In the
Land of Israel and among Reform and Karaite Jews,
Shavuot is celebrated for one day. In the Jewish
diaspora outside Israel, the holiday is celebrated for
two days, on the sixth and seventh days of Sivan.
Connection with the harvest
Besides its significance
as the day on which the Torah was given by God to the
Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, Shavuot is also
connected to the season of the grain harvest in
Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted
seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jer. 5:24;
Deut. 16:9-11; Isa. 9:2). It began with the harvesting
of the barley during Passover and ended with the
harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus
the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as
the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the
concluding festival 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
Shavuot (Lev. 23:15-21).
Ceremony of Bikkurim
Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals
could bring the Bikkurim (first fruits) to the Temple
in Jerusalem (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3). The Bikkurim were
brought from the Seven Species for which the Land of
Israel is praised: wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olives, and dates (Deut. 8:8). In the
largely agrarian society of ancient Israel, Jewish
farmers would tie a reed around the first ripening
fruits from each of these species in their fields. At
the time of harvest, the fruits identified by the reed
would be cut and placed in baskets woven of gold and
silver. The baskets would then be loaded on oxen whose
horns were gilded and laced with garlands of flowers,
and who were led in a grand procession to Jerusalem.
As the farmer and his entourage passed through cities
and towns, they would be accompanied by music and
parades.[1]
At the Temple, each farmer would present his Bikkurim
to a kohen in a ceremony that followed the text of
Deut. 26:1-10. This text begins by stating, "An
Aramean tried to destroy my father," referring to
Laban's efforts to weaken Jacob and rob him of his
progeny (Rashi on Deut. 26:5)or by an alternate
translation, the text states "My father was a
wandering Aramean," referring to the fact that Jacob
was a penniless wanderer in the land of Aram for 20
years (ibid., Abraham ibn Ezra). The text proceeds to
retell the history of the Jewish people as they went
into exile in Egypt and were enslaved and oppressed;
following which God redeemed them and brought them to
the land of Israel. The ceremony of Bikkurim conveys
the Jew's gratitude to God both for the first fruits
of the field and for His guidance throughout Jewish
history (Scherman, p. 1068).
Modern observances
Shavuot is unlike other Jewish holidays in that it has
no prescribed mitzvot (Torah commandments) other than
the traditional festival observances of abstention
from work, special prayer services and holiday meals.
However, it is characterized by many minhagim
(customs) that have taken on the force of law in
traditional Jewish circles. A mnemonic for these
customs is the letters of the Hebrew word acharit (אחרית,
"last"). Since the Torah is called reishit (ראשית,
"first"), the customs of Shavuot highlight the
importance of custom for the continuation and
preservation of Jewish religious observance. These
customs, largely observed in Ashkenazic communities,
are:
אקדמות Akdamot, the reading of a liturgical poem
during Shavuot morning synagogue services
חלב Chalav (milk), the consumption of dairy products
like milk and cheese
רות Ruth, the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning
services
ירק Yerek, the decoration of homes and synagogues
with greenery
תורה Torah, engaging in all-night Torah study.
In this year, 2007, the Shavuot was celebrated on
Monday, May 28 and is commonly celebrated around late
May or early June.
Akdamot
This liturgical poem extolling the greatness of God,
the Torah and Israel is read publicly in the synagogue
right before the morning reading of the Torah on the
first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Rabbi Meir of
Worms, whose son was murdered during the Crusade of
1096. Rabbi Meir was forced to defend the Torah and
his Jewish faith in a debate with local priests, and
successfully conveyed his certainty of God's power,
His love for the Jewish people, and the excellence of
Torah. Afterwards he wrote Akdamot, a 90-line poem in
Aramaic which stresses these themes. The poem is
written in a double acrostic pattern according to the
order of the Hebrew alphabet. In addition, each line
ends with the syllable "ta" (תא), the last and first
letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alluding to the
endlessness of Torah. The traditional melody which
accompanies this poem also conveys a sense of grandeur
and triumph.
Sephardim do not read akdamot, but before the evening
service they sing a poem called Azharot which sets out
the 613 Biblical commandments. The positive
commandments are recited on the first day and the
negative commandments on the second day.
Dairy foods
Cheese blintzes, often served on Shavuot.Dairy foods
such as cheesecake and blintzes with cheese and other
fillings are traditionally served on Shavuot. One
explanation for the consumption of dairy foods on this
holiday is that the Israelites had not yet received
the Torah, with its laws of shechita (ritual
slaughtering of animals). As the food they had
prepared beforehand was not in accordance with these
laws, they opted to eat simple dairy meals to honor
the holiday. Some say it harks back to King Solomon's
portrayal of the Torah as "honey and milk are under
your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).[2]
Book of Ruth
Each of the five books of the Tanakh known as Megillot
(Hebrew: מגילות, "scrolls") is publicly read in the
synagogue on a different Jewish holiday. The Book of
Lamentations, which details the destruction of the
Holy Temple, is the reading for Tisha B'Av; the Book
of Ecclesiastes, which touches on the ephemeralness of
life, corresponds to Sukkot; the Book of Esther (Megillat
Esther) retells the events of Purim; and the Song of
Songs, which echoes the themes of springtime and God's
love for the Jewish people, is the reading for
Passover.
The Book of Ruth (מגילת רות, Megillat Ruth)
corresponds to the holiday of Shavuot both in its
descriptions of the barley and wheat harvest seasons
and Ruth's desire to become a member of the Jewish
people, who are defined by their acceptance of the
Torah. Moreover, the lineage described at the end of
the Book lists King David as Ruth's great-grandson.
According to tradition, David was born and died on
Shavuot (Sha'arei Teshuvah to Orach Hayyim, 494).
Greenery
According to the Midrash, Mount Sinai suddenly
blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving
of the Torah on its summit. Greenery also figures in
the story of the baby Moses being found among the
bulrushes in a watertight cradle (Ex. 2:3) when he was
three months old (Moses was born on 7 Adar and placed
in the Nile River on 6 Sivan, the same day he later
brought the Jewish nation to Mount Sinai to receive
the Torah).[citation needed]
For these reasons, Jewish families traditionally
decorate their homes and synagogues with plants,
flowers and leafy branches in honor of Shavuot. Some
synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers
and plants so that it resembles a chuppah, as Shavuot
is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker
(Moses) brought the bride (the Jewish people) to the
chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God);
the ketubbah (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some
Eastern Sephardi communities actually read out a
ketubbah between God and Israel as part of the
service.
All-night Torah study
The custom of all-night Torah study goes back to 1533
when Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Arukh,
then living in Saloniki, Greece, invited his
Kabbalistic colleagues to hold a night-long study
vigil, in the course of which an angel appeared before
them and commanded them to go live in Eretz Yisrael.
According to a story in the Midrash, the night before
the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to
be well-rested for the momentous day ahead, but they
overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God
was already waiting on the mountaintop.[3] To rectify
this flaw in the national character, religious Jews
stay up all night to learn Torah.
Any subject may be studied, although Talmud, Mishna
and Torah typically top the list. In many communities,
men and women attend classes and lectures until the
early hours of the morning. In Jerusalem, thousands of
people finish off the nighttime study session by
walking to the Kotel before dawn and joining the
sunrise minyan there. The latter activity is
reminiscent of Shavuot's status as one of the three
Biblical pilgrimage festivals, when the Jews living in
the Land of Israel journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate
the holiday.[4]
Tikkun Leil Shavuot
In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night
Torah study, the Arizal, a leading Kabbalist of the
16th century, arranged a special service for the
evening of Shavuot. The Tikkun Leil Shavuot
("Rectification for Shavuot Night") consists of
excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24
books of Tanakh (including the reading in full of
several key sections such as the account of the days
of Creation, The Exodus, the giving of the Ten
Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 chapters of
Mishnah. This is followed by the reading of Sefer
Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by
Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening
and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided
into thirteen parts, after each of which a Kaddish
di-Rabbanan is recited when the Tikkun is studied in a
group of at least ten Jews.
This service is printed in a special book, and is
widely used in Eastern Sephardic and Hasidic
communities. There are similar books for the vigils
before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.
Dates in dispute
Since the Torah does not specify the actual day on
which Shavuot falls, differing interpretations of this
date have arisen both in traditional and
non-traditional Jewish circles. These discussions
center around two ways of looking at Shavuot: the day
it actually occurs (i.e., the day the Torah was given
on Mount Sinai), and the day it occurs in relation to
the Counting of the Omer (being the 50th day from the
first day of the Counting).
Giving of the Torah
While most of the Talmudic Sages concur that the Torah
was given on the sixth of Sivan; R. Jose holds that it
was given on the seventh of that month. According to
the classical timeline, the Israelites arrived at the
wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Ex. 19:1) and the
Ten Commandments were given on the following Shabbat.
The question of whether the new moon fell on Sunday or
Monday is undecided (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 86b). In
practice, Shavuot is observed on the sixth day of
Sivan in Israel and a second day is added in the
Jewish diaspora in keeping with a separate rabbinical
ruling that applies to all non-fast biblical holidays,
called Yom Tov Sheini Shel Galiyot ("second-day
holiday observance in the Jewish diaspora").
Counting of the Omer
The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the
first day of counting the Omer) should begin "on the
morrow after the Shabbat" (Lev. 23:11). The Talmudic
Sages determined that "Shabbat" here means simply a
day of rest and refers to the first day of Passover.
Thus, the traditional counting of the Omer begins on
the second day of Passover and continues for the next
49 days, or seven complete weeks, ending on the day
before Shavuot.
According to this calculation, Shavuot will fall on
the day of the week after that of the first day of
Passover (e.g. if Passover starts on a Thursday,
Shavuot will begin on a Friday).
The Sadducees and Boethusians, however, disputed this
interpretation. They contended that "Shabbat" really
did mean "Shabbat," or Saturday. Accordingly, they
reckoned the seven weeks from the day after the first
Shabbat during Passover, so that Shavuot would always
fall on a Sunday.
This interpretation was shared by the second-century
BC author of the Book of Jubilees, and was motivated
by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar of the third
and second centuries B.C., which was designed to have
festivals and Sabbaths fall on the same day of the
week every year. On this calendar (best known from the
Book of Luminaries in 1 Enoch), Shavuot fell on the
15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty
days from the first Sabbath after the Feast of
Unleavened Bread (i.e. from the 25th of Nisan). Thus,
Jub. 1:1 claims that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to
receive the Torah "on the sixteenth day of the third
month in the first year of the Exodus of the children
of Israel from Egypt".
Karaite Judaism today continues to follow the
interpretation that the Counting of the Omer begins on
the Sunday after the first Shabbat during Passover,
and thus celebrates Shavuot on a Sunday.[5]
Similarly the Christian feast of Pentecost, which
falls on the fiftieth day counting from Easter, is
always on a Sunday.
Critical scholarship
The Book of Jubilees describes the celebration of
Shavuot in pre-Mosaic times. In Jub. 6:15-22 and
44:1-5, the feast is traced to the appearance of the
first rainbow on the 15th of Sivan, the day on which
God made his covenant with Noah. The covenant renewal
feature of Shavuot is thus attributed to this first
covenant. Subsequently, it was observed by Noah until
his death but revived again by Abraham (Jub. 15:1),
and after Abraham's death it was forgotten again until
Moses restored it once more.
Qumran scholar Gabriele Boccaccini has suggested that
the 1,290 and 1,335 days of Daniel 12:11-12 point to
the observance of Shavuot in a restored Israel, as
reckoned by the priestly solar calendar. These
durations are exactly 30 and 45 days longer than the 3
1/2 years mentioned in Dan. 7:25 and 9:27. The period
of 3 1/2 years amounts to 1,260 days in the priestly
solar calendar because the equinoxes and solstices
count as markers of the seasons rather than monthly
days (1 En. 74:11, 75:1, 82:4). The blessings expected
at the end of the 1,335 days pertain to the
resurrection to "everlasting life" mentioned a few
verses earlier (12:2), and this is the reward to those
who refused to forsake the covenant unto death (Dan.
11:22, 28, 30, 33-35), while those who forsook the
covenant (11:30-32) face "everlasting contempt".
Boccaccini sees the 3 1/2 years as ending at the
spring equinox (equinoxes and solstices were important
markers of the seasons in the solar calendar), to be
followed by 30 days to complete the 1,290 days (the
month of Passover), and an additional 45 days to reach
the 15th of Sivan, the purported day of Shavuot. For
those who refused to forsake the covenant, this would
be the day the covenant would be renewed and the
expected blessings would be realized.
References
^ The Temple Institute. The Festival of Shavout:
Bringing the Firstfruits to the Temple (English). The
Temple Institute. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
^ Rabbi Berel Wein. Why do we eat dairy foods and
decorate the synagogue on Shavuot? (English). aish.com.
Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
^ Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman (2004). Sleepless Shavuot in
Shicago (English). OHR.edu. Retrieved on September 5,
2007.
^ Mor Altshuler (2007). 'Let each help his neighbor'
(English). Haaretz.com. Retrieved on September 5,
2007.
^ The Karaite Korner. Shavuot (English). The Karaite
Korner. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
Sources
Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). The Book of Our Heritage, Vol.
3: Iyar-Elul. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers Ltd. ISBN
0-87306-154-3.
Scherman, Nosson ed. (1993). The Chumash. Brooklyn,
NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. ISBN 0-89906-014-5.
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