Here's my Reader's Digest breakdown of Jewish holidays.
Shabbat - We survived week without being killed. Let's eat.
Sukkot - Egyptians tried to kill us. We wandered in desert for forty years. We survived. Let's eat in cute, little huts in our backyards.
Simchat Torah - We finished reading stories about people trying to kill us. We survived. Let's eat.
Chanukah - Assyrians tried to kill us. We survived. Let's eat.
Purim - Persians tried to kill us. We survived. Let's eat.
Passover - Egyptians tried to kill us. We survived. Let's eat tasteless food that causes gas.
Rosh Hashona - We survived year without being killed. Let's eat.
Yom Kippur - We've committed sins, such as gluttony. We won't eat all day. Let's eat at sundown.
There are a multitude of days that are
too horrible to joke about or even to eat,
but we will always remember.