The Jewish feasts

Those feasts are called "pilgrimage" because it was recommended to go up to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice there.

Pessah (15 nisan/28march) the Jewish Passover is a memorial of the departure from Egypt. The most important element of this feast which is celebrated during eight days is the Seder, a liturgical meal when the departure from Egypt is remembered by the reading of the Haggadah of Easter.

Shavouoth (6 Sivan/17 May) : the Pentecost, or feast of Weeks takes place 50 days (7 weeks) after Pessah. According to the Tradition, Shavouoth is the day on which God gave the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is also on this day that the Apostles received the Holy Spirit.

Soukkot (15 tishri/21 september) : The feast of Shelters celebrates the 40 years spent in the desert under temporary dwellings, the soukkot. In all the Jewish houses, a shelter (soukka in Hebrew) is built, and the meals are taken is taken in it at least once a day.

The feast lasts for eight days and ends by Shemini Atseret, the eighth day of the Assembly, the day on which the people are praying for the rain, and then by the day of Simhat Torah (joy of the Torah), the day on which the cycle of the reading of the Torah is finished and resumed.

Rosh ha Shana (1st tishri/7 sept) : the Jewish new year celebrates the judgement of God on the world. It is an occasion to make a self-examination. During 10 days, every one tries to recognise his sins, to forgive those who sinned against him, and to come back to God, in order to receive the forgiveness on the day of Kippour.

Yom Kippour (10 tishri/16 September) : the day of Expiation is the most holy and solemn day of the year. Most of this day is spent in the synagogue, with celebrations of prayer and request for forgiveness of sins while strictly fasting.

The two most important are Pourim and Hannoukkah with liturgical addition. There is also Tou-bi-shevat, the new Year of the trees, when the renewal of nature is celebrated (15 shevat/28 janvier), Lag ba-omer, the33th day between Pessah and Shavouoth, and Tisha be-Av, a day of fasting which commemorates the destruction of the first Temple in 70 AD (9 av/18 July).

Hannoukka (25 kislev/30 November) : this feast lasts eight days and commemorates the victory of the Maccabbees over the Syrians who were willing to impose the pagan traditions of the Greek over the Jewish people (165-163 B.C.) and the dedication of the Temple purified after its profanation by the Greeks. The light of the Hannoukkah is a memorial of the candelabra of the Temple. Pourim (14 Adar/28 février) is celebrating the salvation granted to the Jews of the Empire of Persia threatened by Haman the great vizier of King Ahasuerus thanks to the intercession of Esther.

Many of these feasts are mentioned in the New Testament. The feasts with a biblical origin and Hannoukkah were celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. (Soukkot : Jn 7, 2 ; Kippour He 9, 7 ; Shavouoth, Ac 2, 1…)