I am Catholic and my boyfriend is Jewish. How should we celebrate the holidays?

There are many Jewish holidays, however only few are observed by most American Jews. These are commonly found in most calendars, so they expect non-Jews to be familiar with them. Brush up on these so you can plan your holidays well.

Passover. This holiday commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, led by Moses. Passover is celebrated for 7-8 days, starting on the night of a full moon in April. It usually overlaps with Easter. Almost all American Jews observe Passover by going to their parents’ house for a ritual dinner called seder. They avoid bread and grain products in memory of the fact that their ancestors left Egypt in a hurry and didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise. You should avoid scheduling events involving food and travel during this holiday.

Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year. It occurs between Labor Day and Columbus Day, and lasts between one to two days, depending on one’s branch of Judaism. It is a festive holiday but more solemn than American New Year. It’s a time to look back at the past year and make resolutions for the next. Jews also use this time to prepare for the upcoming Yom Kippur. Even Jews who don’t usually go to synagogues will do so on Rosh Hashanah. Try not to schedule important events on this day to avoid offending him and his family.

Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement. It is spent by fasting and repentance to in order to reconcile with the Creator for all the mistakes made during the past year. Observance is done on the 10th day of the Jewish calendar, usually falling in late September or early October. Most Jews take off from work or school on this day, even those who are not so religious. They flock to the synagogues to attend the service. Many will try to have a large, slow meal before this 25-hour fast.

Chanukkah. Called “the festival of lights”, Chanukkah is the commemoration of the successful revolt of Jews against the Seleucid Greeks, after which they rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. As part of the rededication, the victorious Jews needed to light the Temple’s menorah (candelabrum), but they had only enough oil to last one day, and it would take eight days to prepare more oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days. This miracle is remembered with this eight-day candle-lighting holiday. Chanukkah begins between Thanksgiving and Christmas. People like to be at home to light the candles with their family during night. Many parents give their children gifts during Chanukkah because they don’t want their children to be left out of Christmas, but gift-giving rarely extends beyond that.

Take note that the dates for these follow the Jewish calendar, which is based on lunar cycles. Since the Roman calendar which we usually use has a different number of days from the Jewish calendar, the holidays don’t have fixed dates. Moreover, the holidays start the night before the actual date written on your calendar.