Holiday Celebrations in Judaism   

On this page we will collect sacred texts, rituals, art, poetry, ideas for liturgy, stories, and more from Judaism so that we can expand everyone's understanding of each holiday and open people up to new ways of celebrating.

Here are a few of the guides we've created so far:

2010 Passover Guide - A Haggadah Supplement NOT A Replacement!

2009 High Holidays Workbook

2009 Chanukah Guide - Celebrate the World’s First Recorded National Liberation Struggle!

We need your help to make much more of this happen. Do you have a special way of celebrating a holiday from your faith that you'd be willing to share with the Tikkun and NSP communities? If so, please click here and tell us about it.

Freedom from Slavery -- Today

Each year as we observe Passover, we recall the story of the Jewish people's enslavement in the land of Pharaoh and we celebrate our freedom from bondage.  It is difficult for many of us, however, to identify personally with this experience of slavery which occurred so very long ago. Why is it essential for us to repeat this story every year?

By imagining and experiencing the pain and difficulties of enslavement, we learn to value the worth of being a free people.  We develop an understanding of oppression and a yearning to celebrate freedom, not just for ourselves but for all peoples.

Incredibly, in 2010, there are 27 million slaves in the world.  Slavery is not legal anywhere, but it can be found in many countries.  Although 14,500 slaves are trafficked into the United States each year, the majority of slaves are found in India and Africa.  Human trafficking, which is the modern-day slave trade, is even on the rise in Israel.  Steep increases in sex trafficking occur after national disasters, especially in the case where weak government and poverty exist.  This is a serious concern today in Haiti.

Recently, incidents of slavery were discovered right here in Florida.  Migrant workers were shackled to pick tomatoes in Tampa, and women were forced to work in a brothel in Lake Worth.

So, when we read the Haggadah and retell the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of captivity, let us take time to remember that slavery still exists today--and not just in far away lands.  As long as others in our world continue to be enslaved, can we wholeheartedly celebrate our own freedom?  Passover calls upon us to achieve universal freedom and to eradicate all forms of slavery forever.  -- Frances Steinmark

An Orange on the Seder Plate - a Queer Midrash

As a queer Jewish woman, I add the following to my haggadah. It is read after the afikomen is found, returned, and blessed and before the birkat, blessing after the meal.

Modern day midrashim have influenced some Jews to put an orange and a (shellacked) challah on our seder plates. Suzanna Heschel heard the story that a rabbi responded that women in Judaism are like an orange on the seder plate when she was speaking at Oberlin in the 80's. She started adding an orange to her seder plate each year after that. She repeated the story often enough that many people wrongly think that the comment was said to her. She told me that, although it is not a true story, it is a worthy midrash and a good reason to have an orange on one's seder plate.

Another story quotes an orthodox rabbi who was asked "Rabbi, do you think lesbians have a place in Judaism?" He answered: "A lesbian belongs in Judaism as much as challah belongs on the seder plate." And, so tonight, our seder plate contains a (shellacked) challah. This is a symbol of the Queer "in your face" pride that we must express to the Rabbis and other homophobes that don't believe that we belong on the bima or elsewhere. I created this midrash in response to hearing Rabbi Yoel Kahn's drash at Congregtion Sha'ar Zahav in the mid 1990s. He explained that the rabbis understood the cleaning out of chametz from our homes is symbolic of clearing away our puffed up egos as we get in touch with the mitzrayim, narrow places, we need to leave behind in our spiritual exodus. Chametz is not intrinsically bad. Passover is an opportunity to introspect about the coping mechanisms that we use in our everyday secular lives. 

Tonight as we share this round, succulent, and juicy orange let its sweet taste provide us with nourishment from the Jewish communities and Jews who have already accomplished a lot towards addressing sexism, misogyny, homophobia, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression. Let the bitterness of the orange zest help us find the zeal needed to continue working towards ending all forms of ignorance and hatred that plague the world. Passover teaches us that no one is free until all who are oppressed are free. Let us pray together that soon all people will be able to shed their thick skins that protect them, expose their vulnerabilities, and delight in each other with appreciation instead of fear.

B'rukhah at Yah Eloheinu ruach ha-olam asher kidshatnu b'mitzvoteha v'tzivatnu lirdof tzedek, lichvod kol nefesh v? shutafut.

You are Blessed, O God, Spirit of the World, who makes us holy with your mitzvot & commands us to pursue justice & honor all people and connections.