Overview of Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot

There are three Jewish Feasts which occur in the fall. Those three feasts are:

1. Rosh HaShanah, also called the Feast of Trumpets
2. Yom Kippur, also called the Day of Atonement
3. Sukkot, also called the Feast of Tabernacles

These three feasts occur in the same month and within a few days of each other. These three feasts occur near the harvest of the fall crops and they all occur in the seventh month, called Tishrei. Rosh HaShanah (which literally means ‘head of the year’) takes place on Tishrei 1 and is the only Jewish feast which takes place on the first day of a month. The Jewish civil calendar and the new year begins on this day.

Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th of Tishrei and the period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are called the ‘High Holy Days’. These ten days are also called the Days of Awe and are the most holy and sacred religious days for the Jewish people. During Biblical times, Yom Kippur was the only day of the year, when the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and offer the animal blood sacrifice to God, to atone for the sins of the people.

Five days after Yom Kippur, the Feast of Tabernacles would begin on Tishrei 15; this feast lasted seven days. The two earlier feasts and the Days of Awe were solemn and holy days. After those days were past, the Jewish people looked forward to the Feast of Tabernacles with great joy and excitement. Each Jewish family would build a sukkah (or temporary tabernacle) where they would eat their meals and even sleep. The word for more than one sukkah is sukkot, so this feast was also called Sukkot, or Tabernacles. The purpose of this week-long feast was to be thankful for the harvest which had just been completed and to remember how God took care of the children of Israel, when they wandered in the desert for 40 years and lived in temporary tabernacles, or tents.

For additional information, see the teaching for each specific feast.