Ceremony & Celebration ― Introduction to the Holidays

When did Rosh HaShana, the anniversary of creation, become a day of judgement? How does Yom Kippur unite the priest's atonement with the prophet’s repentance? What makes Kohelet, read on Sukkot, the most joyful book in the Bible? Why is the remembrance of the Pesah story so central to Jewish morality? And which does Shavuot really celebrate – the law or the land? Bringing together Rabbi Sacks's acclaimed introductions to the Koren Sacks Mahzorim, Ceremony & Celebration reveals the stunning interplay of biblical laws, rabbinic edicts, liturgical themes, communal rituals and profound religious meaning of each of the five central Jewish holidays.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is one of the world’s leading Jewish thinkers and moral voices of our time, laureate of the 2016 Templeton Prize. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, King's College London and Jews' College, Rabbi Sacks served as chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 until 2013. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought, his work has included a new English translation and commentary for the Koren Sacks Siddur, the first new Orthodox siddur in a generation, as well as powerful commentaries for the five Koren Sacks Mahzorim.