What
is Shavuot?
Shavuot is the anniversary of
the defining moment of Jewish history:
the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai just over 3,000 years ago.
The drama of the events at Mount Sinai is well known, the only widely
acknowledged public experience with God in human history:
The
date was the 6th of Sivan 2448 according to Jewish date or 1312
BCE. "It was the third day, in the morning, that there was thunder
and lightning. A heavy cloud was on the mountain and there was a very
loud sound of the shofar. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses
brought the people toward God out of the camp. They stood at the foot
of the mountain. The entire Mount Sinai was enveloped with smoke, for
God had descended upon it in fire. Its smoke rose like the smoke of
a furnace and the entire mountain trembled violently ..." (Exodus
19:16-18)
God begins to give the Ten Commandments, but the Jews panic and beg
Moses to ascend the mountain and accept the teachings on their behalf.
"Moses came and told the people all the words of God. The people
responded with one voice and said, 'All the words that God has spoken,
we will do.' Moses wrote down all the words of God. He arose early
in the morning and built an altar beneath the mountain, and also twelve
pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent youths of the Sons
of Israel and they offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed oxen as
peace offerings to God. Moses ... then took the Book of the Covenant
and read it in the ears of the people. They said, 'All that God has
spoken, we will do and we will hear." (Exodus 24:3-7)
Just about 3,300 years ago, after the exodus of Egypt on the night
of Passover, the Jews traveled into the Sinai desert. There, the entire
Jewish nation - over 3 million men, women and children -- directly
experienced divine revelation:
"God spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you were hearing
the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He
told you of His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments,
and He inscribed them on two stone tablets." (Deut. 4:12-13)
The giving of the Torah was an event of awesome proportions that indelibly
stamped the Jewish nation with a unique character, faith and destiny.
And in the 3,300 years since this event, Torah ideals - monotheism,
justice, responsibility -- have become the moral basis for Western
civilization.
How
to celebrate
On
Shavuot, there are no themes and symbols to distract us from the central
focus of Jewish life. So how do we celebrate Shavuot? It is a well-known
custom to stay up the entire night to study Torah. And since Torah is
the way to self-perfection, the Shavuot night learning is called "Tikkun
Leil Shavuot," which means an act of self-perfection on the
night of Shavuot.
During services on Shavuot morning, we read the Biblical book of Ruth.
Ruth was a non-Jewish woman whose love for God and Torah led her to
convert to Judaism. The Torah intimates that the souls of eventual
converts were also standing at Sinai, as it says: "I am making
[the covenant] both with those here today before the Lord our God,
and also with those not here today." (Deut. 29:13)
Ruth has a further connection to Shavuot, in that she became the ancestor
of King David, who was born on Shavuot, and died on Shavuot.
It's a tradition on Shavuot; to decorate the synagogue with beautiful
flowers. This is because Mount Sinai blossomed with flowers on the
day the Torah was given. The Bible also associates Shavuot with the
harvest of wheat and fruits, and marks the bringing of the first fruits
to the Holy Temple as an expression of thanksgiving. (see Exodus 23:16,
34:22, Numbers 28:26)
Dairy
Food Customs
On Shavuot
we have a popular tradition of eating dairy foods.
There are several sources for this custom.
The Biblical book Song of Songs (4:11) refers to the sweet nourishing
value of Torah by saying: "It drips from your lips, like honey
and milk under your tongue."
The verse in Exodus 23:19 juxtaposes the holiday of Shavuot with the prohibition
of mixing milk and meat.
On Shavuot, we therefore eat separate meals - one of milk and one of meat.
After getting the Torah, the Jews instantly became obligated in the laws
in regarding slaughter of animals. Since they did not have time to prepare
kosher meat, they ate dairy alternatively.
