In addition to the better-known Jewish holidays, from time to time Machar marks less-widely celebrated holidays. Many American Jews don’t observe these due to time constraints or difficulty in connecting with their themes.
Tu BiSh’vat is often called the new year of the trees. It occurs on the 15th day of the month of Shevat in the Hebrew calendar, and the holiday is named for that date as expressed in Hebrew. Jews didn’t celebrate the day as a holiday in ancient times because it was a kind of tax day, helping to identify the ages of fruit-bearing trees for taxation to support the Temple in Jerusalem. In modern times, the holiday has gained importance as a way of connecting ancient Jewish traditions to our modern understanding of nature and the need to protect our environment. Jews often mark it with a special Seder meal inspired by similar ones that medieval Jewish mystics conducted using symbolic foods from the historic land of Israel. Machar occasionally holds a Seder, but we always teach our children about Tu BiSh’vat in our school, and we often participate in a social action project that connects to the holiday’s themes.
The Torah instructed ancient Israelites to count out 49 days from Passover and then to hold a celebration related to the harvesting of winter wheat in the land of Israel. That holiday is Shavuot. Its name simply means “weeks,” because seven weeks are counted off between Passover and Shavuot, and the word Shavuot itself is related to the Hebrew word for seven, sheva.
During those seven weeks, the Omer – an omer is a sheaf of wheat – was counted at the Temple in Jerusalem before its destruction. The rabbis created rules for counting the Omer that limited celebrations, and also recognized the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer that lifted those restrictions. That day was given the name of its date on the Hebrew calendar, Lag Ba’Omer.
Over time, Shavuot became connected to the biblical story of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Modern Shavuot celebrations are often marked by a special period of all-night study called the Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which means repair of the night of Shavuot, a name drawn from a book assembled by Jewish mystics that is sometimes used as the material to be studied.
As Humanistic Jews, at Machar, we don’t focus solely on traditional Jewish texts, but on the value of the broad range of Jewish and secular literature in inspiring us to act responsibly in our lives. We sometimes mark Shavuot with a nighttime learning session, though not one that takes us all the way into the next morning!
Tisha B’Av marks the anniversary of the destruction of both the First and Second temples that stood in Jerusalem in ancient days. The destruction of each temple coincidentally more than 600 years apart occurred on almost the same calendar day, the ninth day of the month of Av, and the Hebrew name of the holiday comes from the Hebrew calendar date itself. Tisha B’Av is often observed as a day of intense morning where the world is symbolically turned upside down, with rituals performed in an unusual order and different melodies and readings added to the holiday’s services.
Very, very few Humanistic Jews wish to see the restoration of a temple in Jerusalem, but at the same time recognize that Jewish history and identity was irrevocably marked by the destruction of the ancient Temples and the ensuing exile of Jews from the historic land of Israel. Many Machar members participate in social action projects at this time of year, often ones that relate to modern issues that connect to the themes of exile, dislocation, migration, or imprisonment.
Yom Ha-Shoah
International Holocaust Remembrance Day occurs in January, coinciding with the date Soviet soldiers liberated Auschwitz in 1945. The State of Israel instituted Yom Ha-Shoah. Its full name is Yom Ha-Zikkaron La-Shoah Ve-La-G’vurah, Day of Remembrance for the Holocaust and Heroism, and it is dedicated to remembering Holocaust victims and Jews who resisted Nazi occupation and persecution. The holiday falls in the spring, about two weeks after Passover’s start. Machar sometimes marks this holiday with a memorial ceremony on the nearest Shabbat, and many of our members attend community memorial ceremonies for the holiday.
Yom Ha-Atzma’ut and Yom Ha-Zikkaron
Yom Ha-Atzma’ut (“Independence Day) and Yom Ha-Zikkaron (“Remembrance Day”) are civil holidays the modern State of Israel created to commemorate their nation’s formation in 1948 and the lives of Israeli soldiers killed in military actions for the country. These holidays fall in the spring, between Yom Ha-Shoah and Shavuot, one after the other: Yom Ha-Zikkaron is followed the next day by Yom Ha-Atzma’ut. Some Machar members mark either or both of these holidays on their own or in larger communal celebrations. Others might not mark them at all; sometimes they feel it’s inappropriate because they are not Israelis themselves, and others feel it’s inappropriate because they oppose Israeli government policies or military actions.
Rosh Hashanah La-Beheimot
Like Tu BiSh’vat, Rosh Hashanah La-Beheimot began as a tax day, but instead of being used to determine tithes for fruit trees, it was used for taxing livestock. Its name in Hebrew means “new year for livestock.” Unlike Tu BiSh’vat, Rosh Hashanah La-Beheimot didn’t inspire medieval Jewish mystics to create a holiday observance. Over the last 20 years or so, Rosh Hashanah La-Beheimot inspired the creation of a holiday focusing on the importance of animals of all types in our environment, and in sustaining and enriching our lives on the Earth. Some Machar members mark this holiday by engaging in social action related to the ethical treatment of animals. This often includes volunteering at animal shelters or providing foster or adoptive homes for animals living at shelters.