Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
You are invited to a Hanukkah celebration.
To mark Hanukkah, RockHaShalom are going to give a talk about modern Israeli folk dance, give a demonstration of some dances and then anybody can join in the fun of learning some new moves.
Admission is free but a collection will be taken to help defray event expenses. Please bring a plate of Hanukkah-themed finger food for afternoon tea. Coffee and tea provided.
Dance is a time honored way for societies to express themselves in ways that other methods such as prose and poetry cannot. Dance captures emotions, feeling and even history.
Hanukkah (sometimes transliterated Chanukkah) is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar.
In Hebrew, the word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.
Every community has its unique Hanukkah traditions, but there are some traditions that are almost universally practiced. They are: lighting the hanukkiyah, spinning the dreidel and eating fried foods.
- Lighting the hanukkiyah: Every year it is customary to commemorate the miracle of the Hanukkah oil by lighting candles on a hanukkiyah. The hanukkiyah is lit every night for eight nights. Learn more about the hanukkiyah in: What Is a Hanukkiyah? | How to Light the Hanukkah Menorah | Hanukkah Candle Lighting Blessings.
- Spinning the dreidel: A popular Hanukkah game is spinning the dreidel, which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side. Read The Hanukkah Dreidel to learn more about the dreidel, the meaning of the letters and how to play the game. Gelt, which are chocolate coins covered with tin foil, are part of this game.
- Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot during the holiday. Latkes are pancakes made out of potatoes and onions, which are fried in oil and then served with applesauce. Sufganiyot (singular: sufganiyah) are jelly-filled donuts that are fried and sometimes dusted with confectioners’ sugar before eating. Learn more about Hanukkah food traditions: Hanukkah Food Traditions | What Is a Latke?
You’re invited to Hanukkah in the Park at the Botanical Gardens, Soundshell in Wellington.
Bring your picnic blankets and the whole family to Hanukkah in the Park.
There’s going to be a Candle lighting ceremony, kosher food, live music, children’s entertainment and games.
There’s going to be plenty of Sufganyot (doughnuts)!
Admission: Free
Date and time: Sunday, December 17, 11am-2pm
Sponsored by the Israeli Embassy to New Zealand.
We were pleased to sponsor Hanukkah in the Park this year…
Purim (Hebrew: 
פּוּרִים (help·info) Pûrîm “lots“, from the word pur פור,[3] related to Akkadian pūru) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them. The story is recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Ester מגילת אסתר in Hebrew).
According to the Book of Esther, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus (presumed to be Xerxes I of Persia[4][5][6]), planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and his adopted daughter Esther who had risen to become Queen of Persia. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.
Based on the conclusions of the Scroll of Esther (Esther 9:22): “[…] that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor” Purim is therefore celebrated by:
- Exchanging reciprocal gifts of food and drink known as mishloach manot.
- Donating charity to the poor known as mattanot la-evyonim.[7]
- Eating a celebratory meal known as a se’udat Purim’.
- Public recitation, usually in synagogue, of the Scroll of Esther known as kriat ha-megillah.
- Reciting additions to the daily prayers and the grace after meals known as Al HaNissim.
- Other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.[8]
Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (and on Adar II in Hebrew leap years that take place every 2 to 3 years), the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies. In cities that were protected by a surrounding wall at the time of the Biblical Joshua, Purim is instead celebrated on the 15th of the month of Adar on what is known as Shushan Purim, since fighting in the walled city of Shushan continued through the 14th day of Adar.[9] Today, only Jerusalem celebrates Purim on the 15th of Adar.
CHRISTCHURCH: The Joy of Hosting Israeli Travellers
2pm, Sunday 11 March 2018
Clubrooms, Northwood Villa Cres, Northwood. (-43.465134, 172.617633)
New Zealand is one of the top travel destinations for Israelis. To Israelis it is a much talked of country full of huge contrasts from their own: peaceful, temperate, green and offering spectacular vistas.
At the same time, many New Zealanders who support Israel and fight anti-Semitism, meet very few Jews and have had very little contact with them.
HIT is a homestay programme that allows young Israeli backpackers to meet New Zealanders in their homes and experience Kiwis in their own environments.
You are invited to an afternoon with Omri Jaakobovitch, founder of HIT. Hear about how you can participate in this programme and how it is growing internationally.
Admission: A collection will be taken to cover expenses; A plate of finger food for afternoon tea. Please no pork, bacon or seafood ingredients.
Passover or Pesach (/ˈpɛsɑːx, ˈpeɪsɑːx/;[4] from Hebrew פֶּסַח Pesah, Pesakh), is an important, biblically-derived Jewish holiday. Jews celebrate Passover as a commemoration of their liberation by God from slavery in ancient Egypt and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It commemorates the story of the Exodus as described in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Book of Exodus, in which the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. According to standard biblical chronology, this event would have taken place at about 1300 BCE (AM 2450).[5]
Passover is a spring festival which during the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem was connected to the offering of the “first-fruits of the barley”, barley being the first grain to ripen and to be harvested in the Land of Israel.[6]
Passover commences on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Nisan and lasts for either seven days (in Israel and for Reform Jews and other progressive Jews around the world who adhere to the Biblical commandment) or eight days for Orthodox, Hasidic, and most Conservative Jews (in the diaspora).[7][8] In Judaism, a day commences at dusk and lasts until the following dusk, thus the first day of Passover only begins after dusk of the 14th of Nisan and ends at dusk of the 15th day of the month of Nisan. The rituals unique to the Passover celebrations commence with the Passover Seder when the 15th of Nisan has begun. In the Northern Hemisphere Passover takes place in spring as the Torah prescribes it: “in the month of [the] spring” (בחדש האביב Exodus 23:15). It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays.
In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God helped the Children of Israel escape from their slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the ancient Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves; the tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born.
The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday.[9]
When the Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven). In commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason Passover was called the feast of unleavened bread in the Torah or Old Testament.[10] Thus matzo (flat unleavened bread) is eaten during Passover and it is a tradition of the holiday.
Historically, together with Shavuot (“Pentecost”) and Sukkot (“Tabernacles”), Passover is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Shalosh Regalim) during which the entire population of the kingdom of Judah made a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.[11] Samaritans still make this pilgrimage to Mount Gerizim, but only men participate in public worship.[12][13]
A number of Christians have banned together to put on a Passover 3-course meal at 220 Antigua St, 7th April 5.30pm to explain the significance of this wonderful rich biblical holiday.
Limited spaces available. $30 a head. If you would like to register please email Simone for a registration form.
This is a great opportunity to book a table and invite your friends or just come and join in.
To mark the upcoming 70th Anniversary of Israel’s establishment, we invite you to view a fascinating documentary about the incredible tale of how the Israeli Air Force was established in time to turn the tide of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.
Did you know:
- The US banned all its citizens from volunteering to fight on behalf of Israel in 1948?
- That there was a US-UK arms embargo against Israel at the time?
- That Israel established a clandestine civilian airline as part of its pipeline to beat the embargo?
- That the first aircraft were pressed into battle within 10 days of arriving in Israel?
- That these aircraft turned the Egyptian invasion around on their first day of combat?
The documentary trailer: