HOL DAY
Shavuot
Celebrating the holiday of milk and honey.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
T
he Holiday: Shavuot, or "weeks"
in Hebrew, lasts for two days (in
most Reform congregations, one
day).
Shavuot is celebrated on the sixth and
seventh of Sivan on the Jewish calen-
dar, which this year begins at sundown
Tuesday, May 22, and ends at sundown
Thursday, May 24.
Why We Celebrate: The origins of
Shavuot are in Parshat Emor (Leviticus
23:15-21). Actually, Shavuot is not named
here; but you can learn about the method
of determining its date, as well as its ritu-
als. Shavuot has the distinction of being
the only Jewish holiday whose start is not
set by calendar date, but rather by count-
ing days after another holiday. God corn-
mands the Jewish people to begin count-
ing the days on the second day of Passover
and continue each day for seven weeks.
The 50th day is Shavuot.
Though most people know the day as
Shavuot, this holiday comes with a lot
of names. In Parshat Mishpatim (Exodus
23:16), the Torah identifies the holiday as
Chag Ha Katzir, or Festival of the Harvest.
In Parshat Pinchas (Numbers 28:26 31),
the Torah calls it Yom Ha Bikurim, Day
of First Fruits. These are references to
the Shavuot sacrifice, offerings from the
crop of new wheat (until Shavuot, all meal
offerings were made of flour from earlier
crops). For a third time, in Parshat Reeh
(Deuteronomy 16:9 12), God commands
the Jews to observe the holiday; here it is
called Shavuot.
From early on, the rabbis viewed
Shavuot as much more than an agri-
cultural festival. With its relationship to
Pesach, and because of the commandment
to remember the days of our bondage in
Egypt, the rabbis determined that on the
day now called Shavuot, God gave the
Torah at Sinai. So in the liturgy of Shavuot,
the day is referred to as zeman matan
Torateynu,"The time of the giving of our
Torah."
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Inside The Synagogue: On the first day
of Shavuot, after the kohen has been called
to the Torah for the first aliyah (Torah
reading) and before he recites the blessing,
the Torah reader, chazan (or a
synagogue member with good
vocal skills) chants Akdamut
in a traditional intonation.
This poem was written in
Aramaic by Rabbi. Meir ben
Yitzhak, who lived in Worms,
Germany, in the 11th century.
The many (90 in all) verses
speak of God's majesty, the
suffering of the Jewish people
and their ultimate restoration
to Jerusalem and the land of
Israel, and the glory of the
messianic era.
On the second day of
Shavuot, after the reading of
the first verse of the Haftorah,
the Yetziv Pitgam, also in
Aramaic, is chanted. This
poem features 15 verses, with
a theme similar to that of
Akdamut. It was composed
by Yaacov, the son of Rabbi
Meir Levi, whom some schol-
ars believe is, in fact, Rabbi
Yaacov ben Meir (also known
as Rabbeinu Tam, 1100-1171),
grandson of the preeminent
French Jewish scholar Rashi.
Also on the second day, the Book of
Ruth is read in the synagogue. There are
a number of reasons for this. Several
events happen at the time of the harvest.
Further, just as Ruth accepted the Torah
and became Jewish, so did the children
of Israel at Sinai. Ruth's descendant, King
David, was born and died on Shavuot.
(Because David is regarded as the author
of the Book of Psalms, some read the
entire book on Shavuot.)
Traditionally, the synagogue or temple
on Shavuot is decorated with flowers and
greenery, based on the belief that when
the Torah was given, Mt. Sinai was lush
with vegetation.
How To Celebrate: The only rituals the
Torah specifies for this holiday involve
grain and animal sacrifices which were
performed in the ancient Jewish Temple
in Jerusalem. Today, our prayer services
substitute for the offerings.
Many traditions surround the holiday.
In the 16th century, a group of Jewish
mystics led by Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz
(the author of "Lecha Dodi," sung in the
in the kosher diet. Also, the Song
of Songs (4:11) states, "Honey and
milk are under your tongue;' inter-
preted as suggesting knowledge of
Torah.
Mindful of the Talmudic precept
that Jewish holidays are to be cel-
ebrated with meat and wine, there
is an opinion that says dairy foods
should not comprise the major part
of the meal. Instead, the procedure
should be to have a short first
course of dairy foods or a dairy
appetizer and after a brief interval,
go on to a main course of meat.
Friday-night Shabbat service), began the
practice of studying the Torah the entire
night on the eve of Shavuot (Tikkun Leil
Shavuot). Since then, this has become a
widespread tradition. Today, synagogues
hold all-night study sessions on a variety
of Jewish topics. The learning ends at
around 5 a.m., followed by morning ser-
vices.
Then it's time for food. The featured
cuisine on Shavuot is dairy dishes, includ-
ing such traditional favorites as cheese
blintzes, cheese kreplach and cheesecake.
Exactly why dairy foods are prominent on
Shavuot is unknown, but tradition offers a
number of explanations.
Some point out that until our ancestors
received the Torah they ate non-kosher
meat, but once they were given the Torah
— which includes the laws of kashrut
— they could no longer use their old
dishes and utensils. Thus, until they could
make their vessels kosher, or make new
implements, they had to eat uncooked
dairy foods.
Others note the proximity of the Torah
verses that discuss the first fruits with the
commandment to separate meat and dairy
Shavuot Meets The Internet:
It's best not to go unprepared in
your search for Shavuot informa-
tion on the Web. Many of the sites
are holiday service times at congre-
gations around the country or, even
worse, advertisements.
There are, however, a few really
terrific Web sites out there. Check
these out:
www.torahtots.com/holidays/
shavuos/shavuot.htm
www.fmfcorp.com/familyspot/
holidays.html
www.ou.org/chagim/shavuot/
www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/
Shavuot.htm
www.hillel.org/jewish/holidays/shavuot/
default.htm.
The Precious Torah
We received our precious Torah
Aaron, Miriam, oich* Tzipora.
And despite so many yorn**
It's still doh***, was not farlorn.****
Poo, poo, poo, kenanhora.*****
Oich - also
Yorn - years
Doh - here
Farlorn - lost
Kenanhora - without evil eye
Rachel Kapen of West Bloomfield
prepared this limerick in memory of
the late Mary Jo Fleischmann, long-
time JN Yiddish limerick writer.
May 17 2007
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