Festivals & Commemorations

Kristallnacht, Yom Ha'Shoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha'Atzma'ut,

These commemorations are observed within our congregation and the wider Sydney Jewish Community. We demonstrate our respect and reverence to those who died in the Holocaust and our ongoing commitment to the welfare of the State and citizens of Israel.

Tu B'Shvat

The new year (secular) begins with Tu B’shvat – the Festival that Rejoices in the Trees and produce of Israel. Purim is a time of revelry recalling the events described in the Biblical book of Esther.

Tisha B'av

The Ninth day of the Hebrew month Av is the second most severe fast day of the Jewish calendar (behind Yom Kippur). It marks the culmination of a three-week period mourning the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, known as bein ha-metzarim (literally, "between the straits") or more colloquially known as the "Three Weeks". The period begins with another fast day, 17th Tammuz, when the second Temple walls of Jerusalem were breached in 70 CE. On Tisha B'av, both the first and second Temples were burned to the ground. Tisha B'av and the Three Weeks period have become a national time of mourning for the Jewish people, commemorating a host of tragedies that have befallen us throughout the generations. Restaurants and theatres are closed in modern day Israel on Tisha B'av. At NSTE, a service is held in the evening before Tisha B’av (Erev) and the Book of Eicha (Lamentations) is chanted in the traditional sombre melody.