Jewish Celebrations

It’s that time of year again, ladies and gentleman: “Put on your yarmulke, here comes Hanukkah.”

Oy vey! Not quite yet.

Adam Sandler sings about just one Jewish holiday in his famous “Hanukkah Song.” However, Jews celebrate several important holidays before eating warm, crunchy latkes, spinning dreidels and, of course, opening eight days’ worth of presents.

Rabbi Robert Waxman has led the B’nai Israel Congregation in Wilmington, N.C., for more than 30 years. Quietly chuckling to himself when asked about the significance of Hanukkah, he said Hanukkah is at the “bottom of the pile” when compared to the holiness of other Jewish holidays, even though it might be the most fun.

“It’s not even in the [Hebrew] Bible,” he said.

The Jewish calendar differs from the widely used Western calendar. On Jan. 1, most people drink champagne and set off fireworks to celebrate New Year’s. However, Jews don’t celebrate the new year, Rosh Hashana, until September or October on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.

Rosh Hashana, which literally translates to “Head of the Year,” is one of Judaism’s holiest days. It marks the beginning of a 10-day period of repentance and self-examination that culminates with Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement.” Five days later, Jews celebrate Sukkot, a more joyful holiday that honors the desert wandering of the Jews during the Exodus.

More on the holidays in a moment, but first, why are there so many important holidays back-to-back this time of year? And why are these celebrations relatively unknown in the non-Jewish community?

Waxman says that Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot are not just about introspection and atonement. Biblically, these holidays also commemorate the harvest season. Many people outside the Jewish faith are unaware of these celebrations because society has moved away from a farming culture. People no longer spend their days harvesting crops, Waxman said.

This presents a problem for the Jewish community: How should Jews celebrate these deeply symbolic holidays in the modern age?

For Ari Gauss, the executive director of North Carolina Hillel, a Jewish organization based in Chapel Hill, the holidays are about keeping traditions alive with food, family and friends.

“We celebrate the holidays here in Chapel Hill at the same time Jews around the world in Istanbul, Shanghai and Israel are celebrating,” Gauss said. “It’s powerful. We are one people in some global, abstract way.”

Rosh Hashana is not celebrated with fireworks, streamers or drunken promises about going to the gym more often. Rather, Jews dip apples into honey to symbolize a sweet new year. Jews also bake circle-shaped Challah, a traditional Jewish egg bread, to symbolize the cyclical nature of a year.

Gauss’s mother made her family a special Challah every year. She even shipped it to him when he was in college.

“She makes a round one with raisins and all sorts of dried fruits to represent the sweet new year,” he said. “She even puts candied sprinkles on top to make it extra sweet.”

Symbolic food is an important component of Rosh Hashana and the other holidays. After all, most Jews will tell you, “They tried to kill us, we survived, now let’s eat!”

However, practicing age-old traditions like the blowing of the shofar cannot be forgotten.

The shofar is a hollow ram’s horn that comes in all shapes and sizes: large, small, curly or bent. Its trumpet-like blast marks the beginning of Rosh Hashana, a time to take responsibility for sins committed in the past year. Most Americans see New Year’s as an opportunity to make new resolutions and look forward. Similarly, Jews use the new year as an opportunity to look back and repent for their sins to make improvements for the following year. During Rosh Hashana, some Jews practice Tashlikh, which involves gathering near a body of water and symbolically casting off sins by tossing bread into the water.

“We write our own book of life,” Waxman said. “We think about what we did this past year and what we’ll do better in the future. We think about the next chapter we’re going to write.”

And we’re only just getting started. Ten days after Rosh Hashanah, Jews observe Yom Kippur, a day of fasting, repentance and intensive prayer. Jews also abstain from drinking, bathing and sex. Fasting begins at sundown and ends after sundown the next day. Many Jews attend synagogue on this day and the preceding evening.

For children and adults alike, Yom Kippur can be a struggle. Imagine not being able to eat or drink for 24 hours. The morning after the fast begins, you might feel pretty good. “I can do this,” you think. The hours drag by, and you refuse tasty lunchtime treats over your stomach’s growling protests. A few hours later the desperation sets in. You would be willing to eat almost anything, even gefilte fish from a jar – if you don’t know what that is, consider yourself lucky.

The reason for this madness? Waxman has the answer. “Fasting is a form of repentance,” he said.

Fasting and engaging in serious prayer in the biblical days reminded us to be grateful for the harvest. Today, we are reminded of the homeless and those who need food stamps. Being hungry makes us more aware of what we have, Waxman said.

Five days after Yom Kippur, Jews observe Sukkot, a time for celebrating the harvest outdoors under a Sukkah, a temporary hut. Like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, it is a time for Jews to think about the creation of the world and the role of them in it, both as individuals and as a people. Sukkot is a time to relax, decorate and, obviously, nosh. So put on your yarmulke, because there are many more Jewish holidays to celebrate than just Hanukkah.