Upcoming holidays with two readings: what is being celebrated — in case it is your first time — and what is customarily done. Plus Shabbat times and the day’s zmanim, calculated for Buenos Aires.
Times for Buenos Aires (Hebcal). Please confirm with your community. The calendar refreshes itself; the candle reminder arrives 20 minutes before lighting.
Parashat Bereshit
Times are astronomical calculations for Buenos Aires (source: Hebcal) and are for guidance only: customs vary between communities. When in doubt, ask your rabbi or community.
New to this? Have a look at the guides from scratch →Holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the first day shown.
The festival of lights: eight nights lighting the hanukkiah, with sufganiyot and latkes. Celebrated at home, with friends, or at public candle-lightings.
In practice: Not a yom tov: work goes on as usual. One more candle is lit each night, after sunset.
A fast recalling the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem.
In practice: Minor fast, from dawn to nightfall.
The new year of the trees: it is customary to eat fruit, especially the fruits of the land of Israel, and to plant trees.
In practice: No restrictions. Many hold a fruit seder.
The fast before Purim, recalling Queen Esther’s fast before approaching the king.
In practice: Minor fast, from dawn to nightfall.
The most playful festival of the year: costumes, the reading of the Megillah of Esther, gifts of food between friends, and tzedakah.
In practice: Megillah reading (night and day), mishloach manot, matanot la’evyonim and a festive seudah.
The festival of freedom: the seder with its four cups, the haggadah and the matzah recall the exodus from Egypt. A week without bread or leavened grain.
In practice: The first and last days are yom tov. No chametz all week; the kitchen is prepared specially.
The day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. In Israel the sirens sound and the country comes to a halt.
In practice: A day of remembrance: community ceremonies and memorial candles.
Remembrance of Israel’s fallen soldiers and the victims of terrorism, on the eve of Independence Day.
In practice: A day of remembrance; community ceremonies.
Israel’s independence day: community celebrations, music and barbecues.
In practice: Festive, with no restrictions; many say Hallel.
A festive break in the counting of the omer: bonfires, picnics and weddings.
In practice: The mourning customs of the omer are set aside.
The giving of the Torah at Sinai. It is customary to study all night and to eat dairy — cheesecake included.
In practice: Yom tov. Tikkun leil Shavuot (all-night study) and the reading of the Ten Commandments.
A fast recalling the first breach in the walls of Jerusalem; it opens the three weeks of mourning.
In practice: Minor fast, from dawn to nightfall.
The saddest day of the calendar: it recalls the destruction of both Temples of Jerusalem and other tragedies.
In practice: Full fast from the evening before. Eichah (Lamentations) is read; mourning customs apply.
The Jewish new year: two days of personal reckoning, family dinners, apple and honey for a sweet year, and the sound of the shofar.
In practice: Yom tov: work is customarily avoided. Special prayers, shofar (unless it falls on Shabbat) and simanim on the table.
A fast recalling the murder of Gedaliah and the end of Jewish autonomy after the destruction of the First Temple.
In practice: Minor fast, from dawn to nightfall.
The day of atonement, the most solemn date of the year. Many Jews who don’t observe the rest of the year come to synagogue for Kol Nidre.
In practice: Full fast from sundown the evening before. No work. It is customary to wear white.
The festival of booths: a week of eating (and for some, sleeping) in the sukkah, recalling the journey through the desert.
In practice: The first two days are yom tov. The four species (lulav and etrog) are blessed and meals are eaten in the sukkah.
The close of Sukkot: a day of its own, more inward, when the prayer for rain is said.
In practice: Yom tov. The prayer of Geshem is said; in the diaspora many still eat in the sukkah, depending on custom.
The joy of the Torah: the annual reading ends and begins again, dancing with the scrolls. One of the most festive nights of the year.
In practice: Yom tov. Hakafot (dancing circuits with the Torah) at night and during the day.