HOLIDAYS - CHABAD USC
Holiday Information & Schedules
Holiday participation is free for students
Chabad works tirelessly to ensure that all students receive proper accommodations to celebrate their religious holidays without penalization from teachers. You can view the university’s policy here. We constantly speak with the Office of Religious Life, and can help all students receive proper accommodations. Please contact us in advance to receive help.
Rosh Hashana 2026
Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year and is a time of celebration, reflection, and new beginnings. The two-day holiday is observed with meaningful synagogue services, festive meals, and cherished traditions, including the sounding of the shofar and symbolic foods.
Rosh Hashana 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, September 11 , and ends at nightfall on Sunday, September 13 , marking the start of the Jewish year 5787.
Candle lighting on Friday is at 6:47 PM in Los Angeles. On Saturday it is after 7:41 PM.
Havdala / Holiday ends on Sunday at 7:40 PM.
Yom Kippur 2026
- Yom Kippur is a sacred day of prayer, fasting, and reflection, offering an opportunity for repentance, forgiveness, and spiritual renewal.
- Yom Kippur this year begins at sundown on Sunday, September 20 , 2026. It continues until nightfall of the following day, Monday, September 21 st.
- Candle lighting (and fast begins) at 6:34 PM in Los Angeles.
- Havdala / fast ends at 7:28 PM on Monday.
- Pre-Fast Yom Kippur Meal
- Yom Kippur Night – Kol Nidrei Services
- Yom Kippur – Morning Services
- Yom Kippur – Mincha & Neilah Closing Service
- Yom Kippur Break-Fast Meal
First days of Sukkot and Chol Hamoed 2026
- Sukkot is a joyful festival of thanksgiving, celebrated by eating in a sukkah and taking the Four Species (Lulav & Etrog).
- Sukkot begins on Friday, September 25 , 2026, and lasts for 8 days in total until Sunday, October 4.
- The Shabbat-like days (Yom Tov) are from the Friday night, for 2 days, until Sunday night. The next 5 days are not like Shabbat and are called Chol Hamoed.
- The days after that are called Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (info on the next tab ).
- _________________________
- Friday, Sept. 25 Erev Sukkot 🕯️ Light Shabbat & Yom Tov candles: 6:28 PM in Los Angeles.
- Saturday, Sept. 26 1st Day Sukkot 🌅 Light Yom Tov candles after 7:22 PM (from an existing flame)
- Sunday, Sept. 27 2nd Day Sukkot 🌙 Yom Tov ends after nightfall at 7:20 PM (beginning of Chol Hamoed).
- Brisket in the Sukkah
- Steaks in the Sukkah
- Havdalah & Smores
- Soups in the Sukkah
- Sushi in the Sukkah
- JGrads: Sips in the Sukkah
- Sukkah Speakeasy
- JGrads: Hookah in the Sukkah
- Pizza in the Hut
- Shakes in the Shack
- JGrads: Sukkah Beer Garden
- Shabbat Under the Stars
Simchat Torah 2026
Like the first days of Sukkot, these last two days are Shabbat-like and the climax of the holiday season is on the final day, Simchat Torah. Chabad USC is known for its epic Simchat Torah Party!
Shemini Atzeret: Begins at sunset on Friday, October 2, 2026 , and continues through Saturday, October 3 .
Simchat Torah: Begins at sunset on Saturday, October 3, 2026 , and continues through Sunday, October 4, 2026 .
Simchat Torah celebrates the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle and the beginning of a new one. The holiday is marked by joyful dancing, singing, and hakafot (processions) with the Torah scrolls, expressing our love and connection to the Torah.
Friday, October 2 Erev Shemini Atzeret 🕯️ Candle Lighting at 6:18 PM in Los Angeles.
Saturday, October 3 Shemini Atzeret 🕯️ Light Simchat Torah candles (from an existing flame) after 7:46 PM.
Sunday, October 4 Simchat Torah 🌙 Havdalah / Holiday Ends at 7:45 PM.
Brisket in the Sukkah
Steaks in the Sukkah
Havdalah & Smores
Soups in the Sukkah
Sushi in the Sukkah
JGrads: Sips in the Sukkah
Sukkah Speakeasy
JGrads: Hookah in the Sukkah
Pizza in the Hut
Shakes in the Shack
JGrads: Sukkah Beer Garden
Shabbat Under the Stars
Chanukah 2026
Chanukah is an eight-day Festival of Lights celebrating the victory of the Maccabees and the miracle of the Temple’s oil, which burned for eight days. Each night, we light the menorah, recite special blessings, and celebrate with songs, festive foods, and family traditions. Chanukah reminds us to spread light, strengthen our Jewish identity, and share hope and joy with others.
Purim 2027
Purim is a joyous celebration of the Jewish people’s salvation in ancient Persia, marked by the reading of the Megillah, giving gifts of food and charity, festive meals, and dressing in costume.
🎭 Purim: Begins at sunset on Monday, March 22, 2027 , and continues through Tuesday, March 23, 2027.
Purim is celebrated through four special mitzvot that bring joy and strengthen our connection to one another. We hear the Megillah (Book of Esther) read both evening and morning, exchange mishloach manot (gifts of food) with friends, give matanot la’evyonim (charity to those in need), and enjoy a festive Purim seudah (holiday meal). Together, these traditions commemorate the miraculous events of Purim while fostering gratitude, generosity, and community.
Every year at Chabad USC, our annual grand Purim party takes on a unique theme: Purim Under the Sea, Purim in Israel, in Vegas, etc. This year’s theme and schedule TBA.
Info for 2025
Tuesday, March 31: Check the house for Chametz in the evening, after nightfall (7:39 pm). Some customs call for hiding ten bits of bread (carefully wrapped to avoid crumbs) to ensure that there is something to find. Recite the Kol Chamira rendering any Chametz you may have missed ownerless. Make sure you have filled out a Chametz sale form.
Chametz may continue to be eaten until Wednesday morning—however, all Chametz being kept on your property after Tuesday night should be in designated areas.
Wednesday, April 1 — Pesach Eve
Morning Minyan at 7:00 am. Special Siyum ceremony for firstborns after services, a last-chance Chametz breakfast, and burning of the Chametz.
Finish eating Chametz in mid-morning before 10:50 am. Burn any leftover bits of chametz and recite the kol chamira by 11:54 am. (Your Chametz dishes, etc., must have been set aside and sold by this time.) If you’d like, you can bring your bread over for burning in the Chabad House backyard any time before 10:00 am.
Throughout the rest of the day, one may eat neither Chametz nor Matzah. Anything else may be eaten as normal (though some traditions avoid all the ingredients of the Seder plate, i.e. egg, charoset, lettuce, etc.).
Candle Lighting 18 minutes before sunset: 6:56pm Services at Chabad House: 7:00 pm Seder at 8:00 pm.
Wednesday, April 1 — First Seder Night 6:56pm Candle Lighting 7:00pm Services 8:00pm Pesach Seder 1
Thursday, April 2 — First Day of Passover 9:30am Morning Mysticism 10:30am Morning Services 1:30pm Lunch after 7:52pm Candle Lighting 8:00pm Services 8:30pm Pesach Seder 2
Friday, April 3 — Second Day of Passover 9:30am Morning Mysticism 10:30am Morning Services 1:30pm Lunch 6:58pm Candle Lighting 7:00pm Services 8:00pm Passover Shabbat
Saturday, April 4 — Third Day of Passover 9:30am Morning Mysticism 10:30am Morning Services 1:30pm Lunch 8:00pm Matzah Pizza Night
Sunday, April 5 — Fourth Day of Passover 12:00pm Passover Lunch 6:30pm Passover Dinner – Fish & Chips
Monday, April 6 — Fifth Day of Passover 12:00pm Passover Lunch on Campus 6:30pm Pesach BBQ
Tuesday, April 7 — Sixth Day of Passover 12:00pm Passover Lunch on Campus 7:00pm Services 7:01pm Candle Lighting 8:00pm Dinner
Wednesday, April 8 — Seventh Day of Passover 9:30am Morning Mysticism 10:30am Morning Services 1:30pm Lunch after 7:57pm Candle Lighting 8:00pm Services 8:30pm Dinner
Thursday, April 9 — Eighth Day of Passover 9:30am Morning Mysticism 10:30am Morning Services 1:30pm Lunch 6:00pm Moshiach Seudah
Passover Sponsorships Form
Submit this form and we will take care of having your Chametz sold for you.
Send a little love from home this holiday with a thoughtfully curated care package filled with festive treats and holiday favorites.
We’ll deliver it directly to your student’s dorm, apartment, or fraternity/sorority house so they can celebrate the holiday with a taste of home.
Order Care Package Here →
The Meaning of Passover
G-d promised Abraham the Land of Israel. However, G-d told him, “Your children will sojourn in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and persecuted for four hundred years. After that they will leave with great wealth. And also the nation whom they will serve I shall judge.”
Indeed, Jacob and his sons traveled down to Egypt, and were eventually enslaved by the Egyptians. In the year 2448 (1312 BCE), after a series of miraculous plagues and warnings, G-d had Moses lead the Jewish people out of slavery, towards receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai and from there to the Land of Israel.
A Quick Chronology: 10th of Nissan: G-d instructs the Jewish people through Moses that every person should prepare a sheep for the Paschal sacrifice, to be offered four days later. 14th of Nissan: Each Jewish home offered the Paschal sacrifice, and put some of its blood on their doorposts. eve of 15th of Nissan at midnight: G-d smites the first born of every Egyptian family, sparing the Jewish houses identified by the sacrificial blood. Immediately following: The Jewish people are rushed to leave Egypt immediately, that very night. There was no time even to allow the bread for the journey to rise, and so they took with them Matzah (unleavened bread).
7 days later (the 21st of Nissan): The Jewish people arrive at bank of the Sea of Reeds, newly chased by a once again angry Egyptian army. G-d split the sea, allowing the Jews to pass through in comfort. (They didn’t actually cross the Sea of Reeds, as they actually exited on the same side they had entered, though slightly further down the coast.) The Egyptians who had followed behind them weren’t so lucky: They were drowned in an angry sea. The Jewish people recited the famous Az Yashir song, praising G-d for His deliverance.
In commemoration of these special events, we are commanded by the Torah to celebrate the holiday of Pesach. The first two days (in Israel, just the first) are regarded as Yom Tov (a holy day in which no work is done) as are the last two days, remembering the great miracles wrought to our forefathers on those dates. Indeed, we do not just view these miracles as dead, long-ago history, but rather as an essential part of our day-to-day growth and process of redemption and liberation.
As with the other holidays, for the past two thousand years Jewish tradition has required of those in the Diaspora to celebrate two days rather than just one. Although this originally began as a result of the delays faced by the messengers of the court in Jerusalem, who were to tell them which date had been established as the New Month, it is also a reflection of the greater spiritual qualities possessed by the Holy Land of Israel: The spiritual awakening that can be accomplished in one day in Israel requires two days in the Diaspora. As a result, we celebrate the first two days of Pesach as holidays, and an eighth day in addition to the seventh.
During these eight days, we are prohibited to eat — or even to possess — any Chametz (leaven). Basically, that includes any mixture of flour with water except for the extremely strict conditions involved in the baking of Matzah — a process in which less than eighteen minutes elapse from when the water and flour first touch until after the Matzah is already fully baked. In order to avoid having to throw out all our regular pots and pans, etc., tradition calls for the sale of Chametz. In this transaction, we place all of our Chametz utensils, Chametz, and the like, in designated, closed-off areas (such as a cabinet which is taped shut or the like), and — through a competent Rabbi — sell it to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday.
In addition, we have the special Mitzvah on the first and second nights of Pesach to eat Matzah, drink four cups of wine, eat Maror (bitter herbs), and relate the story of Passover (known as the Haggadah). This ceremony is known as the Seder.
Passover @ Chabad USC
- Click the tab to expand for more info on each holiday.
- Free Holiday Services & Meals
- Join us for friendly services in a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
- Holiday Dinner 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- Shofar at Tommy 4:00 & 5:00pm
- Holiday Dinner 8:00pm – RSVP HERE
- Shofar at Tommy 4:00 & 5:00pm
- Pre-fast Meal 5:00pm – RSVP HERE
- Candle Lighting/Fast 6:19pm
- Neilah Closing Service 6:00pm
- Break-fast Meal 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- Brisket Dinner 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- Shake a Lulav (Trousdale) 3-6pm
- Shawarma in the Sukkah 7:3 0pm – RSVP HERE
- Shake a Lulav (Trousdale) 3-6pm
- Sushi in the Sukkah 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- JGrads Hookah in the Sukkah 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- Come shake a Lulav! Anytime
- Dinner 7:30pm – RSVP HERE
- Rafi’s Upshernish! 4:00 pm
- Shake a Lulav ( Trousdale) 10-3pm
- Dinner & Dancing 7:30pm – RSVP HERE