Judaism
The major Jewish holidays are the Pilgrim Festivals—Pesaḥ (Passover), Shavuot (Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost), and Sukkoth (Tabernacles)—and the High Holidays—Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The observance of all the major holidays is required by the Torah and work is prohibited for the duration of the holiday (except on the intermediary days of the Pesaḥ and Sukkoth festivals, when work is permitted to avoid financial loss). Purim (Feast of Lots) and Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication), while not mentioned in the Torah (and therefore of lesser solemnity), were instituted by Jewish authorities in the Persian and Greco-Roman periods. They are sometimes regarded as minor festivals because they lack the work restrictions of the major festivals. In addition, there are the five fasts—ʿAsara be-Ṭevet (Fast of Ṭevet 10), Shivaʿ ʿAsar be-Tammuz (Fast of Tammuz 17), Tisha be-Av (Fast of Av 9), Tzom Gedaliahu (Fast of Gedaliah), and Taʿanit Esther (Fast of Esther)—and the lesser holidays (i.e., holidays the observances of which are few and not always clearly defined)—such as Rosh Ḥodesh (First Day of the Month), Ṭu bi-Shevaṭ (15th of Shevaṭ: New Year for Trees), and Lag ba-ʿOmer ... (201 of 86,975 words)The Jewish holidays