Celebrate the Jewish year through festivals, traditions, and Sephardic heritage.
Jewish holidays are sacred times filled with meaning, community, and tradition. While celebrated by Jews everywhere, Sephardic and Mizrahi communities bring their own beautiful melodies, prayers, and foods to each festival. This page offers a full holiday calendar, guides to major and minor holidays, and a look at the unique ways Sephardic Jews mark these special days of the year.
Explore the Jewish holidays throughout the year, with Sephardic traditions and observances. Scroll through the timeline to see each holiday’s date, customs, and significance. Click on a holiday to learn more about its unique Sephardic practices.
Observance: Rest, prayer, family time
Hebrew Date: Weekly
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: No
Significance: Weekly day of rest and spiritual enrichment
Sephardic Note: Sephardic melodies for Kabbalat Shabbat, traditional challah and kiddush
Learn More → Shabbat
Observance: Additional prayers, festive meals
Hebrew Date: Varies
Duration: 1-2 days
Work Permitted: Optional
Fast Day: No
Significance: New Month, celebrates the start of the Hebrew month
Sephardic Note: Special Sephardic liturgy and kiddush customs
Learn More → Rosh Hodesh
Observance: Prayer services, sounding of the shofar
Hebrew Date: Tishrei 1-2
Duration: 2 days
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: No
Significance: Jewish New Year, Day of Judgment and Repentance
Sephardic Note: Simanim (symbolic foods) eaten at festive meal; unique Sephardic piyutim
Learn More → Rosh Hashanah
Observance: Fasting, prayer, repentance
Hebrew Date: Tishrei 10
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: Yes
Significance: Day of Atonement, Holiest day in the Jewish calendar
Sephardic Note: Unique Sephardic selihot and melodies
Learn More → Yom Kippur
Observance: Building and dwelling in booths (sukkot)
Hebrew Date: Tishrei 15-22
Duration: 7 days
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: No
Significance: Commemorates the wandering in the desert
Sephardic Note: Hoshanot ceremonies and decorative sukkahs in Sephardic style
Learn More → Sukkot
The holiday of Shemini Atzeret (שמיני עצרת) immediately follows the conclusion of the holiday of Sukkot.
The main notable custom of this holiday is the celebration of Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה), meaning "rejoicing with the Torah".
Observance: Lighting the menorah, reciting Hallel
Hebrew Date: Kislev 25
Duration: 8 days
Work Permitted: Optional
Fast Day: No
Significance: Commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple
Sephardic Note: Foods fried in olive oil (bimuelos, sufganiyot), Sephardic tunes for the blessings
Learn More → Hanukkah
Observance: Planting trees, eating fruits
Hebrew Date: Shevat 15
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: Optional
Fast Day: No
Significance: New Year for trees, ecological awareness
Sephardic Note: Special fruit platters, nuts, and seeds; traditional Sephardic blessings
Learn More → Tu Bishvat
Observance: Reading of the Megillah, festive meal
Hebrew Date: Adar 14
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: Yes
Fast Day: No
Significance: Commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people
Sephardic Note: Sephardic megillah melodies; traditional foods like fazuelos and bourekas
Learn More → Purim
Observance: Bonfires, memorializing Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
Hebrew Date: Iyar 18
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: Yes
Fast Day: No
Significance: Marks the end of a plague during the Bar Kokhba revolt
Sephardic Note: Sephardic communities have specific songs and rituals around bonfires
Learn More → Lag BaOmer
Observance: Reading the Book of Ruth, dairy foods
Hebrew Date: Sivan 6-7
Duration: 2 days
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: Yes
Significance: Commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai
Sephardic Note: Floral decorations and Judeo-Arabic readings in Sephardic communities
Learn More → Shavuot
Observance: Fasting, mourning the destruction of the Temples
Hebrew Date: Av 9
Duration: 1 day
Work Permitted: No
Fast Day: Yes
Significance: Commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples
Sephardic Note: Sephardic kinnot (lamentations) read in their traditional nusach
Learn More → Tisha B’Av
Learn about the most important Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Sukkot, Shavuot, Purim, and Hanukkah. Each card links to a detailed guide about the holiday’s customs and significance in Sephardic communities.
Discover minor holidays and fast days, such as Tu Bishvat, Lag BaOmer, Tzom Gedaliah, Asarah B’Tevet, Ta’anit Esther, Tzom Tammuz, and Rosh Hodesh. Each observance has its own Sephardic traditions and significance, which you can explore in detail.
Sephardic communities celebrate Jewish holidays with distinctive customs, melodies, prayers, and culinary traditions that set them apart from Ashkenazi practices. From the Yamim Noraim to Passover, Hanukkah, and minor fasts, these traditions reflect centuries of Sephardic heritage. Explore the unique ways Sephardim observe and celebrate each holiday.
Meals feature chamin (Sephardic cholent), mehshi (stuffed vegetables), and regional pastries.
Distinct Sephardic zemirot (songs) and melodies enrich the Shabbat table.
Kiddush is recited by the ba‘al habayit (master of the house), who alone says the blessing over the wine (hagafen). He drinks first, and only then do others follow, as a sign of respect and honor for the head of the household.
Havdalah often includes fragrant herbs like myrtle or cinnamon, reflecting local Sephardic customs.
Many Sephardic families light a special candle to honor the new month.
Festive family meals with pastries and sweet dishes celebrate renewal and blessing.
Synagogue liturgy includes piyyutim and melodies for Ya’aleh Veyavo and Hallel.
In some communities, women traditionally refrain from certain household work, treating Rosh Hodesh as a semi-festive day.
Seliḥot are recited throughout the month of Elul in the morning rather than late at night.
The Rosh Hashanah greeting is “Tizku leshanim rabot” (תזכו לשנים רבות) with the response “Neimot vetovot” (נעימות וטובות).
Sephardic Rishonim (early scholars) historically rejected Tashlikh and Kapparot, though they were reintroduced by the Lurianic school. Spanish & Portuguese Jews still generally do not practice them.
Only one menorah is typically lit per household, unlike Ashkenazim where each family member lights their own.
The shammash is lit together with the other lights, fitting the traditional oil lamp custom.
Sephardic homes often serve fried pastries like sfenj (North Africa) or bimuelos (Spanish) instead of Ashkenazi latkes.
Sephardim have unique piyyutim (liturgical poems) and melodies for Hoshanot.
In many communities, special emphasis is placed on hospitality in the sukkah (ushpizin) and festive foods with symbolic ingredients.
Sephardic communities emphasize mishloach manot with prepared meals (rice, meat dishes, sweets), not just snacks.
Public readings of the Megillah are often accompanied by unique melodies specific to each Sephardic tradition.
Sephardim recite blessings over only the first and third cups of wine.
The Seder plate is arranged in a fixed hexagonal order, with minor variations across communities.
Most Sephardim eat kitniyot (rice, legumes, beans, corn). Ashkenazim — and some Moroccan Jews — avoid them.
Sephardic haroset recipes feature dates, figs, and nuts, unlike the apple-wine base used by Ashkenazim.
Foods like eggplant dips, lamb stews, and rice dishes are traditional Passover staples.
Sephardim celebrate Shavuot with festive meat meals, reflecting the tradition of honoring holidays with the richest foods.
Dairy dishes, such as bourekas, rice pudding, or cheese pastries, may be served as starters or desserts, but the main meals are typically meat-based.
The Book of Ruth is read with Sephardic melodies, often differing from Ashkenazi chant.
Sephardic men traditionally avoid haircuts and shaving for 34 days (not 33, as Ashkenazim do).
In some communities, the mourning is observed until Lad BaOmer (34th day), while others extend it to Shavuot.
Sephardim chant Kinot (lamentations) in distinct maqam melodies.
Eicha (Lamentations) is often read with a different cantillation than Ashkenazi usage.
Deepen your understanding of Sephardic holiday traditions with guides, articles, and community resources. Whether you’re looking for prayers, recipes, or historical context, these resources will help you connect more deeply.
Sephardic holidays are more than dates on a calendar — they are living traditions, rich with music, prayer, and flavors passed down through generations. Whether you’re observing your first Sephardic Seder, learning the melodies of Yamim Noraim, or simply exploring the history behind each celebration, Sephardic U is here to guide and inspire you.
Discover how to fully experience the beauty of Sephardic customs and share them with your family and community. Join us to connect, learn, and celebrate the richness of Sephardic heritage all year long.
