An Introduction to Jewish Feasts

A feast is a sign of the divine in history. Israel celebrated three kinds of feasts: pilgrimage feasts, solemn or repentance feasts, and lesser feasts not mandated by the Torah. All of these commemorated God's action in the life and history of the community. Like all peoples and all religions, Israel introduces rhythms into the cycle of time by means of recurring feasts. These include feasts in the full and proper sense, the "pilgrimage feasts" (pesa, shavuot, and sukkot), the solemn, that is, sober or austere feasts (ro'sh hashshanah and yom kippur), and the lesser feasts (anukkah and purim). The differences between the three kinds of feasts are in their degree of theological density or weight. The pilgrimage feasts (the only ones that merit the appellation ag,"feast") celebrate and actualize the great three-fold saving event in Israel's history: the Exodus, the Mosaic covenant, and the entrance into the Promised Land. They are therefore the most important of all the feasts; they …