Rosh Hashanah
What does "fasting" mean?
Refraining from eating food or drinking water. The Yom Kippur fast is 25 hours: from sunset to sunset.
What is a sukkah?
A hut or a booth. Sukkot (סֻכּוֹת) is the plural: many booths.
What does Simchat Torah mean? Hint: 😁
Rejoicing in the Torah, or being happy about the Torah.
What is a food we eat on Rosh Hashanah?
Apples and honey, pomegranate, round challah, fish, etc.
What is the name of the instrument we blow on the High Holidays? What is it made of?
The Shofar; the word "shofar" means "hollow" and is made by hollowing out a ram's horn. It can also be made from the horns of an antelope, a gazelle, or a goat.
"Yom Kippur" means Day of Atonement in English. What is "atonement"?
Atonement is the process of recognizing the things we've done wrong, asking for forgiveness, and making the wrongs better.
What are the names of the two items we wave around on Sukkot? What do they look like/ what are they made of?
The lulav (לולב) and etrog (אתרוג). An etrog looks like a bumpy lemon and is a citron; symbolizes the heart. A lulav is series of branches bound together. It's made up of palm fronds, myrtle (הדס), and willow (ערבה) branches. Together, the lulav and the etrog are the four species, or the arba-at haminim ארבעת המינים.
What are we celebrating on Simchat Torah? Bonus: what is the name of the first book of the Torah?
Finishing reading the whole Torah for the year, and then starting again. Bonus: Bereishit, or Genesis.
We read the story of Jonah during the afternoon of Yom Kippur. In the story, who or what eats Jonah?
A whale, or large fish.
What is another name for Rosh Hashanah? (There are several.)
Birthday of the World ("Hayom Harat Olam"), Yom Teruah ("Day of Blasting"- as in blasting the shofar), Yom HaDin ("Day of Judgment"), Yom HaZikaron ("Day of Remembrance").
What color do the Rabbi, Cantor, and the Torahs "wear" on Yom Kippur?
White, to represent purity and cleanness. It's traditional for all Jews to try and wear white on Yom Kippur.
What goes on top of a sukkah? Bonus: what's the Hebrew name for it?
Branches or palm leaves or bamboo. Plant material that's thick enough to shade you from the sun, but sparse enough to see the stars and allow rain in. The Hebrew word is shakh (סכך).
What is a traditional treat we eat on Simchat Torah?
Candy (or caramel) apples. Represents the sweetness of studying Torah.
Chag (חַג), chag sameach (חַג שָׂמֵחַ).
Name one of the notes we play on the Shofar.
Tekiyah, shevarim, Teru'ah, tekiyah g'dolah.
What is the Hebrew word for "return" that we use to mean "repentance," or saying sorry?
Teshuvah, תְשׁוּבָה. It's the process we go through between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur where we try to return to G-d and to our best selves. Maimonides (Rambam) says there are 4 steps to teshuvah: 1) Regretting or feeling bad about what you did, 2) Stop doing it, 3) Saying you're sorry, 4) Making a plan not to do the thing again.
Sukkot is one of three Jewish harvest holidays. What is a harvest and what are the other two Jewish harvest holidays?
A harvest is when certain crops ripen and are gathered. In the time of the Temple, Jews would travel with their harvest to give offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem. The other two harvest holidays are Passover and Shavuot. The harvest holidays are also sometimes called the Shalosh Regalim (שלוש רגלים), or Pilgrimage festivals.
What is the name of the last book of the Torah?
Devarim (דְּבָרִים), or Deuteronomy. Devarim means "words," as in "the words of Moses."
What is the Hebrew date of Yom Kippur?
The 10th of Tishrei. (Yom Kippur is ten days after the start of Rosh Hashanah.)
Tishrei. תִּשְׁרֵי
What is the Hebrew word for "mistake" or "bad deed"? We confess to a bunch of these during the "viduui" on Yom Kippur.
"Chet," חֵטְא. We confess to things like lying, disrespecting our parents, gossiping, being mean to others.
What is the meaning of the sukkah?
On Sukkot, we remember that after leaving Egypt, the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years. When they were tired, they built huts (sukkot) for shade and rest. The huts were not very big and not very comfortable. The sukkah also reminds us of the huts the Israelite farmers built in the fields during the harvest, and shelters the Jews built in Jerusalem during their pilgrimage to the Holy Temple.
What is a hakafah?
A circle. We do seven hakafot on Simchat Torah, where we parade with the Torahs and sing and dance.
What are ushpizin?
"Ushpizin" is an Aramaic word for "guests." We invite our Jewish foreparents to join us in the sukkah on Sukkot. The Ushpizin are: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and King David. The Ushpizot (female guests) are: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Hannah, and Queen Esther.