Celebrating Secular Holidays

Do Jews celebrate secular holidays?

Yes, Jews have always observed civic and secular holidays. Some synagogues have a national flag on display and many synagogues participate in interfaith observances of holidays such as Thanksgiving and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Learn more.

Learn how to celebrate these holidays Jewishly with prayers, blessing, blost posts and articles.

Learn more about secular holidays

 

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a table full of pumpkins and pumpkin pie

Holiday Resources

Five Jewish Readings for Memorial Day

Memorial Day may not be a Jewish holiday, but the concept of remembering and honoring our dead is certainly a Jewish value. Here are a few Memorial Day prayers you may wish to recite in honor of this holiday.

Halloween: A Jewish Perspective for Parents

The question of how to handle Halloween - whether to participate, and if so, how - is one that is often discussed amongst Jewish parents as the holiday approaches. Reform Jewish tradition guides us to make decisions based on “informed choice.”

What's New

Winterfaith

"Winterfaith" seems a much more apt description for me than "interfaith." We're not observing two religions; I was raised Jewish, and my partner was not. The winter holidays are when our "interfaith" background proves to be the most challenging.

The Cost of Free Land

When I was a child growing up in the 1980s, the story I learned about Thanksgiving followed the classic script: it highlighted amity between the Pilgrims and their Indigenous neighbors. Due to this connection, the hunger of the European settlers was met with squash and turkey.

What Canada Day Means to Me

I have always considered myself to be a Jewish Canadian, rather than a Canadian Jew. I couldn't tell you why I have always chosen to primarily identify by my religion first and then my citizenship; there is no defining moment in my life that explains that one way or the other. Being Jewish has always been my primary identity.