THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

The Two Faces of Shavuot: Historical and Agricultural

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Shavuot, which begins at
sundown Sunday, has a rich
and varied history. Accord-
ing to most biblical texts it
is an agricultural festival
celebrating the beginning of
the summer fruit harvest
and the wheat harvest: In
biblical times it was
marked by the bringing of
special sacrifices to .the
Temple. Every male was
obliged to make a pilgri-
mage to the place "where
God was worshipped - (prob-
ably Jerusalem) and there
to rejoice before the Lord.
Rabbinic tradition con-
nects the festival of Sha-
vuot to the date when God
aled Himself to the an-
Israelites at Mount
Sinai : the Israelites were
freed from slavery on the
15th of Nisan, and six
weeks later, on the first of
Sivan, they arrived at the
foot of Mount Sinai. Moses
ascended the mountain to
receive instructions for .the
impending revelation. Prep-
arations for the great event
lasted almost a week.
On the sixth of Sivan,
when all was ready, God
spoke to Moses and to the
people, revealing to them
the Ten Commandments.
Ever since then, according
to this tradition, our people
has celebrated Shavuot as
"zrnan matan torataynu,"
the anniversary of the giv-
ing of the Torah.
In modern Israel the two
aspects of,Shavuot-, the agri-
cultural and the historical,
are celebrated with great
excitement even by the
non-religious. The climate
is at its most glorious. The
cold, rainy season has
come to an end. The skies
are now cloudless, the days
warm, but not hot, and the
ground, watered by the win-
ter rains, is covered by a
carpet of green.

Almost every agricultural
settlement in Israel pre-
pares to celebrate the har-
vest festival. First fruits of
every crop are decorated
and brought before the
members of the settlement.
A huge parade, which in-
cludes first-born children
and first-born of the settle-.
ment's animals, winds
around the assembled
throng. Verses from the

Abie Nathan
Returns to Ship

TEL AVIV—Israeli peace
crusader Abie Nathan, in a
tax battle with authorities,
won permission Sunday to
return to • his , ship and its
dio station, which broad-
s music and pleas for
ce between the Israelis
and Arabs.
Tax officials last week
barred Nathan from leav-
ing Israel, claiming he
owed $750,000 in back taxes.
"I will not pay them a
penny. I have given it all
away, - Nathan proclaimed.
Nathan said he donates
all of the proceeds from
broadcast advertisements
to charities in Israel and
the Arab countries.
Authorities agreed to let
him go back to the ship
after he promised to submit
his accounts to tax officials.

ot

Bible are read. Songs, an-
cient and modern are sung,
and dances based on biblic-
al themes are performed.
In the cities, the major
celebration takes place on
the evening before Shavuot.
In almost every neighbor-
hood, homes are set aside
for the study of special sec-
tions-of the Bible. Some-
times the neighborhood

studies approximately an
rabbi. but more often an
hour before dawn. Then, al-
educated layman leads the
most all begin to walk to-
session. Study usually
begins at midnight and con- ward the Western Wall.
tinues until dawn. Then - There, at the exact moment
prayers of thanksgiving are of sunrise, tens of thou-
recited and the Ten Com- -sands relive the experience
mendments are read from of Sinai and reaffirm the
faith of their fathers by re-
the Torah scroll.
In Jerusalem it is the cus- citing— "Hear 0 Israel, the
tom for people from each 'Lord our. God,' the Lord is
neighborhood to finish their One

Friday, May 20, 1977 13

Ivory Coast Chief Meets With Allon

PARIS (JTA.)—Israeli
Foreign Ministgr Yigal
Allon and Ivory Coast Presi-
dent Felix Houphouet-
Boigny met in Paris for
unannounced talks on the
Middle East crisis.
The circumstances of
the meeting were similar
to those several months ago
when Premier Yitzhak
Rabin met HouPhouet-

Boigny. in Switzerland with
no prior announcement.
They reportedly agreed at
that time to further high
level contacts.
Houphouet-Boigny is re
garded as an influential go-
between in efforts to bring
the viewpoints of Israel and
the Arabs, including the Pa-
lestine Liberation Organiza-
tion, to each' other.

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