Chanukah Culture/religion: Judaism Date: December 18-26 Chanukah is the Jewish eight-day festival of lights, celebrated each night with menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. Chanukah means “dedication” in Hebrew and is named as such because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple. In second century BCE, Judah the Maccabee drove the Greeks from … [Read more...] about Cultural and religious observances – December 18-25, 2022
National Native American Indian Heritage Month Culture/religion: National observance Date: November Native American Heritage Month has evolved from a week-long celebration when president Ronald Reagan proclaimed November 23-30 as “American Indian Week” to a month-long celebration in 1990 when president George H.W. Bush issued a proclamation designating the month of … [Read more...] about Cultural and religious observances – November 1-6, 2022
Yom HaShoah Culture/religion: Judaism Date: April 28 Yom Hashoah, known by the full name of Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah (“Day of (Remembrance of) Holocaust and the Heroism”), is a day of commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. The day is observed on the 27th day in the month of Nisan – a week after the seventh day of Passover. The date of Yom Hashoah was … [Read more...] about Cultural and religious observances – April 25-May 1, 2022
Purim Culture/religion: Judaism Date: March 17 Purim is a Jewish festival celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar. The celebration commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day,” as told in the Megillah … [Read more...] about Cultural and religious observances – March 14-20, 2022
African American Heritage Month Culture/religion: National observance Date: February African American History Month, also known as Black History Month, evolved out of “Negro History Week,” which was first celebrated in 1926, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History* (ASNLH). The ASHLH chose the second week of February to celebrate Negro … [Read more...] about Cultural and religious observances – January 31-February 6, 2022