Page 64 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Israel & Petra

62 ❯❯ The Top 10 of Everything

Religious Holidays
and Festivals

Holy Saturday celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Purim
Easter
1 3
Late Feb/Mar
Mar/Apr/May
This festival commemorates the Celebrated on different dates by
deliverance of the Jews of ancient the Eastern and Western churches,
Persia from annihilation. The Book Easter is a movable feast. On Good
of Esther is read in synagogues, Friday and Easter Sunday, the Via
children dress up, and parades are Dolorosa is a sight to behold. Most
held in some cities, including Holon. magnificent is the Holy Saturday
celebration in the Church of the
Passover (Pesach)
2 Holy Sepulchre (see pp12–13).
Late Mar/Apr
Eid al-Fitr
Passover, or Pesach, remembers the 4
liberation of the Jews from captivity, Mar/Apr/May/Jun
and their Exodus from Egypt. During The three-day Muslim festival of Eid
the week-long festival, Jews eat al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan,
symbolic foods, including matzah the month of fasting. It is celebrated
(unleavened bread). The first and with communal prayers, giving new
last days are official public holidays. clothes and gifts to children, and
spending time with family.
Eid al-Adha
5
May/Jun/Jul/Aug
Eid al-Adha honors Ibrahim’s
(Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice
his son to God. It also marks the
end of the Haj (pilgrimage) to Mecca.
The four-day event involves prayers,
feasts, and charitable dona tion.
New Year
6
Sep/Oct
Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New
Passover at Jerusalem’s Western Wall Year, marks the start of ten days

Eyewitness Travel – Top 10 series LAYERS PRINTED:
Two-column, 8.5pt grid “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v.1.9)
062-063_Top_10_Israel.indd 62 19/06/2017 12:58
Date 24th June 2015
Size 100mm x 191mm