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.
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.
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.
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreDreidelדרײדל (Yiddish); סביבון (Hebrew)
A four-sided top spun for small stakes, most often by Jewish families at HanukkahGame
🇫🇮 Finland and 5 moreMolybdomancy
Pouring molten lead or tin into water, then reading the shape as an omenFolklore
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEvil eye
A belief in harm cast by envious glares, met with protective charms and spoken blessingsFolklore
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, Israel and 1 moreAdloyadaעדלאידע
A humorous Purim parade in Israel featuring giant puppets and satirical floats.Festival
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked with fire, feasting and poetrySeasonal
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις
The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreKiddush Levanahקידוש לבנה
A Jewish ritual service held after the new moon to bless God for the lunar cycle and seek protection.Spiritual
🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah
A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual
🇦🇱 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
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelTikkun HaKlaliתיקון הכללי
A set of ten Psalms recited for repentance and spiritual healing within the Breslover Hasidic tradition.Spiritual
🇩🇪 Worms, Germany and 2 moreHollekreisch
An Ashkenazi birth ritual where children name a newborn with a secular name.Rite of passage
🇷🇺 RussiaBlack wedding
A traditional Jewish crisis wedding held in a cemetery to ward off diseaseSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dreidel: Adiel lo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Adloyada: ד"ר אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5, source
- Molybdomancy: Micha L. Rieser, Attribution, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kiddush Levanah: Wacław Koniuszko, Public domain, source
- Hermetic Qabalah: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Black wedding: American Colony Photo Department, Public domain, source