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Pilgrimage festivals


The Three Pilgrimage Festivals, in Hebrew Shalosh Regalim (שלוש רגלים), are three major festivals in JudaismPesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles, Tents or Booths)—when the ancient Israelites living in the Kingdom of Judah would make a pilgrimage to Temple in Jerusalem, as commanded by the Torah. In Jerusalem, they would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services of the kohanim ("priests") at the Temple.

After the destruction of the Second Temple and until the building of the Third Temple, the actual pilgrimage is no longer obligatory upon Jews, and no longer takes place on a national scale. During synagogue services the related passages describing the holiday being observed are read aloud from a Torah scroll on the bimah (platform) used at the center of the synagogue services. During the Jewish holidays in modern-day Israel, many Jews living in or near Jerusalem make an effort to attend prayer services at the Western Wall "emulating" the ancient "pilgrimages" in some small fashion. Samaritans pilgrimage to Mount Gerizim three times a year to this day.


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Wikipedia

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