Shavuot or as your grandpa says Shavous is the biggest Jewish Holiday you’ve never
heard of.
And if you have heard of it, great - we don’t need to hear about it in the comments.
It’s one of the three major “pilgrimage festivals” when Israelites schlepped to
the Temple to give offerings.
In the Torah it says to have a holiday seven weeks after Passover, although it’s less
specific about all of the details of what to do on it apart from offering the first
fruits of your wheat harvest, which feels not so relevant.
The Rabbis long ago also picked this day to celebrate Matan Torah, G-d giving the Torah
to the people at Mount Sinai.
A real “peak experience.”
Passover is know for the seders.
Sukkot is known for eating in sukkas.
Shavout, if you know it all, which you probably don’t, is starting to attract some real
love for all nights called Tikkun Leil Shavuot.
These all night study sessions happen all over the world and they are a great way to
check out the Jewish scene where you live because you get to have free form conversations
in a less formal setting than services.
At some places Tikkun goers keep it traditional, looking at the Book of Ruth to talk about
committing to the Jewish people, the wild throne vision from the Book of Ezekiel to
talk about revelation, and of course the text of the Ten Commandments.
Other places bring Torah into hot button social debates or bing in the arts and culture crowd
with Jewish film screenings, cheese tasting, and yoga at dawn.
Not for me but other people like yoga.
The origins are kabbalistic; it’s told that the ancient Israelites overslept when the
Torah was given so we stay awake to show our eagerness to receive the Torah all over again.
Receiving the Torah - that phrase - it’s not just about Moses and the physical Ten
Commandments up on Mt.
Sinai.
It’s about how we absorb all the Jewish teachings we learn.
By the way, receiving the Torah doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.
Check out these two classic Jewish stories.
In one, G-d uprooted Mount Sinai, and held it over the people’s heads like a barrel,
saying, “Accept the Torah or else.”
So they accepted.
Some choice!
Another says that G-d went from nation to nation offering them the Torah.
But each of them rejected it, until finally the Jewish people said, “yeah, ok, na’aseh
v’nishmah, we will do and we will listen.”
This is part of the jist of the phrase chosen people by the way.
Of all the people in the world, the Jews agreed to receive the Torah.
Shavuot has other traditions besides the tikkun like decorating your home with greenery and
flowers because midrash tells that Mount Sinai suddenly bloomed when the Torah was given.
So this two day holiday also commemorates the bringing of the first fruits of the harvest
to Jerusalem.
It’s a great time to grab friends for a picnic or a garden party.
It’s common in Ashkenazi communities to eat a lot of dairy.
Make sure to take those digestive aids.
Perhaps, this is to remember that Torah is as sweet as honey and milk.
In Sephardic homes, they’ll go for a large meat meal later on, because, meat.
Because the holiday is about receiving Torah, it’s a time for young children to bake aleph-bet
shaped cookies, older kids to start to learn Hebrew letters, and in some communities, for
teenagers to celebrate confirmation.
It’s taught that when the Torah was received, everyone heard it in their own language and
according to their ability to understand.
And that’s still true today.
Judaism puts great mitzvahs in honoring parents, visiting the sick, and welcoming the guests,
but “Talmud torah k’neged kulam/Torah study is equal to them all.”
Shavuot is an invitation for Jewish people to stand together in solidarity, at the mountain,
each according to who we are.
It is an invitation to create a plan for continued learning and spiritual growth.
While on all other nights it is better to give than to receive, on this night, it is
all about receiving.
Receiving that Torah.
Happy Shavuot!