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Yom HaZikaron is Israeli Memorial Day and Yom HaAtzmaut is Israeli Independence Day. 

The origin of this custom is unknown. 

Confirmation is a Reform-originated ceremony for teens that is tied to the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. It constitutes an individual and group affirmation of commitment to the Jewish people. Confirmation, one of the “youngest” Jewish lifecycle ceremonies, began less than 200 years ago.

We read the entire Torah over a year, beginning the cycle on the same week as Simchat Torah. The Torah is divided into 54 portions – or parashiyot – and, generally, one portion is read each week on Shabbat.

Tu BiShvat is the “New Year of the Trees.”

Tu BiShvat, called the "New Year of the Trees," falls at a seemingly incongruous time of year. 

Tu BiShvat is a minor festival whose provenance dates only to the time of the Second Temple. However, the kabbalists who clustered around the great fifteenth-century mystic Isaac Luria of Safed placed great weight on the holiday, creating new festivities, gatherings at which hymns were sung, fruit (particularly carob) was eaten, and four cups of wine were taken (as in the Passover seder). 

Since the Rabbinic period, Shavuot has been tied to the story of receiving the Torah. Connected to this, Shavuot has come to be dedicated to the idea of Torah study and Jewish education.

Sukkot, the Jewish festival of booths (a harvest holiday of thanksgiving), begins on the 15^th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.