beta-gershom.org

בית גרשום

We offer here various links relating to Jewish Holidays. We hope that you will find these useful and a vehicle to "Celebrate the Jew in You". Even if you consider yourself non-Jewish, celebrating Jewish Holidays, particularly as you are a descendant of Jews, is not only acceptable according to Torah, but highly desirable. Enjoy! :

http://www.aish.com/holidays (Aish.com - "The Jewish Website")

http://www.ou.org/holidays (Orthodox Union website)

http://urj.org/holidays/jcal (Union for Reform Judaism website)

Our favorite Holiday links..., to www.BirthrightIsrael.com :

High Holy Days (Rosh Ha Shannah and Yom Kippur) : 1-2 Tishrei
Yom Kippur: 10 Tishrei

Time to reflect and
look ahead to a new year.
As the High Holy Days approach we encourage our visitors to reflect and repair, to seek forgiveness and make amends with God and neighbor, to make charity and care for the poor a priority in our lives. With this in mind, we provide a link to sites focusing on repair and charity: http://www.ziv.org (Zedaka fund)





Sukkot : 16-22 Tishrei
Simchat Torah (Rejoicing on the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai: Tishrei 23
We are people of the desert so it is fitting
that we commemorate the forty years of
wandering through the desert to Israel.





Hanukah: 25 Kislev - 3 Tevet
Hanukah is not a biblically mandated feast. However since the Maccabeean victory over the Greeks the Jewish people celebrate the great miracle that occurred at that time, when the menorah remained lit for eight days, even with insufficient oil, until a Israelite freedom fighter was able to bring new oil to rededicate the Temple.





Tu B'Shvat : 15 Shvat





Purim: 13-15 Adar





Passover : 15-22 Nissan
Why is this holiday different from all others? Matzah, singing, multiple cups of wine and ... matzah!
Celebrate Passover this year!! Whether Jew or Gentile, it shall be for a blessing! If you have never celebrated Passover or are not sure how to conduct the seder ("the passover order"), don't worry! Download one of our simplified Passover Haggadahs (a Haggadah is a script or "telling" which takes you step by step thru the Passover celebration). Click on one these:
Passover Seder Guide from Birthright Israel.
Passover Seder Guide from United Jewish Communities (www.ujc.org).




Independence Day/Yom Ha'atzmaut: 5 Iyar
May 10th, 2011
Israel Independence Day marks
the day when David Ben Gurion and a
handful of Jewish leaders declared the
Independent State of Israel.
.





Shavuot: 6-7 Sivan
Moses brings the Ten Commandments to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai after Exodus from Egypt.





Tisha B'Av : 9 Av
Both the First and Second Temples destroyed on the same day...not to mention when Jews got expelled from Spain in 1492 CE, and when they were locked into the Warsaw Ghetto in WW II.