This blog does have the word "Judaism" in the title for a reason.

I figured since I am scheduling my blogging around Jewish holidays, perhaps I should offer a few words about the upcoming Jewish holiday season:

Judaism uses a lunar calendar, which is offset by leap years every four years in order to make sure that holidays are tied into the solar cycle as well. This keeps the spring holidays in spring, the fall ones in fall, etc. This separates the Jewish calendar from the Muslim calendar, which is completely lunar, so Ramaddan may be in summer one year and in winter ten years later. Christians of course, as well as the secular Western world, use the Gregorian calendar, which is solar.

The month of Ellul is the last month of the year. It is one of preparation for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, which starts on the first of the month of Tishrey. The New Year is about celebration, but it is also about self-reflection and evaluating one's goals for the next year. It is also a time of praying to God that one be granted a sweet new year.

10 days after the New Year, there is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. It is a 25-hour fast day in which one spends most of one's time in synagogue, repenting for one's sins.

Then there is the holiday of Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles. This holiday celebrates that the Jews dwelt in huts in the desert. It also celebrates that God watches over the Jewish people. During this holiday, one is commanded to be extremely happy, and to eat meals in a commemorative hut. The holiday is 7 days (8 outside of Israel). Hoshana Rabbah is the second-to-last day of the holiday, and is a special time for prayer. Shemini Atzeret, the last day of sukkot, which is supposed to be the height of joy where one celebrates like crazy.

Those are the Elul-Tishrey holidays in a nutshell. After sukkot, there are no more holidays until Chanuka, which is in the Jewish month of Kislev. The New Year holidays always fall out in the fall season.

I love these holidays. I think it is very healthy to have a certain time each year set aside for self-reflection and renewal. These holidays are also a chance to make amends in relationships with people; it is customary to ask forgiveness of one's friends and family before Yom Kippur.