The Torah describes five major holidays:

1. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.

2. Yom Kippur is The Day of Atonement.

3. Sukkot is the autumn festival and is the reminder of God's continuing blessings.

4. Pesach celebrates the coming of spring and commemorates the exodus from Egypt.

5. Shavuot marks the Spring harvest and celebrates the giving of Torah at Sinai.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are celebrated in autumn and foster personal and communal self-evaluation and celebrate new beginnings. Together they are called the Yamim Nora'im, The Days of Awe.

The three other Torah mandated festivals are collectively known as the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. In ancient times, Jews would walk to Jerusalem bringing sacrifices to the Temple.

Two festivals commemorating historical events:

1. Purim  celebrates the defeat of an enemy who tried to destroy the Jewish people. The story is recalled in the Book of Esther.

2. Chanukah celebrates a military uprising and the recapturing of the Holy Temple.

Other minor festivals, fast days and commemoration fill the Jewish calendar. In recent years it has been expanded to include Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day.

The Jewish festival cycle reflects the same as three themes that appear in the Torah. The autumn holidays, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and concluding with Sukkot, reflect the theme of the creation. Pesach, the early spring festival, reflects the theme of redemption; the historical redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt and the hope for ultimate redemption when the world will be perfected under the Kingdom of God. Shavuot reflects a theme of a revelation, the giving of Torah at Sinai.

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