The Holy Land

Selichot at the Kotel

Selichot communal prayers are for Divine forgiveness, said during the High Holiday season or on Jewish fast days. Due to the tremendous interest in participating in the central selichot services, the decision was made this year to hold fourteen events accompanied by a cantor and amplification in order to spread the crowds and make it possible for all who wish to participate to come. The selichot services will be broadcast live on the Foundation website for those who are not able to come to the Western Wall but who wish to participate in these moving services. The Western Heritage Foundation: The recitation of selichot at the Western Wall Plaza unites the Jewish nation. All the various streams stand together pouring out their souls and accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven during these important days of atonement, calling out together – “O Master of Forgiveness, Examiner of Hearts, we have sinned before You, have mercy upon us.” We call upon the public to come say selichot earlier in the month, and not only in the last days of selichot, in order to spread the crowds and maintain the health and safety of all who come to the Western Wall. http://allaboutjerusalem.com/event/night-spectacular-and-selichot-old-city

Israel Storytelling Festival

Since 1993, Givatayim holds one of the most attractive festivals – Israel Storytelling Festival. The festival was established and is managed by the writer and theater person Yossi Alfi. Every year in the intermediate days between the first and last days of Sukkot (Hol Hamoed), Yossi gathers the best story tellers to share their personal stories with the audience. In a continuity of meetings during seven days, numerous stories driven from the social and cultural day to day life in Israel are told.

Tamar Festival

The annual Tamar Festival takes place at Masada and the Dead Sea and features some of Israel’s most prominent musicians and artists. It originated in 2000 to promote Israeli music as well as the beautiful desert landscapes. This multi-day festival includes concerts from sunrise to sunset and tickets are available online months in advance.

Kaparot at Machane Yehuda

Kaparot consists of carefully passing a chicken over one’s head three times while reciting the appropriate text. The chicken is then slaughtered in a humane fashion in accordance with the laws of kashrut. The chicken itself is discreetly donated to a charitable cause, such as a yeshiva or orphanage, where it is eaten just as any other chicken. Alternatively, the chicken is sold and its value donated. https://www.gojerusalem.com/events/250/Shuk-Kaparot/

Chayei Sarah Shabbat in Hebron

An estimated 40,000-50,000 Jews from around the world converged on the city of Hebron and its adjacent sister city, Kiryat Arba, over Shabbat in honor of Sarah, the biblical matriarch of the Jewish people.

Fast of Gedaliah

The Fast of Gedaliah is a day set aside to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed official charged with administering the Jewish population remaining in Judah following the destruction of the Temple and exile in 586 B.C.E. It is observed on the third of Tishrei (the day after Rosh Hashanah ) with a fast from sunrise to sundown, and like on other fast days, the recital of special prayers (“Anenu”) and the reading of selected biblical readings (Exodus 32:14; 34:1-10).

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of communal and personal atonement for sins committed during the past year. Fasting is one of the central components of the Yom Kippur holiday. Prayer is the other central component of the holiday. The Kol Nidrei service kicks off the holiday, and Neila comes at the very end, bookending the holy day with solemn prayer.

Jerusalem Day of Prayer for All Nations

The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is a prayer meeting organized by Pentecostal evangelists Jack W. Hayford and Robert Stearns through their organization "Eagles Wings". They annually invite people around the world to pray for Jerusalem on the first Sunday of every October, close to the time of Yom Kippur. The first prayer meeting organized by this group occurred in 2004. Hayford and Stearns organize the primary meeting in Israel. According to a CBN interview with Stearns, he believes that prayer meetings are important to combat various dangers to the Judeo-Christian worldview, such as secular humanism and Radical Islam, and he believes that Christians are especially obligated to support the State of Israel. According to "Jerusalem Newswire" a small independent Christian publication, organizers of the 2006 event claimed that they had scheduled prayer meetings to be held in 150,000 churches around the world. The coordinators scheduled for prayer meetings to be organized in 169 nations. In 2004, 500 global Christian ministries representing 50 countries and 53,000 churches said prayers for peace in Jerusalem on the same day. The organization's goal in 2006 was to have over 100 million people in over 100 countries participate in prayer meetings. The prayer meeting in Jerusalem in 2006 was held inside the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem and was attended by "hundreds of Christian lovers of Israel gathered with Jewish friends." International denominations Assemblies of God, and Elim Fellowship took part in the 2006 prayer and support the annual prayers.

Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah, a celebration of the conclusion of one and the beginning of another annual cycle of readings from the Torah. Simchat Torah conveys a clear message about the centrality of Torah in Jewish life. It is both a source of Jewish identity and a precious gift from God. Simchat Torah is the day on which the whole community gathers to come into direct contact with the Torah and to express our joy in having received it.

Shemini Atzeret

Shemini Atzeret is mentioned in the Bible, but its exact function is unclear. In Second Temple times, it appears to have been a day devoted to the ritual cleansing of the altar in the Temple. With the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, this function of the day became obsolete. Although it marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel and, therefore includes the year’s first prayer for rain.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, it’s celebrated as the head of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of God as king. The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) on both mornings of the holiday, which is normally done in synagogue as part of the day’s services but may be done elsewhere for those who cannot attend.

Diaspora Day

Welcome to Diaspora-Israel Day is a worldwide festival of Jewish Peoplehood on the 7th of Cheshvan! We invite you to celebrate your partnership in the wider Jewish world and to mark the deep bond between Jewish communities around the globe and between these communities and Israel – a bond that has lasted for thousands of years. For thousands of years Jews have lived around the world, scattered across five continents. The relationships among the Jews in each place where they settled, and between these places and the Land of Israel, underwent numerous and diverse changes over the generations. Throughout the centuries, a complex and rich dialogue has been maintained between all Jewish communities, creating a delicate and unique thread that binds Jews living in different parts of the world.  Diaspora Israel Day, which was initiated by project Domim-aLike - a joint program of the Israeli Reform movement and the Israeli government, is a holiday celebrating the ongoing connections between Jewish communities worldwide, and the continues sense of peoplehood among them. The festival cherishes thousands of years of united and full Jewish life in different locations around the world.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, which is Hebrew for “dedication,” is the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of rededicating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and restoring its menorah, or lamp. The miracle of Hanukkah is that only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil to illuminate the Temple lamp for one day, and yet it lasted for eight full days. Check out the following Hanukkah Lighting Events: New York, London, Campo del Ghetto, Hudson Valley