Festivals and Holy Days
The Torah delineates three pilgrimage festivals, Passover, Shavuot (The Feats of Weeks) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Each of these was tied to the agricultural cycle of the Israelites, and was also given a theological symbolism.
Passover celebrated the rebirth of nature, and symbolized the origin of the Jewish people.
The eating of bitter herbs symbolized the miseries of the Egyptian bondage. In the evenings four cups of wine were drunk, to symbolize the four world-kingdoms. People eating during the Passover meal reclined, in the style of free rich aristocrats, to represent their liberation from slavery.
A discussion of the meaning of Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks) and of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is found in the entries on those subjects.
A discussion of symbolism inherent in Rosh Hashanah (The New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is found in the entries on those subjects. The Day of Atonement was considered the most holy day of the entire year, and was regarded as the symbol of the complete atonement of the people and of their absolution from their sins committed against God.
Read more about this topic: Jewish Symbolism
Famous quotes containing the words festivals, holy and/or days:
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.””
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 1:35.
“They will visit you at your convenience, whether you are lonesome or not, on rainy days or fair. They propose themselves as either transient acquaintances or permanent friends. They will stay as long as you like, departing or returning as you wish. Their friendship entails no obligation. Best of all, and not always true of our merely human friends, they have Cleopatra’s infinite variety.”
—Clifton Fadiman (b. 1904)