Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the people of Israel. The holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. Shavu'ot is one of the least known of our holidays. This may be due to the fact that most religious schools end before it occurs – usually in late May or early June, so our children don't learn about it and then teach their parents. This year it begins on the evening of Saturday, May 26th.
On Passover, we were freed from our enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot we were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. Some consider Passover our engagement to God and Shavu'ot – when we accepted the Torah – as the wedding.
Shavu’ot is also connected to the grain harvest in Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a joyous occasion. It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavu'ot. Shavu'ot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot marked the conclusion of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavu’ot.
Shavu’ot is unlike other Jewish holidays in that it has no prescribed mitzvot other than the traditional festival observances of abstention from work, special prayer services and holiday meals. (Perhaps this is another reason that it is overlooked.) Think of it this way: how often do you get consider the consumption of ice-cream a mitzvah?
Shavu’ot is characterized by many lovely customs such as the consumption of dairy products, the reading of the Book of Ruth, the decoration of homes and synagogues with flowers and greenery and the study of Torah. TCP will have a special study session on Friday, May 25th of the Book of Ruth during the Oneg Shabbat. We will also observe Shavu’ot with a morning service which will include Yizkor on Sunday, May 27th at 10:00am. (This is not an error. Since Shavu'ot falls on a weekend, we will have a service on the actual day that the holiday occurs.)
In keeping with the observance of other holidays, there is both a night meal and a day meal on Shavu’ot. Meat is usually served at night and dairy is served either for the day meal or for a morning kiddush. We plan a lovely dairy kiddush on 5/27.
I look forward to Shavu’ot as a beginning of a summer of learning with you in small, informal groups in peoples' homes. If you would like to host an 'Evening with the Rabbi,' please let me know. Invite a few friends over and let's teach each other – and ask those questions we've never gotten around to asking.
B'shalom u'vracha,
Rabbi Melody
