Page 65 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Israel & Petra

Religious Holidays and Festivals ❮❮ 63

of prayer. The Muslim New Year
begins on the first day of Muharram. TOP 10 RELIGIOUS FAITHS
January 1 is not a public holiday. 1 Judaism
The oldest Abrahamic religion is based
Yom Kippur
7 on a covenantal relationship between
God and the Jewish people.
Sep/Oct
The Day of Atonement, marking 2 Samaritans
the end of the ten days of penitence A dissident sect of Judaism, Samaritans
that begin on Rosh HaShanah, is live either in Nablus or Holon and now
Judaism’s most solemn day. Many number just over 700.
Jews fast from sundown to sundown. 3 Karaites
In Jewish areas no one drives, and A subsect of Judaism dating back to
pedestrians and cyclists take over. the 8th century, Karaites believe that
only the written Torah is binding.
Sukkot
8 About 40,000 live in Israel.
Late Sep/Oct
4 Orthodox Christianity
Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Greeks are the dominant Orthodox
this joyous seven-day holiday honors group in Jerusalem. Russians, Ethiopians,
both the fall harvest and the 40 years and Armenians also have a presence.
the Children of Israel spent in the 5 Catholicism
desert after the Exodus. Observant The Latin church arrived in Jerusalem
Jews erect a sukkah (temporary with the Crusaders.
shel ter) on rooftops and balconies. 6 Islam
Founded by the Prophet Mohammad,
Islam conquered the Holy Land six
years after his death in 638 AD.
7 Druze
The Druze split from Islam in the 11th
century; a central tenet is the “oneness
of God.” About 120,000 live in Israel.
8 Circassian
Fleeing Russian persecution in the
Caucasus, this Sunni Muslim group
arrived in Ottoman Palestine in the late
A sukkah built on a balcony 1800s. They live in two Galilee villages.
Hanukkah
9 9 Ahmadiyya
A revivalist Islamic sect founded in
Late Dec
The Jewish Festival of Lights 1889, who believe that Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad is the Messiah.
commemorates the re-consecration 10 Baha’i
of the Temple in Jerusalem during The Baha’i believe in the unity of all
the Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BC), religions. The sect is based in Haifa,
and lasts eight days. Each night, while its holiest site is in Akko.
families light a hannukiya (candel-
abrum), one candle on the first night,
two on the second, and so on.
Christmas
0
Dec/Jan
Western and Eastern churches
celebrate Christmas at different
times. Each denomination also has
its own traditions of prayer services
and processions. On December 24,
Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch leads Orthodox church, Jerusalem
a procession to Bethlehem.

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