Upcoming Holy Days - March 

March is full of holy days. Last year, we focused on the Nineteen-Day Fast (Baha’i), Holi (Hindu/Indian), Purim (Jewish), and Hola Mohallah (Sikh). Here are your new March holy days for 2021.

Isra and Mi’raj (March 11): Many non-Muslims are familiar with Eid al-Fitr (the holy day ending the month-long Ramadan fast). And some non-Muslims are familiar with Eid al-Adha (the holy day associated with the Hajj/annual pilgrimage). Less well-known is Isra and Mi’raj, the holy day commemorating the miraculous Night Journey taken by the Prophet Muhammad. The entire account occurs in one, the very long verse in the Hadith. “Isra” refers to the 1st part when the Prophet Muhammad rode from the Kaaba in Mecca to “the farthest mosque” (al-Aqsa in Jerusalem) on a winged, horse-like creature. “Mi’raj” refers to the 2nd part when Muhammad ascended through the seven levels of heaven. It’s an amazing tale, and both the story and the coloring page we created for kids are included in this newsletter.

Nanakshahi New Year (March 14): Traditionally, Sikhs celebrated the New Year on Vaisakhi which occurs in mid-April on the traditional Hindu/Indian Vikrami calendar. However, a little over 20 years ago, the Sikhs adopted the Nanakshahi calendar. It begins with the year 1469, the birth year of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak, and the New Year begins on March 14. (Get it? Guru NANAK…NANAKshahi?) The new calendar has already been amended a few times, and it remains controversial among some Sikhs.  

Passover (sunset, March 27): Many non-Jews are familiar with Passover and the custom of eating a seder meal. But, did you know that, in Israel, Passover lasts for seven days, with one seder meal held on the 1st night. Outside of Israel, in the Diaspora, Passover lasts for eight days, and many Jews observe two seder meals. Also, Passover is one of the three pilgrimage festivals on the Jewish calendar. The other two are Shavuot and Sukkot.

Earth-Based UN days: When we think of UN days focusing on our planet, we tend to think of Earth Day, which happens on April 22. However, there are three other earth-based UN days that fall in March. They are World Wildlife Day (March 3), the International Day of Forests (March 21), and World Water Day (March 22).

Our kid-friendly version of the Isra and Mi’raj tale can be found here. It includes prompts throughout to help kids (and adults) connect the story with aspects of their own lives.

And, you’ll find our specially-created kids’ coloring page below.

Kids' Book Recommendation

More Reading

In 2019, I wrote a 10 Fun Facts post for Multicultural Kid Blogs about Passover.

10 Fun Facts About Passover for Kids

In addition, MANY years ago, I presented Water Rituals in Various Faith Traditions at the Big I Conference in San Francisco. The “I” stood for “Interfaith, Interspiritual, Integral, and Independent.” The conference is no longer held, but I re-formatted my talk into two blog posts, that you can find here and here.

[It’s safe to click on these links, even if you get a “Not Secure” message. The warning is a by-product of the way they are uploaded to the Faith Seeker Kids web site, so fear not!]

Curriculum Spotlight