Salutations or greetings for the various Jewish holidays

Question

Is it right to, and is there a particular salutation for most of the major holidays in the Jewish calendar? I have a couple of new friends who celebrate their Jewish faith, I was wondering if there was a generic salutation or specific salutations for the various holidays? Specifically thinking about Shavuot, but was wondering in general too. https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/2018

Answer 1

One traditional greeting for Jewish holidays is Chag sameach, meaning "a joyous holiday".

Some of the holidays have specific variations of the greeting, or specific greetings, e.g., taking your list in order

• Pesach: Chag kasher vesameach (meaning a kosher and joyous holiday, a reference to the fact Jews don't eat leavened products on Pesach)
• Tisha b'Av: due to the sad nature of the day, Jews do not greet each other on that day
• Rosh Hashana: Shana tova (a good year)
• Yom Kippur: Chatima tova (a good signature - as we hope to be inscribed in the book of the living for the year to come)

But you cannot go wrong with Chag sameach ! (except on Tisha b’Av as noted above)