S.5 #22 | Shavuot: a time for spiritual growth

In this episode, I recount the details of two Shavuot events that I attended this year. I explain the holiday's significance and traditions. Shavuot is not only a time for spiritual growth, but also it is a time for families and communities to come together, reaffirming their commitment to Jewish learning, while celebrating the spiritual connection with G-d.

Mentions:

Chabad.org

Poem by Rick Lupert

Transcript

 This past weekend I attended two Shavuot events and I want to share with you all about them! First off, what is Shavuot? Shavuot is a Jewish holiday commemorating the giving of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) to Moses at Mount Sinai. It's celebrated seven weeks after Passover, or 50 days after the first day of Passover. Perhaps you listened to my episode about counting the omer - The Omer is counted every evening after nightfall, from the second night of Passover till the night before Shavuot. The way to do this is to recite a blessing before counting and then announce the day number (and the number of weeks and days if applicable). This is why Shavuot is also known as the Festival of Weeks.  Traditional celebrations include joyous feasts, special prayers, abstaining from work, eating dairy foods, and studying the Torah all night. The holiday is a time for renewal and a reminder of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. The reason many Jews stay up all night to study the Torah is because they believe it was given at Mount Sinai on this night. The tradition of eating dairy on Shavuot, is rooted in several symbolic and historical reasons. The most common explanation is that the Torah is likened to milk, which nourishes both the body and the soul. Additionally, the Hebrew word for milk, "chalav," has a numerical value of 40, coinciding with the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving the Torah. 

The first event I attended was organized by PJ library and partners, and it took place at our local Jewish Community Center. The event included all sorts of kids activities like arts and crafts, lawn games, music and dancing, and most importantly an ice cream truck. The dancing was led by a young Israeli woman who spoke mostly in English but also used many Hebrew words that I recognized and taught my kids on the spot. Some words they actually already knew themselves from Hebrew school. If you’d like to see videos and photos from this event, head to my Instagram or TikTok. 

The people that attended were very diverse in the degree of religiosity. Some were clearly orthodox, women wearing head coverings and long skirts, and men with tzitzit and kipas. Others were somewhere in the middle, and still others didn’t look observant at all, meaning women wearing short skirts, shorts, revealing tops, etc. While the event was entertaining and the kids enjoyed the activities and ice cream, I didn't pick up on any educational elements. The only sort of educational aspect was in the ice cream topping, which consisted of using two cookies to create the shape of the two tablets with the commandments that Moses received from God at Mt. Sinai, and maybe a few books on the topic of Shavuot at the PJ LIbrary corner. But that’s it. I don’t think my kids would’ve understood what holiday we were celebrating if I hadn’t told them.

However, the following day, June 2nd we attended our own Chabad’s Shavuot celebration, and there it was very, very clear what holiday we were celebrating and why. I should explain, too, that Shavuot  in the Diaspora (outside of Israel) is celebrated for two days, while in Israel only for one. The reason holidays are celebrated for two days in the Jewish diaspora is to ensure that distant communities observe the holiday on the correct day, as determined by the sighting of the new moon, which was once the standard method of calendar calculation. This practice also serves to maintain continuity with ancient traditions and to provide an extra day of celebration and connection for Diaspora communities. 

At our synagogue, there were several services and Torah studies available during the two days. I opted for the morning of June 2nd because that’s when the kids program was taking place. My son, who is almost eight, was invited to read one of the ten commandments on stage, to the congregation, with his fellow Hebrew school students. Before entering the sanctuary where the praying takes place, my kids and I attended the children’s program, which involved hearing the story of how Moses received the Torah. I will give you the adult version of this story as it is written on Chabad’s website chabad.org:

The entire people heard the words of G‑d, and they became frightened.

They begged Moses to be the intermediary between G‑d and them, for if G‑d Himself would continue to give them the entire Torah, they would surely die. Moses told them not to be afraid, for G‑d had revealed Himself to them so that they would fear Him and not sin.

Then G‑d asked Moses to ascend the mountain; for he alone was able to stand in the presence of G‑d. There Moses was to receive the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments and the entire Torah, to teach it to the children of Israel.

Moses went up the mountain and stayed there forty days and forty nights, without food or sleep, for he had become like an angel. During this time, G‑d revealed to Moses the entire Torah, with all its laws and the interpretations thereof.

Finally, G‑d gave Moses the two stone Tables of Testimony, containing the Ten Commandments, written by G‑d Himself.

When it was time for the children to enter the sanctuary, we went in quietly, I took a seat on the women’s side of the room and my son went on stage. Hearing the ten commandments on Shavuot is actually a mitzvah. After this, the kids sang some songs and prayers, and then it was time for lunch. The service continued for a little while longer but I left to go to lunch with my kids. When all the kids and parents came to the outdoor pavilion, the buffet lunch was set up and all ready to go, and our rebbetzin led us in kiddush (a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays) before starting to eat. As I mentioned in the beginning, it is traditional to eat dairy on Shavuot, so the lunch was all dairy, and it was delicious! It was buffet-style and there was lasagna, pasta, quiches, cheese blintzes (probably my favorite), lox on bagels with cream cheese, salad bar, all kinds of sweets, fruit, and of course tons of different ice cream. My step daughter who is 17, actually volunteered to first help watch the kids in the playroom and then to serve the ice cream during lunch. It was a beautiful summer day and we all sat outside and enjoyed the tasty lunch.

So now you know what Shavuot is all about. If you didn’t celebrate this year, there is always next year! I’ll leave you today with a poem titled “The Festival of Weeks”, which is  about this holiday and written by Rick Lupert. Enjoy and until next time.

When we’re born we count our age in days,
That quickly changes to weeks and then months
which lasts for a while, even after a year.

But then, it is only years we measure our time by.
Imagine if three decades in someone proclaimed
to be three hundred and sixty months old.

At a certain point, we can only perceive the
passage of time in the largest possible increments.
The minute-by-minute details, lost to our past.

Then, once a year, after we put the matzah away
we slow it back down to weeks – to savor the
passing moments, to establish a yearning for

what we will be given. All of us, standing at the mountain
as if our flesh was on that soil. As if we spent
forty days looking up, as if we were prepared for

the sweetness about to land on our tongues.
It is at this point our memory kicks in, of
miracles we saw through other people’s eyes.

This book of our past which we read to
guide our future, which we struggle with
to understand the why and how of history.

This Jewish textbook for our lifelong master class.
We are the people of the book, and this is the book.
We received it thousands and thousands of weeks ago.

Before we understood how to separate milk from meat.
Before Ruth went where she went.
Before we even knew what a blintz was.

We’ll do this again in an appropriate number of weeks.
I wouldn’t plan on getting any sleep tonight.
There’s too much to know.

Mentions:

Chabad.org

Rick Lupert