“...On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Festival of Sukkoth, seven days for the Lord.” - Leviticus 23:34

At sunset on the 16^th October 2024, corresponding to the 14th day of the Hebrew month of ‘Tishrei’, Jews all over the world will begin celebrating the festival of ‘Sukkoth’.
‘Sukkoth’ begins the fifth day after ‘Yom Kippur’, and it is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in the Jewish year to one of the most joyous. ‘Sukkoth’ is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as ‘Z'man Simchateinu’, the ‘Season of our Rejoicing’.

At sunset on the 2^nd of October 2024, corresponding to the last day of the Hebrew month of ‘Elul’, Jewish people all over the world will begin celebrating ‘Rosh Hashanah’, the Jewish New Year which falls on the first day of the Hebrew month of ‘Tishrei’.

‘Rosh Hashanah’ literally means ‘head of the year’; it is observed on the first day of ‘Tishrei’ as ordained in the ‘Torah’, in Leviticus 23:24: ”Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ’In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation’”.

At sunset on the 12^th of August 2024, Jewish people all over the world begin the annual 24 hour fast of ‘Tisha B’Av’ (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of ‘Av’) which this year takes place on the 13^th of August.

The fast commemorates the destruction of the First and Second temples in Jerusalem which occurred about 656 years apart, but on the same date. Accordingly, ‘Tisha B’Av’ has been called the "saddest day in Jewish history".

On the evening of the 11^th June, corresponding to the 5th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan, Jewish people all over the world will begin celebrating the festival of ‘Shavuot’.

‘Shavuot’, the Feast of the Weeks, is the Jewish holiday celebrating the harvest season in Israel. ‘Shavuot’, which means ‘weeks’, refers to the timing of the festival which is held exactly 7 weeks after Passover.