Family Guide to Celebration of the Jewish Holidays

by Linda Chesler, Leonard Chesler

Overview

We always tried to celebrate the Jewish Holidays as a family. Starting when our children were young, it soon became apparent to us that it was much better and much more meaningful if as part of our celebration, we discussed each holiday with each other, talking about why the holiday is celebrated, its origin and history, how it is celebrated and very importantly its meaning, relevance and value to us today and what we can learn and use in our everyday lives.

We wanted the children to feel and understand that the holidays were important for them and each holiday had meaning and value for them and should be celebrated by them for its own sake, not just because they wanted to please their parents and grandparents.

Over time we wrote up these discussions and added information for each holiday for our family use. At the urging of many family members and friends who have since seen and liked this material, we would now like to share it and make it available, with this book, for others to use.

In the book, emphasis is placed on purpose, meaning, value, joy and inspiration for each holiday and our daily lives.

We feel confident that the reader will find this material as valuable and useful as we have for helping to celebrate and getting the most out of the Jewish Holidays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469732206
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/14/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	708,350
File size:	491 KB

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Family Guide To Celebration Of The Jewish Holidays

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By Leonard Chesler Linda Chesler

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Leonard and Linda Chesler
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4697-3219-0

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Chapter One

Sabbath

Introduction

The Sabbath (in Hebrew called Shabbat, which is related to the verb shavat, cease, desist, rest (Ref. 1, Volume 14, page 558) is observed every week, starting on sundown, Friday Evening and ending after sundown on Saturday, the next day, and is a day of peace and rest.

The Sabbath in addition to being a day of physical rest, is also a day of emotional and spiritual peace and renewal.

In Genesis, in the Torah, it is mentioned that God worked six days in creating the world, but on the 7th day God stopped working and declared the 7th day holy.

To make sure the Sabbath is observed, we are further commanded in the Ten Commandments, in the Torah, in which the Fourth Commandment says in part:

"Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy."

"Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." (Ref. 2, page 12)

This shows us that God cares about us, cares about our well-being and in fact cares about every one and, as part of creation, God wants us to also care about ourselves and each of us to care about each other.

In other words the Sabbath is to be treated as a universal holy day, celebrating and commemorating creation, and through this celebration and commemoration, indicating to us the importance and sanctity of what has been created including the importance, sanctity, and holiness of our own lives, everyone else's lives, and the world in which we live.

On the Sabbath we remind ourselves that we are not to treat ourselves and each other as though we were just a collection of mindless machines without feelings or meaning beyond the value of the work we produce.

In God's eyes each of us is special and holy and, on the Sabbath, God has given us a chance to recognize this.

We have been given a chance to rest from work and our normal activities, to appreciate and celebrate the beauty, value, meaning and love that is within us and in the rest of the world.

We have been given the chance to understand the importance and value of doing our best to appreciate and value life and to, properly, take care of what we have been given and the joy and peace that this can bring.

Celebration

Once a week, the Sabbath becomes a day of rest, relaxation, prayer, study, song, feasting, celebration and peace. The Sabbath becomes a day when we take time off from our daily work and from dealing with the everyday necessities of our lives.

We have time to contemplate our own feelings about things, to be with our families and friends, and to be with and participate with other members of the community in services at the temple or synagogue.

On Friday evening, at home before sunset, candles are lit to commemorate the beginning of the Sabbath.

Typically by tradition, the candles are lit by the women (if available) in the house who also recite the following blessing:

"Ba-ruch A-ta Adonni, E-lo-hey-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam a-sher ki-d'-sha-nu b'mitz-vo-tav v'tzi-vanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat (English pronunciation of the Hebrew version of the prayer)."

"Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us through your commandments and who has commanded us to light the candles on the Sabbath."

In many homes, additional blessings and personal prayers are also recited.

This could include for example, a traditional blessing for the entire family, recited by the head of the household, "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance toward you and grant you peace." (Reference 5, page 188)

The candles, their lighting, and the blessings and prayers recited over them have become a symbol of the light, life, love and hope that we pray for and want for ourselves and the rest of the world.

Each week the beginning of the Sabbath ushers in a special time for us to rest from our daily concerns, to study and contemplate, to be together with family and friends, sharing and enjoying ourselves and each other, giving us personal feelings and memories of happiness, fulfillment and self worth.

Traditionally the Sabbath Evening meal is treated as a special meal in the week. Before beginning, the Kiddush, a blessing for the wine and the Sabbath, is recited and then a blessing for the Chalah, the traditional braided Sabbath bread, is recited. Either a fish or meat course or both are served.

In the temple or synagogue on Friday Evening and Saturday, in addition to the regular daily prayer service, prayers to honor the Sabbath are recited. In the Saturday Sabbath service, a Torah portion and corresponding Haftarah (conclusion) portion from the Prophets section of the Bible are read.

The Saturday Sabbath service is also the time that boys and girls celebrating their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are honored by participating in the Sabbath services and reading portions of the Torah and Haftarah.

Traditionally work and normal week-day activities are not performed or are minimized on the Sabbath. For example many people prepare meals on Friday, ahead of time for the Sabbath, and do not cook or perform other chores on the Sabbath and many will walk to temple/synagogue and other places rather than drive if possible.

The Sabbath has been honored throughout our history.

It has always been considered that every person must, no matter what their stature or position, personally participate in preparing for, observing and honoring the Sabbath. Thus, there are many stories of famous Jewish Scholars who would make sure that they personally did some special work (e. g., preparing food, cleaning, etc.) to prepare for the Sabbath, even if they had others normally available to do these kinds of things for them.

The idea is that the Sabbath is for each of us and when we personally get involved, participate and deal with it, we get the most out of it.

The Sabbath is a time for happiness and relaxation. Traditional songs sung with meals called Z'mirot express the joy of the Sabbath. One of the most well known Zimirot is called Koh Robbon Olam, which is chanted on Friday evening and describes the wonders of God's creation.

As previously mentioned, in the Temple or Synagogue, on the Sabbath, a portion (Sidra) of the Torah is read (There are also Torah readings on new moon, holiday and fast-day afternoon services). Members of the congregations are honored by being called up to the reading (this act is referred as an Aliyah).

After concluding reading from the Torah, a section from the Prophets part of the Bible, called the Haftarah (or conclusion) is read. Each portion of the Torah has its own specific Haftarah which are related by some common theme. Some Sabbath days are named after the Haftarah reading.

After the Sabbath Day (Saturday) service, it has become the practice, referred to as Oneg Shabbat ("Sabbath Joy", originally attributed to the modern Hebrew poet, Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Reference 2 page 17), in many temples and synagogues for the congregation to gather together for discussion refreshments and songs.

A special blessing for the new month is made at the temple or synagogue on the first day (Rosh Hodash) of the new month and on the Sabbath before the beginning of the month.

Theme

God created the world. We are part of that creation and were given life. So on the Sabbath we celebrate this creation, we celebrate the creation of the world and life and are grateful for our own life and the sanctity and holiness God has given to each of us.

By setting aside a special day of rest from normal daily activities, God shows us the sanctity and holiness of what was created.

We are not just automata, elaborate mechanisms exercising the laws of nature, inexorably moving from one state to the next, but rather we exist at a higher level where we can, along with God's help, share in and continue the process of creation for righteous purpose.

In nature there is no day of rest, everything competes, there is constant conflict and struggle and there is no peace.

But as human beings God has given us the ability, that with knowledge and understanding, we can rise above these issues and create through righteous behavior a more hopeful, loving, caring, joyous, humane and meaningful life.

Once a week on the Sabbath we recognize this, and this also then gives us a chance to apply these same feelings of hope, sanctity, caring, love and righteousness to our daily activities the rest of the week, helping us to do our best to give our life meaningfulness, usefulness and value.

Passover (Pesach)

Introduction

On Passover we remember a time period over three thousand years ago when we were enslaved in the land of Egypt and we remember how we were delivered by God to freedom and given our Jewish ideals and way of life to help maintain and continue that freedom.

We identify with the past to better appreciate the value of freedom and liberty not only for ourselves but for all mankind. Passover calls upon us to do all that we can to remove all forms of tyranny and bondage.

On Passover, through our prayers, rituals, symbols and songs we think of our selves as though we were slaves and then given freedom. We celebrate our liberation and dedicate ourselves to our Jewish values and way of life as a way to preserve and continue this freedom, for ourselves and everyone else, and work toward relinquishing all forms of tyranny and injustice.

We want, for ourselves and all mankind, that we be free from oppression, free from want, free in mind and spirit, and free to develop all the gifts which God has given to each of us.

Passover is also a holiday that coincides with spring, and the concept of renewal that takes place in nature at this time of year is also included in the Passover Celebration. In ancient times renewal took place as a time for planting new crops and preparing for the year ahead. In our time, the message of Passover can also give us hope, inspiration and a spirit of renewal for dealing with our life in the coming year.

Based on the Jewish calendar (a lunar calendar with each month generally being 29 or 30 days), Passover begins at sundown on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. This generally corresponds to the end of March or the beginning or middle of April. Passover lasts eight days (traditionally seven days in Israel) and ends eight days later at sundown on the 22nd day of Nisan.

Celebration

The first night is celebrated in the home with an evening observance called a Seder. Many Ashkenazi Jews also have a second Seder celebration on the second night. The Seder is a religious observance in which we retell the story of how we were freed from slavery in Egypt and praise God as the source of all life and liberty. The Seder service follows the text of the Haggadah which is the prayer book used for the Seder.

Over the years there have been many versions of Haggadahs prepared for the Seder service. Each family should choose the Haggadah version with which they are most comfortable.

Generally the Haggadah presents instruction on how to conduct the Seder service the Seder meal, discussion of the holiday, the meaning and purpose of each of the items covered in the service, prayers for the service, and stories, discussion and songs to help each member of the family participate in and get the most from the Passover celebration.

For many, preparation before the start of the Holiday and the Seder can include cleaning the house of all crumbs of bread (Hametz) and preparing separate plates and utensils specifically reserved for use on Passover.

Seder is a Hebrew word which means order. The order of the Seder and the content of what is done are depicted in the text of the Haggadah.

Before the start of the Seder, the table is set with a Ceremonial Seder Plate, containing Bayzah (roasted or hard boiled egg), Maror (bitter herb, usually horseradish), Z'roa (shank bone or roasted meat bone, symbol of the paschal lamb), Haroset (nuts, apples, cinnamon, and wine) and Karpas (green vegetable - celery, parsley, etc. to be dipped in the salt water). Also placed on the table is a plate containing three pieces of matzah (covered), a dish with salt water, and a decanter of wine. As will be discussed, each of these items has symbolic significance and use in the service.

The Seder starts with the blessing of the first cup of wine, sanctifying the name of God and proclaiming the holiness of the Passover festival.

A blessing is made over a green vegetable (Karpas) to express our thankfulness for springtime and natures renewal and we renew our own hope and faith for freedom, justice and a better world. Before the blessing, the Karpas is dipped into salt water. It is said, to remind us of the tears the oppressed Israelites shed before they were liberated.

Earlier a plate with three pieces of matzah had been placed on the table. The three pieces represent the three classifications of Jews in ancient Judea (the upper one Khoen, which were the high priests during the time of the temple, the middle Levi, which were the workers in the temple, and the third Yisrael , which were the rest of the people). During the Seder everyone will eat from all three Matzot to illustrate that all Jews are united in a covenant of equality.

The middle piece of matzah is broken into two Pieces, the smaller is put back to be used for a later blessing. The larger piece is wrapped in a napkin as a symbol of unleavened dough. It will be eaten as the Afikoman at the end of the meal.

The service then focuses on the story of Passover. How it came about that the Jews became enslaved in the land of Egypt. Their work and lives were bitter and harsh. How Moses was selected by God to go to Pharaoh (the Egyptian ruler) and ask that the Jews be freed.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians refused to release the Jews from slavery. Then a series of ten plagues were brought against the Egyptians before they finally agreed to let the Jews go.

The Jews had to leave Egypt quickly but were blocked by the Red Sea. In the meantime Pharaoh changed his mind about letting the Jews go and sent his army to pursue the Jews.

God split the Sea so that the Jews could get to the other side, but when the Egyptian Army tried to follow the Jews across where the water had been split, they, the Egyptian Army, were destroyed by the waters coming back together upon them.

Once free from the Egyptians, we were given, at Mt. Sinai, the Ten Commandments and Torah as the basis for how we should, in a righteous and moral way, treat ourselves, treat each other and live together.

This basis for living was very important then as it is now. The Jews had been slaves for so long they were not used to making their own decisions, taking responsibility, or making moral choices. This Jewish way of life was able to give them inspiration, hope and courage as it can also do for us today.

The story of our freedom and exodus is told and discussed by the whole family. The children ask and sing the four questions which discuss the basic question "Why is this night different from all other nights?"

We are told that we eat matzah because when our ancestors were told they could leave Egypt they had no time to bake bread with leaven to make it rise in the normal way and they had to bake it without leaven.

At the Seder we eat bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness of our ancestors' slavery. We also remind ourselves of this bitterness by dipping food twice in salt water and dipping food in haroset which represents the bricks and mortar of their harsh labor.

The concept of how to tell the story of the exodus is then discussed in the context of telling the story to four types of children, each with different levels of experience, maturity and point of view. This is done to show how important it is that there be adequate discussion and communication at the Seder of the significance and importance of the Passover Holiday and its message for all of us today.

The Haggadah discusses the plagues brought on the Egyptians until they finally relented and let the Jewish people go. The point is made that we can not fully rejoice and celebrate our freedom when we know that our freedom involved the suffering of the Egyptians.

We cannot be joyous when any human being is afflicted, even an enemy. As a result, in the service, as we mention each of the 10 plagues we spill some wine from the second cup of wine. Our second cup of wine, as a symbol of our gladness, is diminished by the wine we spilled to express sorrow for the Egyptians.

In the more general sense, the sorrow of course is that, had the message of Passover been understood and followed, there wouldn't have been slaves and their task masters wouldn't have had to be defeated and much needless suffering and wasting would have been averted.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Family Guide To Celebration Of The Jewish Holidays by Leonard Chesler Linda Chesler Copyright © 2012 by Leonard and Linda Chesler. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Preface....................v
Introduction....................1
Holidays and Festivals....................3
Sabbath....................5
Introduction....................5
Celebration....................6
Theme....................10
Passover (Pesach)....................11
Introduction....................11
Celebration....................12
Theme....................18
Shavuot....................20
Introduction....................20
Celebration....................21
Theme....................22
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur....................25
Introduction....................25
Celebration....................27
Theme....................33
Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah....................36
Introduction....................36
Celebration....................38
Theme....................41
Hanukkah....................43
Introduction....................43
Celebration....................45
Theme....................48
Tu Bi-Shevat (Hamishah Asar Bi-Shevat)....................51
Introduction....................51
Celebration....................52
Theme....................52
Purim....................54
Introduction....................54
Celebration....................60
Theme....................61
Tishah Be-Av, Yom Ha-Shoah, and Yom Ha-Atzma-ut....................63
Tishah Be-Av....................63
Yom Ha-Shoah....................64
Yom Ha-Atzma-ut....................65
Appendix....................66
Appendix....................67
The Jewish Calendar....................67
The Internet as an Additional Source of Holiday Information (Food, Songs/Music, and Ways to Celebrate)....................70
References....................72