Jewish Festival Calendar 2026

Shalom!

We hope everyone has began 2026 in good health! As we mark our new calendars with reminders and important dates, don't  forget to mark your calendar with Jewish Festival Calendar dates.  Interestingly enough the dates of Jewish holidays does not change from year to year, holidays are celebrated on the same day of the Jewish calendar every year, but the Jewish year is not the same length as a solar year on the civil calendar used by most of the western world, so the date shifts on the civil calendar. Below are the calendar dates for this year as well as a brief description. We hope you find it helpful! Happy New Year! 

Jewish Festival Calendar 2026

The Passover was instituted by God as a yearly memorial of the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  It commemorated the night in which the Lord passed through Egypt, destroying the firstborn of each family that had not applied the blood of the paschal lamb to the doorposts and lintels of their houses.  This was the last of the ten plagues which God had inflicted on Egypt, and it was the event which caused Pharaoh to relent and release the people from the bitter slavery they had endured for so many years.  The continuing observance of Passover was enjoined upon the church by Jesus himself, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).   In an unbroken line from the first Passover, the Jewish people have kept the commandment that God gave to them to observe this festival forever.

Shavuot (Pentecost)  May 21–23, 2026                   

Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) is the time for celebration of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, as well as a celebration of the offering of the first fruits of the wheat harvest in agrarian Israelite society.  This festival was celebrated seven weeks of fifty days after the Passover, hence its name in Hebrew, Shavuot (weeks) and Greek, Pentecost (fiftieth).  It was approximately fifty days after the Passover that Moses ascended up into the mountain and received the tablets of the law.  Since the people of Israel so loved the Torah of the Lord, Pentecost became a time for rejoicing in the covenantal provision of God for their order and well being.

 Rosh Hashanah        September 11–13, 2026                  

The Feast of Trumpets occurred on the first day of the month of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish religious calendar and the first month of the civil calendar.  The purpose of the Feast of Trumpets was to call all of Israel to attention in preparation for the forthcoming Day of Atonement, the highest and holiest day of the Jewish year, which followed ten days after the Feast of  Trumpets.  Israel took this time as a ten-day period of introspection and evaluation of individual conduct over the preceding year in preparation for repentance and renewal on the Day of Atonement.  The Feast of Trumpets is also considered to be the New Year for Jews throughout the world.  The theme of the blowing of trumpets (shofar) is a recurring motif that is seen throughout the Bible.                                                     

Sukkot                       September 16–23, 2026               

Sukkot also known as the Feast of Tabernacles is a week-long celebration of The fall harvest and a time to build booths (temporary shelters of branches) to remember how the Hebrew people lived under God’s care during their forty years in the wilderness. (Nehemiah 8:14-17)  The celebration is a remainder of God’s faithfulness.  It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals mentioned in the Bible.

Hanukkah                 December 4–12, 2026            

The Festival of Hanukkah is not a Biblical holiday, but it is mentioned in the Bible and Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated it.  Sometimes called the Festival of Lights, this celebration recalls a time in Israel’s history when the country successfully defeated the army of Antiochus IV in 165 BC.  Led by a priestly family, the Jewish temple was back in the hands of the Jews.  Today, Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting candles on 9 branched menorahs called Hanukkiahs. The servant candle is lit every night and then lights the other appropriate candles.