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Editorial
Shavuot Asserts The Jewish Way
I
t's the birthday of the Jewish
people. But that's not why
cheesecake is a popular food
on Shavuot. On the two-day holiday,
beginning this year on the evening of
May 14, the sixth of Sivan, we renew
our receiving of the Torah, our most
sacred text and our guidepost for liv-
ing freely and with moral purpose — in
many ways, our "law book." We cel-
ebrate the power of the human spirit
as energized by God.
Each Shavuot, God reaffirms giving
the Torah to the Children of Israel, a
not-so-subtle reminder that Divine
direction requires an annual recom-
mitment of connection and cleansing.
In a re-exchange of oaths, God swears
eternal devotion to us, and we pledge
everlasting loyalty to God.
Israel's modern-day struggle to
find secure borders and lasting peace
in the besieged Middle East spot-
lights how hard it is for a democratic
state to operate freely in a region
beset with instability, theocracy and
extreme anti-Zionism.
At Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago,
God gave the Torah to Moses, amid
ministering angels, on behalf of the
Hebrews — the Israelites of Egyptian
slavery times who found strength and
succor in God's laws. God's chosen
people vowed to follow Torah's ethi-
cal rules and, by so doing, serve God.
The instant of giving, and the budding
human-Divine relationship, represent-
ed the moment when the Hebrews
became the Jews.
The Backdrop
Because Shavuot is
celebrated in the
spring, it has come
to also be known as
Chag haKatzir, Festival
of the Grain Harvest,
and Chag haBikkurim,
Festival of the First
Fruits. On the holiday,
Jews and others who
desire rainwater for
their crops experience fulfillment
of the promise of spring and renewal.
Biblically, Israel was God's first fruit.
Dairy foods are a staple of Shavuot.
They commemorate not only Moses
nursing only on the milk of his Hebrew
mother after being pulled from the
Nile, but also the Jews only eating such
foods until they could kasher their dish-
es as God commanded in the Torah.
Ruth the Moabite is tied to Shauvot
through the teaching that Torah is
absorbed only through affliction and
poverty — reflective of her life when
she converted to Judaism.
The Book of Ruth is read on Shavuot
in deference to King David, who died
on the holiday and who was a descen-
dant of Ruth. The book tells us that
how we live defines what kind of per-
son each of us is. For Jews,
these rules are found
in the Torah. Morality
enables us to seek
higher possibility
and responsibility.
Tradition teaches
that people who
stay on course and
defy demons in the
pursuit of advance-
ment and Jewish
values discover what it
means to be truly free.
Like the other Jewish festivals of
Pesach and Sukkot, Shavuot is rooted
in nature. It means "weeks" and marks
the start of the barley harvest seven
weeks after Pesach. On Shavuot, two
loaves of bread, made from the newly
harvested wheat, were brought to the
Temple. Along with the first fruits, they
were sacrificed to God in honor of the
Divine gift of Torah.
A Special Bond
Shavuot underscores the wonder of
the human-Divine relationship. People
provide seed, skill and labor; God pro-
vides sun, rain and soil. God supplies
the law; Jews accept it. God points
the way to a righteous life; Jews fol-
low that path through Torah guidance.
A Shavuot custom is all-night study
(tikkun ley! Shavuot) of Torah, Talmud
and other sacred writings. Central to
the Shavuot morning service, typi-
cally in a sanctuary decorated with
greenery and first fruits, is the read-
ing of Torah, particularly the Ten
Commandments.
God came down Mount Sinai "in
fire," the midrash relates. The midrash
teaches that Torah is fire: that if you
come too near, you get burned; that if
you stay too far away, you get cold.
Clearly, the partnership between
God and the Jews, and the obliga-
tions of the Jews to Torah, must never
be taken for granted. Neither must
the security of the Jewish ancestral
homeland.
Shavuot is a prime time to recali-
brate and recommit spiritually, in our
own Divinely inspired way, to Torah, to
Israel and to Am Yisrael, the Nation of
Israel — the Jewish people. ❑
Commentary
Kick The Consumerist Habit
JTA
udaism is designed to be a
person's operating system,
the platform on which other
areas of one's life function. But for
many Jews, religious practice sits on a
shelf alongside theater subscriptions,
gym memberships and soccer practice,
relegated to one of many offerings
from which we can pick and choose.
For Jewish educators, this mindset
poses particular challenges, forcing us
to adopt the tactics of public relations
agencies to induce Jews to participate
in Jewish life. Why can't these oppor-
tunities speak for themselves? Why do
people have to be convinced to take a
Hebrew class, attend Shabbat services
or drop in on a lecture?
Partly, of course, it's an issue of
time. Lots of people might want more
Jewishness in their lives, but work,
family and other commitments take
precedence. Even when people do
show up for Hebrew school, committee
meetings or worship services, many
are unable to leave their consumerist
addictions at the door.
46
May 9 • 2013
They may sincerely want to achieve
something — learn a new skill or be
inspired by a rabbi's talk — yet they
instinctively rely on "experts" to pack-
age Judaism for them. The cult of
achievement seeps into everything.
Leaders steeped in the ethos
of corporate America expect
flawless execution at meet-
ings. Parents pushing their
kids on the fast track are
never satisfied with the rate
of their children's Hebrew
acquisition.
What if, instead of being
just one more place to
look for "more" and "bet-
ter," Jewish life could be an
escape from this compul-
sion? What if, instead of
being just one more place to "get it
done," Jewish life could be the place
Jews awoke to gratitude for what they
have in each moment?
The ancient Jewish practice of
shmita, the biblically mandated sab-
batical year of rest and release that
begins in September 2014, offers one
way to roll back this trend.
At its core, shmita is a chance to
show contemporary Jews that ancient
Jewish texts have the potential to
serve as a sophisticated map for many
areas of their lives, not just occasional
events in particular buildings. But it
is also a way to induce indi-
vidual Jews to take more
responsibility both for their
personal consumption hab-
its and shaping the contours
of their spiritual lives.
Traditionally, shmita was
a time when farmers did
not cultivate their lands,
debts were forgiven and
slaves were set free. In a
contemporary context, we
can see this year not only
as a chance to restore bal-
ance and share more equitably, but
to release ourselves from the mental-
ity that sees everything in the world
— from natural resources to Jewish
communal ones — as one more set of
things to be consumed. Anyone look-
ing to revive his community, spend
more time with family and friends or
even live more simply can take inspi-
ration from the concept of shmita.
Hazon, a national Jewish organiza-
tion promoting sustainability, is part
of a coalition of eco-minded Jewish
projects planning a series of initia-
tives in anticipation of the next shmita
year. The Shmita Project seeks to
revive the ancient teachings of the
sabbatical cycle and apply them to our
times. Bringing these principles alive
is our next best shot to counter the
consumerist impulse from within the
Jewish tradition, all the while support-
ing the environment, our communities
and ourselves.
My hope is that such efforts will
result in people taking a closer look
at how economic sustainability might
work in their communities, and how
individuals can take greater respon-
sibility for personal consumption and
for relieving themselves of the expec-
tation others will perform Jewish
practice on their behalf.
❑
Sarah Chandler is a Jewish experiential
educator, community activist and spiritual
leader. Learn more at http://www.hazon.org/
resource/shmita-project/.