Special Days in Spring in Israel

Yom HashoahOn Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, less than a week after Passover, the people of Israel commune with the memory of the six million martyrs of the Jewish people who perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust. Modern rites of public bereavement and special ceremonies are held. On this day a siren is sounded at 10 a.m., as the nation observes two minutes of silence, pledging "to remember, and to remind others never to forget."

Yom Hazikaron


Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars is commemorated a week later, as a day honoring those who fell in the struggle for the establishment of the State of Israel and in its defense. At 8 p.m. on the eve of Remembrance Day and at 11 a.m. on the following morning, two minutes of silence, as a siren sounds, give the entire nation the opportunity to remember its debt and express its eternal gratitude to its sons and daughters who gave their lives for the achievement of the country's independence and its continued existence.


Independence Day (5 Iyar) directly follows Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars
. While this is not a centuries-old celebration, it is a day that means a lot to many citizens who have physically and actively participated in the creation of a new state and its struggle for survival, and have witnessed the enormous changes that have taken place since 1948. On the eve of Independence Day municipalities sponsor public celebrations, loud-speakers broadcast popular music and multitudes go "downtown" to participate in the holiday spirit.

Many synagogues also hold special services of thanksgiving, where Hallel is recited marking Israel's national deliverance.

On Independence Day, many citizens get to know the countryside by travelling to battlefields of the War of Independence, visit the memorials to the fallen, go on nature hikes and, in general, spend the day outdoors picnicking and having barbecues.

Israel Prizes for distinction in literary, artistic and scientific endeavor are presented and the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth is held. Army bases are opened to the public and air force fly-bys, as well as naval displays, take place.


Lag B'Omer (18 Iyar), the thirty-third day in the counting of the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, has become a children's celebration featuring massive bonfires. It commemorates events at the time of the Bar-Kochba uprising against Rome (132-135 CE).


Jerusalem Day is celebrated on 28 Iyar, about a week before Shavuot, and commemorates the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, after it had been divided by concrete walls and barbed wire for 19 years. On this day, we are reminded that Jerusalem is "the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal." Hallel is recited in some synagogues.


Shavuot, the last of the pilgrimage festivals, when enumerated from the beginning of the Jewish year, falls seven weeks after Passover (6 Sivan), at the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The Bible (Deut. 16:10) describes this occasion as the festival of weeks (Heb. shavuot), for so is it counted from Passover, and as the occasion on which new grain and new fruits are offered to the priests in the Temple. Its additional definition - the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai - is of rabbinical origin. Shavuot is observed among the Orthodox with marathon religious study and, in Jerusalem, with a mass convocation of festive worship at the Western Wall. In the kibbutzim, it marks the peak of the new grain harvest and the ripening of the first fruits, including the seven species mentioned in the Bible (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates).