How did I get here? -- Prepping Rosh Hashanah : self-flagellation in summer -- Post-Rosh Hashanah : tossing flaws and breadcrumbs -- The Fast of Gedaliah : lessons of a slain governor -- The truth about Hom Kippur : death and more death -- Yom Kippur letdown : maybe next year -- Sukkot in LA : serious Sukkah envy -- Hoshanah Rabbah & Shemini Atzeret : left out, then lingering -- Simchat Torah : the most pit -- Hanukkah reconsidered : a split in the Jewish soul -- Hanukkah at the bedside and the White House : unexpected light -- The Tenth of Tevet : starting the secular year hungry -- Slouching toward Shabbat : the most important holiday of all : Tu B'Shvat : sometimes you feel like a nut -- Tzom Esther & Purim : preparing to fast and spiel -- The Purim report : mirth and melancholy -- Passover : scallions and rare silences -- The feminist Passover : a (third) seder of her own -- Yom HaShoah : "We did more than survive" -- Yom HaZikaron & Yom Ha'atzmaut : for the fallen and the free : Israel's Memorial and Independence days -- Lag B'Omer : R-E-S-P-E-C-T -- Activist Shabbat : Friday night with the kids -- Sleepless on Shavuot : let my people learn -- 17th of Tammuz : another fast, seriously? -- Tisha B'Av : mourning history, headlines, and hatred -- My Shabbat landing : comforting consistency -- Where did I end up? -- Appendix 1. A Jewish year in bullet points -- Appendix 2. Interviews

The author describes her research on the holidays of the Jewish calendar and how she came to understand how these celebrations have lasted for thousands of years