Torah Holy Days and Festivals
The word feast in Hebrew means more than a big meal. It also includes the notion of an appointment, a fixed time or season, a festival, and/or an assembly convened for a purpose. New Testament references would add "a holy day." The first mention of feasts is in Genesis 1:14! There the Hebrew word is translated as seasons, but the same word used later is translated as feasts. The root of that word is me-od, time, and is used in many senses of that including divinely ordained times of observance, appointed times, and as times of natural occurences (like the setting of the sun).
All of these holidays and festivals are described in Leviticus 23:1-44 (and elsewhere, too, as noted).
Note that time-wise, everything is about seven or multiples of seven. Sabbath every seventh day. On the seventh day. For seven days or for seven times seven days (seven weeks). In the Leviticus chapter mentioned above, there are seven holidays and festivals. Seven is a biggy in the Torah representing days of Creation. The list below is not seven because I separated out some that are actually grouped together under one Torah holiday.
The holidays and festivals noted below are in the Torah. There are other Jewish remembrances and holidays that are left out because they are not in the Torah.
Sabbath
Exodus 20:8-11
The only ritual commandment in the Ten Commandments. It is to remember that God created the world, and rest and reflect. It is a weekly event starting at sundown on Friday and ending sundown on Saturday.
Passover
Exodus 12:21,26-27
Usually falls around Easter. In fact, Jesus' Last Supper was a Passover Seder. This event commemorates the Israelites putting lamb's blood on the door frames in order that the 10th plague on Egypt not take their firstborns. The celebration meal is refered to as a Seder in which food elements remind participants of what the entire event (the Exodus) must have been like.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Leviticus 23: 4-8
Exodus 13: 4-10
Numbers 28:16-25
Deuteronomy 16: 2-4, 8
Bread without yeast signifies the haste that was required to get out of Egypt. No time to let bread rise. This festival is closely connected to Passover and the Exodus.
Firstfruits
Lev 23:9-14
Also connected with Passover, this one celebrates the harvest.
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
Lev 23:15-30
Deut 16:9,16
Occurs seven weeks after Firstfruits. This celebrates the end of the harvest. It is also known as Pentecost because that time period is 50 days. Pentecost and Feast of Weeks are connected in Joel 2:28-32, Heb 3:1-5, and Acts 2:16-21.
Feast of Trumpets
Lev 23:23-25
Num 29:1-6
A celebration of the 7th new moon and the end of the agricultural year. The trumpet blasts mark the Israelite entry into a new sacred year. The trumpet blast is to have an awakening kind of shock value.
Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur
Leviticus 23:26-32
Numbers 29:7-11
Israel's most solemn holy day. It's all about atoming for one's sins. There were animal sacrifices involved, and part of the story includes the origin of the "scapegoat."
Festival of Booths - Sukot
Leviticus 23:33-43
Deuteronomy 16:13-15
Numbers 29:12-40
Five days after the Day of Atonement. Outdoor booths or huts (indoor where weather doesn't permit) are built and lived in (to various degrees) primarily to recall the Israelites journeying toward the Promised Land.
Gathering of the 8th
This would appear to be the 8th day of Sukot, but it is actually a separate holiday (but connected). It's a day devoted to the spiritual aspects of Sukot. Rabbo Paul Steinberg suggests it's a time to "store up the sentiments of gratitude and devotion acquired throughout the entire fall holiday season." It is characterized by unbridled joy and is often connected with Simchat Torah, a celebration to mark the completion of the year-long reading of the Torah and starting over again. The Simchat Torah part is not described in the Torah proper.
Click here for a summary table. Here is another summary.