The wedding ceremony takes place as a "festival", especially in small village communities, since it is an activity covering the whole village. While some of the ceremonies held during different stages of the wedding can be considered as a feast and entertainment, others resemble an "elegy". Traditionally (in Turkey, at least), henna night, or kina gecesi (kuh-NAH GE-je-see) is a women's party that usually takes place the night before the wedding.

Wikipedia-"Hava Nagila" (הבה נגילה) (lit. Let us rejoice) is a Hebrew folk song that has become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs.

Christmas Day is a national holiday in Lebanon. For Lebanese Christians it is one of the most important holidays of the year; many Lebanese Muslims celebrate Christmas as well, often with Christian friends and neighbours. A poll has shown that some two thirds of the Lebanese people celebrate Christmas, while less than half of the population is Christian. Marketing and commercialization are bringing a more secular celebration of Christmas to the Lebanese public; many families of Lebanese Muslims also decorate their homes with Christmas trees during the holiday season.

Loukoumades (Greek), lokma (Turkish) or lokmades (Cypriot) (Greek: λουκουμάδες, singular λουκουμάς loukoumas, luqmat al-qadi (Arabic:لقمة القاضي, Persian: بامیه bamieh, see etymology below) are a kind of fried-dough pastry made of deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled with sesame

The German name has largely ousted the original English name marchpane with the same apparent derivation: "March bread." Marzapane is documented earlier in Italian than in any other language, and the sense "bread" for pan is Romance. The origin could be from the Latin term "martius panis", which means bread of march. However, the ultimate etymology is unclear; for example, the Italian word derives from the Latin words "Massa" (itself from Greek Μάζα "Maza") meaning pastry and "Panem" meaning bread, this can be particularly seen in the Provençal massapan, the Portuguese maçapão (where 'ç' is an alternative form for the phoneme 'ss') and old Spanish mazapan - the change from 'ss' to 'z' in Latin words was common in old Spanish and the 'r' appeared later.

Pea soup is a delicious dish that has been served for thousands of years. The meal is typically made from dried peas and has many cultural variations.

Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, is a holiday observed by the Jewish people. The festival celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and commemorates the harvesting of the summer season’s first fruits.

This traditional Jewish holiday is commenced with the Passover Seder. Seder is Hebrew for order. The Passover Seder is a ritual feast often celebrated by members of the same community or family. Slavery and freedom are the themes of the Seder. Jewish people all over the world pause to commemorate the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. In performing all their rituals, special blessings, and unique Passover songs, Seder participants use the ancient text of the Haggadah.

Some parts of the Levant, baba ghanoush is a starter or appetizer; in Egypt it is mostly served as a side-dish or salad. It is made of aubergine with finely diced onions, tomatoes, and other vegetables blended in. It is normally served with a dressing of oil and pomegranate concentrate. It is made of roasted, peeled, and mashed aubergine, blended with tahini, garlic, salt, and lemon juice and topped with olive oil. Cumin and chili powder can be added. A similar dish is known as mutabbal in the Levant. In the traditional method, the eggplant is first roasted in an oven for approximately 30 minutes. The softened flesh is scooped out, squeezed to remove excess water, and is then pureed with the tahini. There are many variants of the recipe, especially the seasoning. Seasonings include garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin, salt, mint, and parsley. When served on a plate or bowl, it is traditional to drizzle the top with olive oil.

shish ke·bab also shish ke·bob or shish ka·bob  (shĭsh’ kə-bŏb’)  

[Armenian shish kabab, from Turkish şiş kebab: şiş, skewer + kebab, qualifying (possessive) form of kebap, roasted meat (probably from Arabic kabāb, cooked meat in small pieces, possibly from Aramaic kabbābā, burning, charring, from kabbeb, to char, roast, probably from Akkadian kabābu, to burn; see kbb in Semitic roots).] -Dictionary.com

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