.
Is Yom Kippur a public holiday? In Israel, Yom Kippur is the most observed day of the year – airports close, broadcasting halts, and roads empty. In the Diaspora it is a religious observance but not a civil holiday.
What is the typical Rosh Hashanah greeting? "Shanah Tovah" (a good year) or the fuller "L'Shanah Tovah Tikateivu" (may you be inscribed for a good year).
Why is there a second day of holidays in the Diaspora? A practice from the Second Temple era when news of the new-moon sighting in Jerusalem could not reach distant communities in time; preserved as custom in Diaspora Orthodox and Conservative practice.
Tracked events
Rosh Hashanah 2026
Sukkot 2026
Yom Kippur 2026
Hanukkah 2026
Purim 2027
Passover 2027
Rosh Hashanah 2027
Yom Kippur 2027
Hanukkah 2027
