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Note ... All Jewish holidays begin the evening before the date specified on most calendars. This is because a Jewish "day" begins and ends at sunset, rather than at midnight. If you read the story of creation in Genesis Ch. 1, you will notice that it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day." From this, we infer that a day begins with evening, that is, sunset. Holidays end at nightfall of the date specified on most calendars; that is, at the time when it becomes dark out, about an hour after sunset.

For the reason the holidays fall on different days of each year, rather than copy it all, I refer you to Judaism 101 ... Jewish Calendar section. I mostly has to do with the fact that the Jewish tradition follows the lunar calendar whereas most of the western world follows the Gregorian calendar.

Passover ... the holiday's name - Pesach, meaning "passing over" or "protection" in Hebrew, is derived from the instructions given to Moses by G-d

Shavuos ... how else can one understand the concept of "freedom"? At the foot of Mt. Sinai, a nation was born to be free, but not free in the usual sense of the word, free only to be slaves to a greater power, the power of G-d ... any other freedom is really a slavery to some lower power ... and that's certainly not freedom.

Tishah B'Av ... this is a day for remembering and, therefore, for mourning over the Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. But somehow, in the imaginative thinking of the folk, which has been macerated by the memories of many national disasters, the Ninth of Av also became a grim symbol ... a kind of reservoir into which were poured all the misfortunes of the Jews in their history.

Month of Elul ... a season of holidays: Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur, Succos, and Simchas Torah (all coming around the months of September and October). As I recall in the public schools, real learning never started until mid-October. Did you know that Rosh HaShana is the birthday of the world?

Chanukah ... this is among the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays ... This is a time for happy family gatherings around the menorah, for children's songs, sizzling potato latkes, and games of "dreidel" ... and for many of the older Jews, it brings back fond memories of childhood, and serves to renew a sense of Jewish identity.

Tu B'Shvat ... no mention in the Torah but on this holiday, all the schoolchildren of Israel: in city, town, village, kibbutz, and moshav ... engage in a vast tree-planting operation. Despite the many millions of trees already planted in Israel, there is still in that country, which was denuded of cover, and made arid by many centuries of ignorant neglect, creating a desperate need for reforestation. Tu B'Shevat in modern Israel is therefore considered a national holiday with patriotic and social implications. By physically and emotionally involving all the children in the tree-planting operation, the Israelies use it as an educational instrument to make the children conscious of their nation's needs, and of their own responsibilities as future citizens, (and to future generations) in fulfillment of the Torah verse in Leviticus, "And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food..."

Purim ... tells the story of Queen Esther, King Achashverosh, Esther's uncle (or cousin) Mordechai, and the king's chief advisor Haman.