Here are some scripture references to Jewish holidays. You will find other links on our Resource Page - http://www.kehilat.org/resources.asp that will help you understand their traditional and historical significance.
Each Biblical holiday proclaims Messiah Yeshua and gives us opportunity to experience the joy of knowing Him!
Rosh Chodesh
This is an observance for the 1st day of every Hebrew month and referenced in Numbers 10:10. It is an observance that is to be a {Hebrew: zik-rone'} memorial, reminder or remembrance. Each new month gives opportunity for a new beginning.
The Biblical New Year
Nisan 1
The observance of the first day of the Hebrew year according to Scripture in Exodus 12:2
The Feasts of the Lord
Leviticus 23: 1 - And HaShem spoke to Mosheh, saying,
2 - "Speak to the son’s of Yisrael, and say to them: `The feasts {ydef3Om > moed ‘set times’) of HaShem, which you shall proclaim to be holy assembly {wd,qo yxerAq4mi > miq/rae qodesh), these are My set times.
Shabbat (Seventh Day of the Week)
Leviticus 23:3 - Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a holy assembly. You shall do no work on it; it is the Shabbat of HaShem in all your dwellings.
Exodus 20:8-11 - "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Exodus 31:16-17 - 'Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
Deut 5:12-15 - 'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Pesach (Passover)
Abib/Nisan 14 at evening
Leviticus 23:4 - `These are the set times of HaShem, holy assemblies which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
5 - `On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is HaShem's Pesach.
Hag Matzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread)
Abib/Nisan 15-21
Leviticus 23:6 - `And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Matzot {tOcZma0ha gHa > hag ham/matzot) to HaShem; seven days you must eat matzot.
7 - `On the first day you shall have a holy assembly; you shall do no customary work on it.
8 - `But you shall
offer an offering madeby fire to HaShem {hvhyla hw,.xi MT,b;r1q4hiv4 > vehaq/rav/tem ish/sheh la/HaShem ‘you shall come near the fire of HaShem’) for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy assembly; you shall do no customary work on it.'"
Hag Shevuot - (Feast of Weeks )
and Counting of the Omer
Yom HaBikkurim (Day of First Fruits)
Leviticus 23:9 - And HaShem spoke to Mosheh, saying,
10 - "Speak to the son’s of Yisrael, and say to them: `When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits {Mk,r4yciq4 tywixr2 rm,fo > omer reshit qe/zir/kem ‘measure/bundle of beginning harvest’) of your harvest to the kohen.
11 - `He shall wave the bundle before HaShem, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Shabbat the Cohen shall wave it.
12 - `And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the bundle, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, to be laid on the altar of HaShem {hvhyla hlAfol; >le/olah le/HaShem).
13 - `Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah (19.33 qts) of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to HaShem, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin (about a qt of wine).
14 - `You shall eat neither lechem nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to Eloheka; it shall be a established forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 - `And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
16 - `Count fifty days to the day after the seventh shabbatot; then you shall offer a new grain offering {hwAd!HE hHAn;mi > min/chah cha/dashah ‘new gift/tribute’) to HaShem.
17 - `You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits {Myd9UKBi > bik/kudim) to HaShem.
18 - `And you shall offer with the lechem seven lambs, sons of the first year, without blemish, one young bull (rq!BA-NB, rpaU> uphar ben-baqar ‘bull, son of a cow’), and two rams. They shall be laid on the altar of HaShem, with their
grainofferings and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to HaShem.19 - `Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a slip-up {txFA0Hal; > le/chat/tat)
offering, and two lambs, sons of the first year as a sacrifice of a peaceoffering{MymilAw; Hbaz,l; > le/zavach she/lamim ‘slain flesh of peace’).20 - `The Cohen shall wave {Jynihev4 > ve/haniph) them with the lechem of the firstfruits as a wave offering {hpAUnT4 > te/nuphah ‘a shaking’) before HaShem, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to HaShem for the kohen.
21 - `And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy assembly to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. ( This is Shevuot)
22 - `When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am HaShem Eloheka.'"
Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing or Shouting). Also known as Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year).
Tishri 1 (1st Day of the Seventh Month)
Leviticus 23:23 - Then HaShem spoke to Mosheh, saying,
24 - "Speak to the son’s of Yisrael, saying: `In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a shabbat-rest {NoOtBAwa > shab/baton), a memorial of blowing of trumpets {hfAUrT4 NOrk;zi > zik/ron te/ruah ‘a loud noise of memory/remembrance’),
a holy assembly. (This is Yom Teruah)
25 - `You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall
offer an offering madeby fire to HaShem'" {hvhyla hw,.xi MT,b;r1q4hiv4 > ve/hiq/rav/tem isheh la/HaShem ‘and you approach/come near HaShem’s fire’)
Yom Kippur (Day of Covering/Atonement)
Tishri 10
Leviticus 23:26 - And HaShem spoke to Mosheh, saying:
27 - "Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be Yom Kippurim. It shall be a holy assembly for you; you shall afflict your souls {Mk,ytewop;n1-tx, Mt,yn9fil4 > ve/initem et-naph/shotekem ‘laboriously afflict/humiliate your soul’), and
offer an offering made by fire to HaShem{hvhyla hw,.xi MT,b;r1q4hiv4 > ve/hiq/rav/tem isheh la/HaShem ‘and you approach/come near HaShem’s fire’).28 - "And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is Yom Kippurim, to make covering for you before HaShem Eloheka.
29 - "For any person who is not afflicted/humiliated in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people{hAym,0fame htAr4k;niv4 hUha MOy0ha Mc,f,B; hn40fut4-xlo rw,xE wp,n@0ha-lkA yKi ki kol-han/nephesh asher lo-te/un/neh be/ezem hay/yom ha/ua ve/niker/tah meam/meha ‘for all the souls who do not exercise-affliction/humiliation, as a matter of fact, this day shall be cut from their people’).
30 - "And any person who does any work {dkAxlAm; > me/lakad ‘service/prescribed work’) on that same day {MOy0ha Mc,f,B > be/ezem hay/yom ‘matter of fact on that day’), that person I will destroy {yTid4baxEhav4 >ve/ha/avad/ti ‘I will lose him) from among his people.
31 - "You shall do no manner of work; it shall be established forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 - "It shall be to you a shabbat of solemn rest, and you shall afflicted/humilated your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your shabbat." (This is Yom Kippor)
Hag Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles - Also known as Feast of Booths or Ingathering)
Shemini Atzeret (The Eighth day of Assembly)
Tishri 15-25
Leviticus 23:33 - Then HaShem spoke to Mosheh, saying,
34 - "Speak to the son’s of Yisrael, saying: `The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles {tOKsu0ha gHa > hag has/suk/kot) for seven days to HaShem.
35 -`On the first day there shall be a holy assembly. You shall do no customary work on it.
36 - `For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to HaShem. On the eighth day (Shemnini Atzeret) you shall have a holy assembly, and
you shall offer an offering made by fire to HaShem{hvhyla hw,.xi Ubydiq4Ta > taq/rivu ish/sheh la/HaShem ‘you shall approach/come near HaShem’s fire’). It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.37 - `These are the set times of HaShem which you shall proclaim to be holy assemblies, to approach/come near/draw near to the fire of HaShem, with what is to be laid on the altar, a gift, a flesh sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day–{OmOyB; MOy-rbaD; > de/var-yom be/yomo ‘everything on its day -or- days word in it’s day’),
38 - `besides the Sabbaths of HaShem, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to HaShem.
39 - `Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of HaShem for seven days; on the first day there shall be a shabbat-rest, and on the eighth day a shabbat-rest.
40 - `And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before HaShem Eloheka for seven days. (Lulav & Etrog)
41 - `You shall celebrate it as a feast to HaShem for seven days in the year. It shall be established forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 - `You shall dwell in a sukkah {tKosu0Ba > bas/suk/kot) for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in sukkot,
43 - `that your generations may know that I made the son’s of Yisrael dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Mitsraim: I am HaShem Eloheka.'"
44 - So Mosheh declared to the son’s of Yisrael the feasts of HaShem.
Other Celebrations
Hanukkah (“The Feast of Dedication”) (Also known as The Festival of Lights)
Kislev 25 - Cheshvan 4This holiday is to commemorate the re-dedication of the Temple during the time of the Maccabees. The story tells of the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days when there was only enough for 1 day. You will find it referenced in John 10:22-23, the Book of Maccabees and other historical documents.
Purim ("The Feast of Esther" )
Adar 14This is a celebration that tells the story of Esther (Hadassah) as read in the Book of Esther. It honors her for her willingness to sacrifice her own safety to bring deliverance to her people.