Jewish Holiday Calendar

Jewish Holidays

The Festivals and Fasts of the Jewish Year

Next up: Hanukkah, Friday evening, December 4, 202625 Kislev 5787In 36 days

The Torah calls the festivals of Israel mo'adim, appointed times (Leviticus 23:2). Here you will find the coming date of each festival and fast, and a page for each one with its laws, prayers and customs.

The Jewish year is built around its holidays. Each one has its own date in the Hebrew calendar, its own mitzvot and its own message, and together they turn the year into a journey: from the Days of Awe in the fall, through the lights of Hanukkah and the joy of Purim in winter, to Passover and Shavuot in spring and the summer days of mourning for Jerusalem.

Because the Hebrew calendar follows the moon, the holidays move on the regular calendar from year to year. Every holiday page shows the dates for the next three years, with the Hebrew date.

Every guide here follows halacha and answers the questions people actually ask: what is permitted, who is exempt from a fast, which blessing to say and how to prepare. Choose a holiday to begin.

Holiday Calendar

Winter

Hanukkah

Evening Dec 4 - Dec 12, 2026

25 Kislev - 2 Tevet 5787

Eight nights of lights and the miracle of the oil

Tenth of Tevet

Sunday, Dec 20, 2026

10 Tevet 5787

The fast for the siege of Jerusalem

Tu Bishvat

Saturday, Jan 23, 2027

15 Shevat 5787

The New Year for trees and the fruits of the Land

Purim

Evening Mar 22 - Mar 23, 2027

14 Adar II 5787

The Megillah, mishloach manot and gifts to the poor

Spring

Passover

Evening Apr 21 - Apr 29, 2027

15-22 Nisan 5787

The Exodus, the Seder and eight days of matzah

Counting the Omer

Apr 23 - Jun 10, 2027

16 Nisan - 5 Sivan 5787

Forty-nine days counted from Passover to Shavuot

Yom HaZikaron

Tuesday, May 11, 2027

4 Iyar 5787

Remembering the fallen soldiers and victims of terror

Lag BaOmer

Evening May 24 - May 25, 2027

18 Iyar 5787

The day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the bonfires

Shavuot

Evening Jun 10 - Jun 12, 2027

6-7 Sivan 5787

The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai

Summer

17th of Tammuz

Thursday, Jul 22, 2027

17 Tammuz 5787

The fast that opens the Three Weeks

The Three Weeks

Jul 22 - Aug 12, 2027

17 Tammuz - 9 Av 5787

Three weeks of mourning for the Temple

Tisha B'Av

Evening Aug 11 - Aug 12, 2027

9 Av 5787

The saddest day of the year, the fast for the Temple

Tu B'Av

Wednesday, Aug 18, 2027

15 Av 5787

A day of joy and of finding one's match

Fall

The Month of Elul

Sep 3 - Oct 1, 2027

1-29 Elul 5787

A month of selichot and teshuvah before the Days of Awe

Rosh Hashanah

Evening Oct 1 - Oct 3, 2027

1-2 Tishrei 5788

The Jewish New Year, the shofar and the Day of Judgment

Fast of Gedaliah

Monday, Oct 4, 2027

3 Tishrei 5788

A dawn-to-nightfall fast the day after Rosh Hashanah

Yom Kippur

Evening Oct 10 - Oct 11, 2027

10 Tishrei 5788

The Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year

Sukkot

Evening Oct 15 - Oct 22, 2027

15-21 Tishrei 5788

Seven days in the sukkah, with the four species

Simchat Torah

Evening Oct 22 - Oct 24, 2027

22-23 Tishrei 5788

Dancing with the Torah as we finish and begin again

Frequently Asked Questions

The holidays of the Torah are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot with Shemini Atzeret, Passover and Shavuot. The Sages added Hanukkah and Purim. The year also has fast days: four connected to the destruction of the Temple (the Fast of Gedaliah, the Tenth of Tevet, the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av) and the Fast of Esther before Purim.

The Hebrew calendar is lunar, with months of 29 or 30 days, and a leap month (Adar II) is added seven times in every 19 years to keep the holidays in their seasons. A holiday always has the same Hebrew date, but its date on the regular calendar shifts from year to year.

A Jewish day begins in the evening, so a holiday starts at sunset on the evening before its date and ends at nightfall. The minor fasts are different: they begin at dawn and end at nightfall on the same day. Exact times depend on where you live.

In the time of the Sanhedrin, the new month was declared in Jerusalem, and distant communities could not always learn the date in time, so they kept two days out of doubt. The Sages made this a lasting custom. Outside Israel, the festival days of Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot are kept for two days. Rosh Hashanah is two days everywhere.