1. Judaism in Review

2. What is Judaism?
A religion?
A Culture?
A Nation?
All of these.

3. Judaism as a Religion:
Clearly, there is a religion called Judaism, a set of ideas about the world and the way some people should live their lives that is called "Judaism."
It is studied in Religious Studies courses and taught to Jewish children in Hebrew schools.

4. Judaism as a culture:
Most American Jews think of their “Jewishness” as a matter of culture or ethnicity. When they think of Jewish culture, they think of the food, of the Yiddish language, holidays, and of cultural values like the emphasis on education.
Those American Jews would probably be surprised to learn that much of what they think of as Jewish culture is really just Ashkinasic Jewish culture, or the culture of Jews whose ancestors come from the middle east.
Jews have lived in many parts of the world and have developed many different traditions.

5. Judaism as a nation:
The traditional explanation, and the one given in the Torah, is that the Jews are a nation. The Torah and the rabbis used this term not in the modern sense meaning a territorial and political entity, but in the ancient sense meaning a group of people with a common history, a common destiny, and a sense that Jews are all connected to each other.

6. Jewish Holidays

7. Why do Jewish holidays keep changing dates?
Jewish holidays actually occur on the same day every year: the same day on the Jewish calendar! The Jewish calendar has a different number of days than the calendar you use because the Jewish calendar is tied to the moon's cycles instead of the sun's.

8. When does a Jewish Holiday Start and End?
a Jewish "day" starts at sunset, and holidays start the evening before the day on your secular calendar. For example, if your calendar says that Passover starts on April 24, families will be getting together for Passover dinner on the night of April 23.
A few secular calendars mark the preceding day as "Erev Passover," which basically means Passover Eve. If your calendar says "Erev" or "Eve" before a holiday name, it means the holiday starts the evening of that day and continues into the next day.

9. Passover This holiday commemorates the Exodus from Egypt.
Almost all American Jews observe Passover to some extent, even if only to go to their parents' house for a ritual dinner (called a seder, pronounced SAY-der) on the first and/or second night of the holiday.
Strictly observant Jews do not work, go to school or carry out any business on the first two and last two days of Passover.

10. Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year, the day when the year number on the Jewish calendar increases. It occurs between Labor Day and Columbus Day. It lasts for one or two days, depending on your branch of Judaism.
Many Jews who do not go to synagogue any other time of year will go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. You've heard of "twice-a-year Christians" who go to church only on Christmas and Easter? "Twice-a-year Jews" go to synagogue only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

11. Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement, a day of fasting and repentance to reconcile ourselves with the Creator for the mistakes we have made in the last year. It occurs on the ninth day after the first day of Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first day of the Jewish month; Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th), so it is usually in late September or early October, sometimes falling on Columbus Day. For obvious reasons, nobody adds an extra day to this 25-hour fast!
Most (but not all) Jews take off from work or school on this day, even ones who are not religious at other times. This is the busiest day of the year for synagogues, even though many synagogues charge for tickets to this day's services (to defray the cost of serving so many extra people).

12. Chanukkah
Chanukkah is the festival of lights, commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a successful revolt against the Seleucid Greeks. As part of the rededication, the victorious Jews needed to light the Temple's menorah (candelabrum), but they had only enough oil to last one day and it would take eight days to prepare more oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days. The miracle of the oil is commemorated with this eight-day candlelighting holiday.
The most important thing to remember about Chanukkah is that it is not Jewish Christmas, no matter what the card shops and toy stores want you to believe. Chanukkah is a very minor holiday.

13. Other Jewish Holidays Sukkot: This festival of booths
Tu B'Shevat: Jewish Arbor Day
Purim: Jewish Mardi Gras
Yom Ha-Shoah: Holocaust Memorial Day
Yom Ha-Atzma'ut: Israeli Independence Day
Yom Ha-Zikkaron: Israeli Memorial Day
Yom Yerushalayim: Jerusalem Day.
Shavu'ot: Commemorates the Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
Tisha B'Av: A fast commemorating the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and other tragedies.