Festivals

• Advent


  Four-week period before Christmas, anticipating Jesus' arrival.
• Christmas


  12-day celebration of Jesus' birth starting December 25.
• Lent


  40-day period before Easter, commemorating Jesus' wilderness.
• Easter


  Celebration of Jesus' resurrection, includes Good Friday.
• Eid ul-Fitr


  Festival marking end of Ramadan, involves feasting.
• Eid ul-Adha


  Four-day celebration involving animal sacrifice, remembers Abraham.
• Ramadan


  Month of fasting, prayer, and reflection in Islam.
• Passover


  Jewish festival commemorating Exodus from Egypt.
• Pesach


  Hebrew term for Passover, includes special meal.
• Matzah


  Unleavened bread eaten during Passover to remember haste.
• Seder Plate


  Plate containing symbolic foods for Passover meal.
• Diwali


  Festival of lights celebrating the victory of good.
• Holi


  Spring festival of colors, celebrating good over evil.
• Vaisakhi


  Sikh harvest festival, symbolizes commitment to faith.
• Wesak


  Buddhist festival celebrating Buddha's birth and enlightenment.
• Four Noble Truths


  Buddhist principles addressing suffering and its cessation.
• Shiva


  Week-long mourning period in Judaism after a death.
• Anti-Semitism


  Hostile behavior or prejudice against Jewish people.
• Shoah


  Hebrew term for the Holocaust, genocide of Jews.
• Good Friday


  Christian observance of Jesus' crucifixion.
• Midnight Mass


  Christmas Eve service celebrating Jesus' birth.
• Hot Cross Buns


  Traditional Easter pastry, marked with a cross.
• Zakat


  Charitable donations in Islam, part of religious duty.
• Sawm


  Fasting during Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars.
• Eid Takbeerat


  Recitation of praises to God during Eid celebrations.
• Karpas


  Vegetable dipped in salt water during Passover.
• Chanetz


  Leavened bread that must be removed during Passover.