The Jewish Holidays in October 2025

The Day of Atonement is considered the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.  According to tradition, it is the day on which G-d makes and seals the final decision on who will live and who will die in the coming year.  

In traditional practice, this is a fast day, with prayer and repentance for 24 hours, on the 10th day of the 7th month (Tishrei 10) ending with the visibility of the third star in the sky.

The Jewish calendar is lunar, which means the 10th day of Tishrei can occur anywhere from beginning of September to the beginning of October, depending on the year of the Jewish calendar.

Although the holiday is referred to as Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), in the Torah, it is called Yom Kippurim (Day of Atonements).

Succoth (Hebrew for "booths") is the third of the three annual harvest festivals described in the Torah, the others being Passover (Pesach) and the Feast of Weeks (Shavuoth).  By all descriptions, it was the most important of the three - in fact, in the ancient world, more important than Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur.  According to the Torah and the practices of Ezra, it was the time of the year in which the Torah was read publicly.  The holiday is celebrated beginning the 15th day of the 7th Month (Tishrei on the Jewish calendar), which is the night of the full moon and lasts for seven days.

During Succoth, those who observe the holiday live in temporary shelters - or at least have their meals in them.  The booth is not entirely enclosed - the sky is visible through the ceiling, which is decorated with fall produce.   We invite guests to dine in our booths and celebrate the harvest.  According to the Zohar (the Kabbalistic handbook) there are even seven spiritual guests associated with Succoth: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.

Among the elements the Succoth celebration are the four species of plant - the Etrog (a large citrus), and the Lulav (which comprises the other three - the palm, myrtle, and willow).  The leader holds the Etrog and Lulav and shakes them in all four compass directions, as well as up and down, reciting certain prayers to the glory of G-d.

The eighth day of Succoth is actually a different, but related holiday, Shemini Atzeret (Day of the Solemn Assembly).  The Torah links these two.  Modern Jewish practices add one more day - Simchas Torah (Rejoicing of the Torah), which celebrates the annual completion of the reading of the Torah and the beginning of reading it again.