RELIG 210: Lecture 5 January 26, 2009

 Name two Jewish Holidays and write one sentence about a concept/theme each celebrates/commemorates  What are the “39 Categories of Forbidden Work?”

 Provide a basic overview of the structure of Jewish holidays and festivals  Discuss the historical sources and religious significance of major festivals  Illustrate key ritual objects and practices associate with festivals

 “The catechism of the Jew consists of his calendar.” Sampson Raphael Hirsch

 Building Sacred Time  Jewish memory  Ritual Structure/Advance Preparation

 Weekly cycle of reading  Why make Torah part of the liturgy?

 History vs. Memory  Prayer, Ritual and Halakhah construct Jewish time  Shabbat is most central time-marker  Major theme: Recognizing Creation

 Genesis 2:2-3  Exodus 20:8  39 Categories of Forbidden Work

 Actions imbued with liturgical significance  All acts of labor are prohibited  God rested, so should the Jews  Cannot bring anything into existence  Any action used in building Tent of Meeting is forbidden  Creating distinctions in time  Liturgy goes beyond communal prayer into daily life

Shabbat Rituals

29.5 Day Cycle 12 months of (29 or 30 Days) 354 Days in a year Leap Month Day begins at Sunset

1. Pilgrimage Festivals 2. New Year Cycle 3. Commemorative Celebrations and Fasts

 Origins of the Festivals  Agricultural holidays  Rabbis add layers  Tied to national/theological narrative  Temple sacrifice  Ritual Reenactment  Passover - Leave Egypt (8 Days)  Shavuot - Receive Torah (2 Days)  Sukkot - Enter the Promised Land (8 Days)

 Biblical Roots: Spring harvest festival  Commemorates liberation from Egyptian slavery  “You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time.” (Exodus 12: 17-18)

 The Haggadah  Commanded to retell Exodus narrative  Ritual reenactment-Imagine personal deliverance from slavery  Symbols  Matzah - Unleavened bread  Maror - Bitter herbs  Haroset- Sweet mix

Haroset Maror Roasted Bone- Paschal Lamb Roasted Egg- Festival Offering

The Passover Seder Meal

 Biblical Source: “You shall observe Shavuot, of first fruits of the wheat harvest.” (Exodus 34:21)  Rabbinic Reading: Commemorates giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai  Fewer home rituals than Passover or Sukkot  All night studying

 Biblical Source:  Exodus: “the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the result of your work from the field.” (Exodus 23:16)  Leviticus:“You shall live in booths (sukkot) seven days…in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 23:40)  Sukkah- Temporary structures for harvest

 Significance  Experience of wandering and exile  Liberation and God’s protection  Fragility vs. God’s presence  Ritual  Commandment to be happy  Live in the Sukkah (temporary structure)  Four Species-lulav and etrog

19th Century German Sukkah

A Sukkah

“On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees (traditionally identified as the etrog /citron tree), branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days” (Leviticus 23:40) Lulav and Etrog

 Eight Day of Assembly-last day of Sukkot  Simhat Torah-Rejoicing in the Torah  Completion of the Torah reading cycle  Dancing and celebration

 High Holidays or Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe)  Rosh Hashannah (New Year’s Day)  Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)  Sukkot (Tabernacles)

 “You shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.” (Leviticus 23:24)  Anniversary of Creation-New Year  Theme of repentance and self-examination  Trial Metaphor  “May you be inscribed”  Tip the scales of divine judgment  10 day period until Yom Kippur

 “Mark the tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you; you shall practice self-denial, and you shall bring a gift to the lord…For it is a day of Atonement, on which expiation is made on your behalf before the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23:27)  High priest performs rite to expiate people’s sins  A Note about sin in Judaism (“falling short of the mark”)

 Rabbis call it “Day of Judgment”  Climax of trial  God decides fate of individual and Israel  Excellent replacement for Temple  Clean slate every year  Focus on spiritual concerns  Abstention from food, drink, luxury, sexual activity  Imagery of Death

 Mythic narrative remains central in yearly calendar  Commemorate great moments and tragedies through rituals

 No reference in Hebrew Bible  Victory of Maccabees over Syrian domination in 135BCE  Rededicate the Temple  Miracle of jar of oil added in Talmud

Menorah Latke-Fried Potato Pancake Dreidel

 Birthday of the Trees  Mystical Significance  Zionist Symbolism  Environmental Holiday-Jewish Earth Day

 Book of Esther  Jews of Persia saved from destruction  Draws lots to determine day to kill Jews  Diaspora story  No mention of God  Ritual  Read Scroll of Esther  Rowdy celebration

 4 minor fast days  Daylight and full-day  3 connected to catastrophe of Temple’s destruction  Tisha B’Av-saddest day on the calendar

 Israel Independence Day  Holocaust Memorial Day