Choosing the date of a Jewish celebration: Shabbat, Yom Tov, the Omer, the Three Weeks
What is ruled out, what is discouraged and what depends on your family’s custom, with sources and computed 2027 dates.
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Before the caterer, the venue and the guest list, there is one question: which day? The Jewish calendar closes some dates, discourages others and leaves the rest to each community’s custom. This guide separates those three cases, names the source of each rule and gives 2027 dates computed with a Hebrew calendar. It does not replace your rabbi or officiant: where customs differ, we say so.
The Jewish day begins the evening before (Genesis 1:5: “there was evening, there was morning”). A wedding on the evening of Wednesday, July 21, 2027 already falls on 17 Tammuz. Keep that one-evening shift in mind for every date below.
Shabbat and Yom Tov: the rule nothing bends
A wedding is not held on Shabbat or on Yom Tov. For Shabbat, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 339:4) rules out kiddushin, the act of betrothal itself; for Yom Tov, the Mishnah (Beitzah 5:2) and the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 524:1) say the same. This holds across the traditional communities: Sephardic, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi. If your family is Reform or secular, ask your officiant what applies to you.
Yom Tov means the festival days on which work is set aside: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, the first and last days of Passover, and Shavuot. Outside Israel, several of these last two days; in Israel, one. So the same date can be open in Tel Aviv and closed in New York.
The 2027 calendar has an example: Shavuot falls on Friday, June 11, and outside Israel its second day is Saturday, June 12, which is also Shabbat. Yom Tov and Shabbat then run together from Thursday evening, June 10, to Saturday night, June 12.
Chol HaMoed: the intermediate days
Weddings are not held during Chol HaMoed, the days between the festival days of Passover and Sukkot: “one does not marry during the festival” (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 546:1). In 2027, Chol HaMoed of Passover runs from Saturday, April 24, to Tuesday, April 27 outside Israel (Friday, April 23, to Tuesday, April 27 in Israel). Chol HaMoed of Sukkot 5788 runs from Monday, October 18, to Friday, October 22, 2027 outside Israel (from Sunday, October 17 in Israel), after the first day of Sukkot on Saturday, October 16.
The Omer: between Passover and Shavuot
During the seven weeks of the Omer, custom is not to hold weddings. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 493:1) records the custom of not marrying between Passover and Shavuot “until the 33rd day of the Omer,” in memory of Rabbi Akiva’s students; it notes that an engagement is fine, and the Rema adds that from the 33rd day, Lag BaOmer, everything is permitted. Other communities keep other limits for this mourning: your family’s custom and your rabbi decide.
- Omer 2027 (5787): from Friday, April 23 (counted from the evening of Thursday, April 22) to Thursday, June 10, the eve of Shavuot.
- Rosh Chodesh Iyar: Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8. Lag BaOmer (day 33): Tuesday, May 25.
- Shavuot: Friday, June 11 (and Saturday, June 12 outside Israel).
For an engagement party, a henna or a bar mitzvah, the Omer does not forbid the celebration itself: many families only avoid music and dancing. That is a custom, not a shared rule, and families handle it differently. Ask your rabbi.
The Three Weeks and the Nine Days
From 17 Tammuz to 9 Av, the mourning period for the Temple (the Three Weeks) rules out weddings under two customs, both recorded in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 551:2): from Rosh Chodesh Av in Rabbi Yosef Karo’s text, from 17 Tammuz in the Ashkenazi custom noted by the Rema, “until after 9 Av.” The same passage allows an engagement, without a festive meal.
- 17 Tammuz 5787 (fast): Thursday, July 22, 2027. Rosh Chodesh Av: Wednesday, August 4.
- 9 Av (fast): Thursday, August 12, 2027. Tu B’Av (15 Av), a day of joy in the Mishnah (Taanit 4:8): Wednesday, August 18.
- After 9 Av, when do weddings resume? The next day for some, 15 Av for others: ask your rabbi.
The fasts
No celebration takes place on 9 Av or Yom Kippur. For the other fasts (Fast of Gedalia, 10 Tevet, Fast of Esther, 17 Tammuz), the general custom is not to hold a wedding in the middle of a fast; many families hold the chuppah after the fast ends, or pick another day. That is a custom: ask your rabbi before you book.
- 10 Tevet: Sunday, December 20, 2026. Fast of Esther: Monday, March 22, 2027 (Purim: Tuesday, March 23).
- Fast of Gedalia 5788: Monday, October 4, 2027. Yom Kippur: Monday, October 11, 2027.
Each celebration follows its own logic
- Wedding: every rule above applies. It is the celebration the calendar constrains most.
- Bar and bat mitzvah: religious adulthood arrives on the Hebrew birthday (13 for a boy, Pirkei Avot 5:21; 12 for a girl, Mishnah Niddah 5:6). It does not move; the party can. Shabbat is the usual day for the Torah reading. See our article on the Hebrew birth date and the parashah.
- Brit milah: on the eighth day, even on Shabbat or Yom Tov (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 266:2). Barring a medical reason, do not move that day without your mohel’s advice.
- Henna, engagement, sheva brachot: no rule of their own; the Omer and Three Weeks customs apply, above all to music.
2027 landmarks, computed
Tishrei 5788: Rosh Hashanah Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3, 2027; Yom Kippur Monday, October 11; Sukkot Saturday, October 16; Shemini Atzeret Saturday, October 23; Simchat Torah Sunday, October 24 (in Israel, the same day as Shemini Atzeret). Passover 5787: Thursday, April 22, to Wednesday, April 28 (Thursday, April 29 outside Israel). Dates computed on September 30, 2026 with @hebcal/core; each one starts the evening before.
What Tov checks for you
When you enter the date of a celebration, Tov compares it with the Jewish calendar: Shabbat and Yom Tov to the minute at the venue, then the Omer and the Three Weeks. For a wedding falling on Shabbat or Yom Tov, an explicit confirmation is required before saving. Tov never refuses a date and does not replace your rabbi. For fasts and Chol HaMoed, rely on this guide and your rabbi. Tov is free during the beta.
Step 1
Ask about your family’s custom
Omer, Three Weeks, fasts: customs vary. Ask your rabbi or officiant before you book anything.
Step 2
Pick three dates, not one
Kosher caterers and venues book months ahead: have a fallback.
Step 3
Check the evening before
For each date, see whether Shabbat, Yom Tov, a fast or a mourning period starts the evening before.
Step 4
Write the Hebrew date with care
It can be computed, but it is written by precise conventions (see our article on the Hebrew date).
- Last checked
Sources consulted
About — Written by the Tov.events team, who build the tools Jewish families — Sephardic, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, secular — use for their simchas.
What’s next?
One invitation per household, sent on WhatsApp.
In 4 languages, with the Hebrew date and the replies followed live.
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- Guide
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The day in letters, the month, the year, the evening form: the writing rules, with computed 2027 examples.
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The Hebrew birthday sets the date; the parashah is the Shabbat reading that follows. Three computed examples, and the Israel versus diaspora trap.
