Editing Jewish holidays (section)

==={{anchor|2days}}Second day of biblical festivals===
{{Main article|Yom tov sheni shel galuyot}}
The Torah specifies a single date on the Jewish calendar for observance of holidays. Nevertheless, festivals of biblical origin other than Shabbat and Yom Kippur are observed for two days outside the [[land of Israel]], and Rosh Hashanah is observed for two days even inside the land of Israel.

Dates for holidays on the Jewish calendar are expressed in the Torah as "day x of month y". Accordingly, the beginning of ''month y'' needs to be determined before the proper date of the holiday on ''day x'' can be fixed. Months in the Jewish calendar are [[lunar month|lunar]], and originally were thought to have been proclaimed by the blowing of a ''[[shofar]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goodenough|first=E.R.|title=Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1968|isbn=978-1-4008-5289-5|location=Princeton, New Jersey|pages=81–115|edition=Abridged}}</ref> Later, the [[Sanhedrin]] received testimony of witnesses saying they saw the new crescent moon.<ref group=Note>Similar practices are still used in [[Islamic calendar|Islam]] as well as in the [[Karaite Judaism#The calendar|Karaite]] and [[Samaritan]] communities.</ref> Then the Sanhedrin would inform Jewish communities away from its meeting place that it had proclaimed a new moon. The practice of observing a second festival day stemmed from delays in disseminating that information.<ref>See, in general, [[Rambam]], ''[[Mishnah Torah]], Kiddush HaChodesh,'' Chapters 3 and 5.</ref>

* ''Rosh Hashanah.'' Because of holiday restrictions on travel, messengers could not even leave the seat of the Sanhedrin until the holiday was over. Inherently, there was no possible way for anyone living away from the seat of the Sanhedrin to receive news of the proclamation of the new month until messengers arrived ''after the fact''. Accordingly, the practice emerged that Rosh Hashanah was observed on both possible days, as calculated from the previous month's start, everywhere in the world.<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:3 |wslink=Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Rosh Hashanah/Chapter 1/3}}</ref><ref group=Note>This ''reasoning'' did not directly apply in the actual meeting place of the Sanhedrin, but there are other reasons that the ''practice'' was applied there as well. See Rambam, ''Mishnah Torah, Kiddush HaChodesh'' 5:8.</ref>
* ''Three Pilgrimage Festivals.'' Sukkot and Passover fall on the 15th day of their respective months. This gave messengers two weeks to inform communities about the proclamation of the new month. Normally, they would reach most communities within the land of Israel within that time, but they might fail to reach communities farther away (such as those in Babylonia or overseas). Consequently, the practice developed that these holidays be observed for one day within Israel, but for two days (both possible days as calculated from the previous month's start) outside Israel. This practice is known as ''yom tov sheni shel galuyot'', "second day of festivals in exile communities".<ref>Rambam, ''Mishnah Torah, Kiddush HaChodesh'' 5:9–12.</ref>

:: For Shavuot, calculated as the fiftieth day from Passover, the above issue did not pertain directly, as the "correct" date for Passover would be known by then. Nevertheless, the Talmud applies the same rule to Shavuot, and to the [[Passover#Seventh day of Passover|Seventh Day of Passover]] and Shemini Atzeret, for consistency.<ref>Rambam, ''Mishnah Torah, Kiddush HaChodesh'' 3:12.</ref>

Yom Kippur is not observed for two days anywhere because of the difficulty of maintaining a fast over two days.<ref group=Note>In practice, the Sanhedrin had the discretion to arrange the month proclamations so that Elul would almost never be extended to 30 days. See [[Rosh Hashanah (Talmud)|BT Rosh Hashanah]] 19b, as well as commentators there. This greatly reduced the practical level of doubt as to which day would be the first day of Tishrei. The doubt still existed, so ''Rosh Hashanah'' and ''Sukkot'' were observed for two days.  However, the low level of the doubt–combined with the difficulty of a 49-hour fast–led to the exemption of ''Yom Kippur'' from the requirement for a second day of observance. This complex issue is discussed more fully [http://www.mail-archive.com/daf-discuss@shemayisrael.co.il/msg02556.html here].</ref>

: Shabbat is not observed based on a calendar date, but simply at intervals of seven days. Accordingly, there is never a doubt of the date of Shabbat, and it need never be observed for two days.<ref group=Note>There are differing opinions as to the location of the International Date Line for purposes of Jewish law. Accordingly, some ''halachic'' authorities do have doubts as to which (secular) day of the week should be considered Shabbat in some Pacific islands. See [[International date line in Judaism]] for details.</ref>

Adherents of [[Reform Judaism]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism]] generally do not observe the second day of festivals,<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Second Festival Day and Reform Judaism (Responsum 5759.7)|journal=CCAR Responsa|year=1999|url=http://ccarnet.org/responsa/nyp-no-5759-7/|access-date=July 15, 2013}}. See in particular footnotes 1 and 2 to the responsum.</ref> although some do observe two days of Rosh Hashanah.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rosh Hashanah: Customs|url=http://www.reformjudaism.org/rosh-hashanah-customs|work=ReformJudaism.org|publisher=Union for Reform Judaism|access-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref>