During Yom Kippur, it is believed that God decides each person’s fate, so those celebrating are encouraged to make amends and ask forgiveness for sins committed during the past year. It offers a chance for people to change their fate through prayer, repentance, and charity. Courtesy of Uplash Photos.

Simchat Torah is celebrated by taking all the Torah scrolls out of the ark in the synagogue and spending the evening dancing, singing, and rejoicing. Courtesy of Uplash Photos.

Sukkot commemorates the 40 years the Jewish spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land after escaping slavery in Egypt. It is celebrated by building a sukkah. Those celebrating are required to eat in the sukkah for eight days (seven days in Israel), and some even sleep in the sukkah for the duration of the holiday. The sukkah is decorated and the first day is considered a holy day in which most forms of work are forbidden. Photo courtesy of Hannah Peri.

Diwali is a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil. It is the festival of light celebrated with fireworks, lamps, and sparklers.

Hundreds of years ago, people dressed up as saints and went door-to-door, which is the origin of Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating. It was a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Photo courtesy of Ella Schulte.