Holidays And Observances Calendar: Fill & Download for Free

My roommate is Jewish.Jew…ish.I’m probably more observant than she is and I’m not even a Jew.I decorated for Hanukkah:It has Velcro candles you can stick on each night.I also bought dreidels:My roommate is not dead. She was just tired. Promise.She won. It’s mostly a game of luck and I still got my butt kicked.But we decorated our calendar for both holidays:And I’m sorry for the vulgar/weird picture… it’s the only one I had. It also includes all of my personal holidays at the top! Happy Willy Wednesday!Back home, my roommate lives with her mom and Catholic-raised stepdad, so they’re going all-out on Christmas and aren’t doing much for Hanukkah.But they have a menorah. And dreidels. And they celebrated Hanukkah more when she was a kid.So yes, some Jews do both—mostly Jews who aren’t super observant as it is.And why not? The more holidays, the better! Spread some holiday cheer, dammit!

The major difference I have noticed is the European “bridge” approach to holidays. For example, if the holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday many Europeans will take the intervening Monday or Friday to get a four day weekend – bridging over the intervening work day. While Americans will do this too (especially for Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays), too often we will just take the day.Another basic difference between the US and Catholic Europe, is that a lot of European holidays are tied closely to Christian holidays (think Ascension of both Jesus and Mary) that don’t take much precedence on the American calendar. In that vein, there are observed holidays in some parts of Germany (the heavily Catholic south) that don’t carry over into the more Protestant parts of the country.There’s also a big emphasis on May first – which is completely overlooked in the US – international Labor Day.On the other hand, some typical US holidays, and their respective observations seem to be adopted in Europe with an increasingly frequent pace – Christmas being a classic example. But Valentine’s Day seems to be embraced by a lot of European couples as the perfect day to dine in a romantic restaurant with suitably hiked prices.As another answer pointed out, specifically American holidays (Martin Luther King Day, July 4, Thanksgiving) are not observed.On a personal note, I love German holidays because there’s no traffic on the roads and parking is easy if I go to work on those days.A wide open German autobahn – now that is what I call a holiday!

Yes, if you’re Jewish then out in space you’re supposed to keep the sabbath and observe the holidays and keep to the prayer schedule as best you can. Since from your point of view the skies don’t reflect any reasonable timing, you use the clock and calendar of the place you came from.