Spirituality
HOL IDAY 101
Shavuot
Holiday marks the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
T
he Holiday: Shavuot, or "weeks,"
in Hebrew, lasts for two days.
On the Jewish calendar, Shavuot
is celebrated on the 6th and 7th of Sivan
which this year comes out on Friday, May
29, and Saturday, May 30.
Why We Celebrate: The origins of
Shavuot are biblical, found in Leviticus
23: 15-21. This passage does not identify
the holiday by name. Instead, it describes
the process by which the holiday is cre-
ated: God commands the Jewish people to
count each day, beginning on the second
day of Pesach (Passover) and continue
counting, day-by-day, for seven weeks.
Verse 21 of the passage states that the
50th day is a holiday. Shavuot has the dis-
tinction of being the only Jewish holiday
whose start is not set by calendar date, but
by counting days after another holiday.
Shavuot is known by other names,
alluding to its agricultural significance. In
Exodus 23:16, the Torah identifies the holi-
day as Chag Ha-Katzir, or Festival of the
Harvest. In 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, because until Shavuot, all grain
offerings were made of flour from previ-
ous harvests. In Deuteronomy 16:9-12,
God again commands the Jews to observe
the holiday, but here it is called Shavuot.
From early on, the rabbis viewed
Shavuot as much more than an agricultur-
al festival. With its relationship to Pesach,
and the commandment to remember our
slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:12) that
is stated together with the laws of the holi-
day, 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 Z'man matan Torateynu,
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"The time of the giving of our Torah."
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 a
poem called Akdamut. The Aramaic work
was composed by Meir ben Yitzhak, an
11th-century rabbi of Worms, Germany.
The 90 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 mes-
sianic era.
On the second day of Shavuot, after the
reading of the first verse of the Haftarah,
Yetziv Pitgam, also in Aramaic, is chanted.
This poem features 15 verses, with a
theme is similar to that of Akdamut. It
was composed by Yaacov, the son of Rabbi
Meir Levi, whom some scholars believe
is, in fact, Rabbi Yaacov ben Meir (also
known as Rabbeinu Tam, 1100-1171),
grandson of the pre-eminent 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, one of which
is the pastoral setting of the story, which
fits in with the harvest-celebration theme
of Shavuot. Further, just as Ruth accepted
the Torah and became Jewish, so did the
Children of Israel at Sinai. Ruth's descen-
dant, King David, was born and died on
Shavuot. (In Jewish tradition, David is
regarded as the author of the Book of
Psalms, so some recite the entire Psalms
on Shavuot.)
Traditionally on Shavuot, the synagogue
is decorated with flowers and greenery,
based on the belief that when the Torah
was given, Mt. Sinai was lush with vegeta-
tion (Exodus 34:3 states that livestock
grazed on the mountain).
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
Friday-night Shabbat service), began the
practice of studying the Torah the entire
night on the eve of Shavuot (Tikkun Leil
Shavuot). This has become a widespread
tradition. Today, synagogues hold all-night
study sessions on a variety of Jewish top-
ics. The learning ends at around 5 a.m.,
followed by morning services.
After catching up a night's sleep, it's
time for food. The featured cuisine on
Shavuot is dairy, including such tradi-
tional favorites as cheese blintzes, cheese
kreplach and cheese cake. 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 in the kosher diet.
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 celebrated 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.
Because there are no special ceremo-
nies or rituals performed on Shavuot, its
observance over the decades in America
has diminished, and among non-Orthodox
Jews, it is probably the least-known Jewish
holiday. Nonetheless, because Shavuot
often coincides with the end of the school
year, the Reform movement instituted the
confirmation ceremony on the holiday.
Some Conservative congregations also
have their religious-school graduations on
Shavuot.
Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing spe-
cialist for the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit.
May 28 s 2009
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