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.
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 2 morePassover sacrificeקרבן פסח
The lamb offering eaten at the start of Passover, from the Exodus storySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Safed, IsraelShalom Aleichemשָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם
A traditional song sung on Friday night to welcome Sabbath angels into the homeSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 morePurim costume
The Jewish custom of wearing masks and disguises during the festival of PurimDress
🇮🇱 IsraelProfession of Faith
A public declaration of religious belief across Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditionsSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreLeil Selichotליל הסליחות
A night of penitential prayers and poems recited before the Jewish New Year to seek forgiveness.Spiritual
🇮🇱 Meron, Israel and 1 moreUpsherinאָפּשערן
A boy's first haircut at three, the day his Jewish learning beginsRite of passage · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelAravahערבה
The ritual waving and beating of willow branches during the festival of SukkotSpiritual
🇮🇱 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
🇮🇱 IsraelEve of Passover on Shabbatערב פסח
Special Jewish calendar customs when the eve of Passover coincides with the SabbathSeasonal · Dinner
🇮🇱 Safed, Israel and 2 moreZemirotזמירות
Jewish table hymns sung during the three meals of Shabbat and holidaysSpiritual · Dinner
🇮🇱 IsraelShabbatonשבתון
A Jewish communal retreat or educational program centered on ShabbatSpiritual
🇮🇶 IraqShabbat mealsסעודות שבת
Three ritual meals eaten across the Jewish Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday nightTable custom · Dinner
🇾🇪 YemenConfession in Judaismוִדּוּי (vīddūy)
Admitting sin before God, in daily prayer, on Yom Kippur and at the end of lifeSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Passover sacrifice: מפוכח, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Purim costume: Flavio~, CC BY 2.0, source
- Profession of Faith: Westminster Assembly, Public domain, source
- Leil Selichot: Yael Shilo יעל שילה, CC BY 3.0, source
- Upsherin: Vered Peer, CC BY 4.0, source
- Aravah: DRosenbach ( Talk | Contribs ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Eve of Passover on Shabbat: בעלת הזכויות - טלי אמתי, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zemirot: ביקורת, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Confession in Judaism: Nathan [ben Samson] of Mezhyrich, Public domain, source