March 24 - Purim, a holiday established, according to the biblical book of Esther, to commemorate the rescue of Jews living in the Persian Empire from extermination by Aman the Amalekite, a favorite of the Persian king Artaxerxes.
April 23 - April 30 - Pesach (Passover)
May 11 - Yom Ha-Zikaron (Memorial Day). A state day of mourning, honoring Israel's fallen security services and terror victims.
May 12 - Yom ha-Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). A major public holiday commemorating the proclamation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948.
June 11 - June 12 - Shavuot. The holiday, the giving of the Torah to the Jews on Mount Sinai at the Exodus from Egypt.
October 3 - October 4 - Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year).
October 12 - Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The most important holiday in Judaism, a day of fasting, repentance and absolution.
October 17 - 24 - Sukkot. One of Israel's major holidays. Traditionally, one should leave the house and live in a sukkah (tent, bush), remembering the wandering of the Jews in the Sinai desert.
December 7 - 14 - Hanukkah. A Jewish holiday commemorating the cleansing of the Temple, the consecration of the altar, and the resumption of the Temple service by the Maccabees, following the defeat and expulsion from the Temple Mount of the Greco-Syrian armies and their Jewish allies.
