7 Jewish Feasts (Explained)

There are many times in Judaism where we have feasts.

These feasts happen to remind Jews of their past.

Allow us to dive into the 7 Jewish Feasts:

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What Are Jewish Feasts?

Jews have many holidays and each holiday has different customs of things to feast on.

It is important to preface by explaining Jewish Laws on food.

  1. Jews Keep Kosher
  2. Jews Don't Mix Meat & Milk

That does not hold Jews back to make absolutely delicious meals, as you shall see throughout this article.

Shabbat Friday Night Dinner Feast

All Jews know that a delicious meal is cooked on Shabbat - Friday Night Dinner

To bring in The Holy Day of Shabbat, Jews will celebrate with a beautiful, joyous feast.

We will detail typical meals later on in the article but no doubt, if you attend a Shabbat Friday Night Dinner, you are likely going to have chicken soup to start followed by a beautiful main course and a lovely dessert.

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) Feast

On Rosh Hashanah, (Jewish New Year) Jews have a feast while they bring in the New Year.

As well as a Feast, there are also customary foods that are eaten on Rosh Hashanah all centred around bringing in a Sweet New Year

Chanukah

Chanukah starts on the 25th of Kislev and during Chanukah, Jews will eat a feast, however not a typical feast...

The feast will consist of:

Latkes are essentially fried potato pancakes consisting of: potatos, onions, eggs, salt and pepper.

The reason Jews will eat these foods on Chanukah is because they purposely eat oily foods to remind them of the Miracle that happened on Chanukah when one last drop of oil was able to light the Menorah and the oil lasted eight days.

Tu B’Shevat

On Tu B’Shevat, Jews again will eat a feast but not a typical feast.

The Jewish Feast during Tu B’Shevat will be:

Tu B’Shevat is a Festival for The Tree of Life

Many Jewish Schools do fruit competitions on Tu B’Shevat where kids will bring in the exotic fruits.

So, not a typical Jewish Feast but on Tu B’Shevat, be prepared to try lots of beautiful fruit!

Purim

On Purim, Jews will dress up in fancy dress and it is a very joyous holiday.

There is a Jewish feast of triangular-shaped foods eaten on Purim to remind Jews of Haman who had triangular ears and tried to kill the Jews.

Popular triangular pastries are:

Pesach Seder

The Pesach Feast happens on the 15th Day of Nissan (Hebrew Calender) where Jews will spend the evening with friends and family and have a Pesach (Passover) Seder.

There are many customs during the Seder which is explained in this article but as far as a Jewish Feast goes, the Seder is spent with friends and family and a large feast is common.

Here are things that are customary to eat on Pesach Seder Night:

Shavuot

On Shavout, Jews will have a feast of dairy foods.

Popular dairy foods to feast on Shavout are:

Typical Jewish Feast

As far as the main course for a Jewish Feast, here is a common feast setup depending on the type of Jew:

Starter

It is pretty universal amongst Jews to serve a beautiful chicken soup to start the feast.

Main Course

No doubt both Ashkenazi and Sephardiic Jews have some beautiful recipes up their sleeves.

Dessert

Dessert will vary depending on how how religious the host is...

Why?

Because most Jews keep meat and milk.

Meaning, if you have had a delicious meat-based main course, then the dessert will be pareve (parve) which has no meat or milk in it.

Simply put, a vegan based dessert.

It is common to be served pareve (parve) ice cream for dessert along with some pareve (parve) chocolates.

And there you have it!

Jewish Feasts.

Jews certainly know how to celebrate with good food for Jewish Festivals.

Till next time!

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