Jewish traditions

Jewish traditions have been kept for more than three thousand years in many lands, and include Shabbat, the festivals of Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Hanukkah, the dietary laws of kashrut, and the rites of brit milah, bar and bat mitzvah, marriage and mourning. The Jewish communities of Ashkenaz, Sepharad, Mizrahi lands, Ethiopia and India each developed their own foods, melodies and customs. These pages describe them as those who keep them do, and note the variety among communities.

Shabbat and the festivals

Shabbat, from Friday evening to Saturday night, is the weekly day of rest with candles, wine, challah and a family meal. The festivals follow the lunar calendar: the autumn High Holy Days, the harvest of Sukkot, the lights of Hanukkah, the carnival of Purim and the freedom story of Passover, with its seder. Each has special foods, readings and customs, and many involve children actively.

Many communities, many customs

Jews from Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, Poland, Ethiopia and Spain have all kept the same faith with differences in food, melody and dress. A Moroccan Mimouna celebration after Passover, a Yemenite henna party or an Ashkenazi cholent on Shabbat all belong to the tradition. The common thread is the study of text, the remembrance of history and the care of community, expressed in rites as old as the faith.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Jewish (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelPassoverפסח A Jewish spring festival celebrating freedom from slavery with ritual mealsSpiritual · Dinner

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreHanukkahחֲנֻכָּה An eight-day Jewish festival marking the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of a single day'Festival

🇮🇱 IsraelRosh Hashanahרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה The Jewish New Year marked by shofar horn blasts, prayer and sweet foodsSpiritual

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelSukkotסוכות A seven-day autumn Jewish festival of temporary booths, harvest prayers and hospitalitySpiritual

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 morePurimפּוּרִים A lively Jewish festival of storytelling, shared food, masks and charityFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreDreidelדרײדל (Yiddish); סביבון (Hebrew) A four-sided top spun for small stakes, most often by Jewish families at HanukkahGame

🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco and 5 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة A spiritual musical tradition of Morocco that blends West African rhythms with Islamic ritual to heal and connect communPerformance

🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreHousewarming party A gathering held soon after moving into a new home to celebrate the space and welcome guests.Home

🇮🇱 IsraelMishloach manotמשלוח מנות Food parcels exchanged on Purim, so everyone has plenty for the day's festive mealSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMaslenitsaМасленица A seven-day Eastern Slavic festival of pancakes and bonfires marking the end of winter before Lent.Festival · Breakfast

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelPassover Sederסדר פסח A ritual meal opening Passover, told over wine, matzah and symbolic foodsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 7 morePysankaписанка A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival

🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineChristmas in UkraineРіздво (Rizdvo) A Ukrainian Christmas celebration with a twelve-dish vegan supper on Christmas Eve and observance on January 6 or DecembFestival · Supper

🇲🇦 Morocco and 4 moreMimounaמִימוּנָה A Maghrebi Jewish celebration marking the end of Passover with sweets and open doorsFestival · Dinner

🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 2 moreSigdስግድ An Ethiopian Jewish holiday of covenant renewal, fasting, and longing for ZionSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptSham Ennessimشم النسيم An Egyptian spring festival of picnics, salted fish, green onions and painted eggsSeasonal

🇨🇱 Santiago, ChileFiestas Patrias Chile's homeland festivities celebrating national identity with music, dance, and foodCeremony

🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreSukkahסוכה A temporary hut with a branch roof, lived in for the seven days of SukkotSpiritual 🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSeharane A Kurdish Jewish festival of campfires, circle dances and shared foodFestival

🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreKlezmerקלעזמער An Ashkenazi Jewish instrumental tradition of lively dance tunes and ritual melodiesPerformance

🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, Israel and 1 moreAdloyadaעדלאידע A humorous Purim parade in Israel featuring giant puppets and satirical floats.Festival

🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreLunar New Year New year festivals dated by the moon, kept from East Asia to the Middle EastFestival

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreFour speciesארבעת המינים (Arba'at HaMinim) A ritual waving of four plants during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.Spiritual

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Torahשִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה The day Jewish communities finish the Torah reading and start it again, with dancingSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreHenna ceremonyليلة الحناء A night of henna patterns on a bride's hands and feet, kept before the weddingRite of passage

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 3 moreHanukkah menorah A nine-branched lamp that gains one more flame on each of Hanukkah's eight nightsSpiritual

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreBar and bat mitzvahבַּר מִצְוָה / בַּת מִצְוָה A Jewish rite of passage marking when youth reach adulthood and take responsibility for their own actions.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Beit HaShoeivahשמחת בית השואבה Nightly music and dancing during the intermediate days of the festival of SukkotFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreFirst haircut A rite of passage marking a child's first shave or trim across many cultures and faiths.Rite of passage 🇮🇱 IsraelShabbatonשבתון A Jewish communal retreat or educational program centered on ShabbatSpiritual 🇮🇱 Israel and 2 moreDay of Salvation and Liberationיום השחרור וההצלה A Jewish holiday on the 26th of Iyar to thank God for saving Jews from Nazi annihilation.Festival 🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreYom HaHatzalahיום ההצלה A Sat Hasidic holiday marking the rescue of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum from the Holocaust on the 21st of Kislev.Festival · Feasts and festival meals

🇪🇸 SpainGragerגראַגער (grager) A noisemaker used by Jewish communities to drown out the name of Haman during Purim readings.Festival 🇺🇸 New York, United StatesBark Mitzvah A lighthearted coming of age celebration held by dog owners for their petsFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreHoshana Rabbahהוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּה The seventh and final day of Sukkot, marked by seven synagogue processions and night-long study.Festival · Dinner

🇺🇸 Manhattan, United StatesJews and Thanksgiving An American national holiday kept by most US Jews, and debated by their rabbisFestival · Dinner

🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePurim costume The Jewish custom of wearing masks and disguises during the festival of PurimDress

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Christmas in Ukraine: Halyna Kuchmanych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Passover: User:RadRafe~commonswiki, Public domain, source
Maslenitsa: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hanukkah: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
Sigd: האגודה הישראלית למען יהודי אתיופיה, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Rosh Hashanah: N100a . The original uploader was N100a at Hebrew Wikipedia ., Attribution, source
Sham Ennessim: Ikonact, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Sukkot: Zachi Evenor, CC BY 2.0, source
Purim: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
Grager: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Mishloach manot: Yoninah, CC BY 2.5, source
Dreidel: Adiel lo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Fiestas Patrias: Osmar Valdebenito, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Klezmer: Unknown artist identified as "M.D.", Public domain, source
Adloyada: ד"ר אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5, source
Passover Seder: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Housewarming party: State Library of Queensland, Australia, No restrictions, source
Mimouna: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Simchat Torah: No machine-readable author provided. Merlin assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
Henna ceremony: No author provided, CC0, source
Hanukkah menorah: Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bar and bat mitzvah: Peter van der Sluijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lunar New Year: Flying Pharmacist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Four species: עוטה אור, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Hoshana Rabbah: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
Sukkah: Gilabrand, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Jews and Thanksgiving: Executive Committee of Congregation Shearith Israel., Public domain, source
Simchat Beit HaShoeivah: Unknown author, Public domain, source
First haircut: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Purim costume: Flavio~, CC BY 2.0, source