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Jewish holidays

Illustrative: A family seen during the Passover Seder on the first night of the eight-day long Jewish holiday. (Nati Shohat/Flash 90)
April 1, 2026, 4:26 am
Trade war meets tradition: Canadian Jews confront a Manischewitz-free Passover
The ban on American booze, which came in response to the country’s tariffs, has ‘created a meaningful opening’ for Israeli wineries in Canada, according to a wine executive
By Joseph Strauss
A man wearing a wolf costume with his daughter dressed as Little Red Riding Hood shops at a stall in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, which was operating at limited capacity because of the war with Iran, during Purim in Jerusalem, March 4, 2026. (Theia Chatelle/ JTA)
March 4, 2026, 7:52 pm
Jerusalem marks a wartime Purim a day later than most, a tradition born in what is now Iran
With special status as a walled city during the time of the megilah story, the Israeli capital celebrates Shushan Purim with costumes, feasting and periodic runs to the bomb shelter
By Theia Chatelle
Clergy at Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas perform a parody of 'Y.M.C.A' on March 1, 2026. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
March 3, 2026, 3:20 pm
At this Dallas synagogue, Purim comes with fog machines, zip lines and Broadway flair
For the past 8 years, Rabbi Adam Roffman has brought his music theater chops to the annual performance at Congregation Shearith Israel – and doubled its attendance in this Bible Belt community
By Grace Gilson
A clown performs at a park in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood, March 2, 2026 (Zev Stub/Times of Israel)
March 3, 2026, 6:10 am
In Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, levelheadedness and levity prevail as rockets fly
Amid Purim preparations, residents express optimism over ongoing war with Iran as they enjoy the pleasant weather between scattered showers of missiles
By Zev Stub
A Hanukkah celebration in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland, December 14, 2025. (Courtesy Mushky Feldman via JTA)
December 21, 2025, 2:49 am
In Reykjavik, a Hanukkah lighting illuminates a tiny community in times of darkness
With daylight in short supply and in the aftermath of the devastating terror attack in Bondi Beach, Iceland’s Jews celebrate the holiday amid heightened security rare in the pastoral country
By Jenna Gottlieb
Jean Meltzer, author of 'The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.' (Courtesy)
December 19, 2025, 10:02 am
Let Jean Meltzer’s new Hanukkah-themed romance put the spark in your Festival of Lights
The American Jewish author and onetime rabbinical student adds to the winter holiday canon with ‘The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah,’ the People of the Book’s answer to ‘A Christmas Carol’
By Rich Tenorio
Israeli firefighters at a blaze in the West Bank settlement of Mevo Horon in November 2025 (Israel Fire and Rescue)
December 17, 2025, 9:25 am
As Israeli families kindle Hanukkah lights, fire safety awareness is a burning issue
Strict building codes and construction practices put fire-related deaths in Israel among the lowest in the world, but negligence is a leading cause of home blazes, especially during the holidays
By Zev Stub
Bereaved mother Galit Dan speaks at the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre, in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park, on October 7, 2025. (Benny Rutloy/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
October 8, 2025, 4:44 pm
As October 7 and Sukkot coincide, Israelis struggle to reconcile grief and joy
Communities and individuals struggle over how – and when – to mark one of the Hebrew calendar’s most festive holidays, now also one of its darkest days
By Deborah Danan
New books out for the High Holidays in 2025 include ones about celebrations in Hong Kong and Uganda. (Collage by Ilana Zahavy via JTA)
September 23, 2025, 1:04 am
New High Holidays children’s books take place in Uganda, Hong Kong and a Sephardic home
This new crop of kids titles is perfect for this time of celebration and reflection, starting anew and welcoming guests
By Penny Schwartz
A collage of events that happened in the past year, 5785. (JTA illustration by Grace Yagel)
September 22, 2025, 4:49 pm
What are Jews in the pews most hungry to hear this new year? Rabbis weigh in
In a time of turmoil in the United States and Israel, clergy offer High Holiday messages of hope and resilience
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Right-wing and left-wing activists protest and clash at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, ahead of the Jerusalem Day Flag March, May 26, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 2, 2025, 8:39 pm
Israelis lament, and cling to, societal divides on a holiday mourning ancient disunity
Increasingly riven by the ongoing war in Gaza, secular and religious, left and right are all mourning on Tisha B’Av – but for vastly different reasons
By Deborah Danan
101-year-old Hilbert Margol, a World War II veteran who served in the US Army's 42nd Infantry Division, which liberated Dachau. (Benjamin Mack-Jackson)
April 14, 2025, 3:47 pm
101-year-old WWII veteran recalls US Army’s seder night, weeks before liberating Dachau
Hilbert Margol still regularly speaks about the atrocities he saw firsthand at the notorious Nazi concentration camp as a young US soldier: ‘We didn’t understand what we were seeing’
By Benjamin Mack-Jackson
Streit's co-owners Aaron Gross, far left, and Aron Yagoda, far right, give two young visitors a tour of the matzah factory. (Courtesy Streit's via JTA)
April 11, 2025, 4:36 am
How your matzah gets made: A peek inside NY’s Streit’s factory
First opened in New York’s Lower East Side a century ago, the US bakery now supplies ritual Passover flat breads to seder tables as far away as Europe, South Africa and Israel
By Joseph Strauss
School kids, their teachers and parents dressed up in costumes seen at the Gabrieli Carmel School in Tel Aviv, ahead of the the Jewish holiday of Purim, March 13, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
March 13, 2025, 5:50 pm
Jewish kids in Israel and beyond dress up as Batman for Purim to honor the Bibas boys
Schoolchildren also don orange capes in tribute to slain brothers and their mother Shiri; thanking supporters, family says ‘you’ve shown us that Ariel and Kfir will never leave us’
By PHILISSA CRAMER
Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle, co-authors of 'Sabor Judio: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook.' (I. Rabchinskey /courtesy The University of North Carolina Press)
December 25, 2024, 9:18 am
Latkes con mole and other delicacies feature in this Mexican-Ashkenazi fusion cookbook
‘Sabor Judío’ by Ilan Stavans and Margaret E. Boyle contains more than just recipes from Eastern European immigrants to Mexico – it also dishes up a slice of Jewish history
By Penny Schwartz
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