Poor Shavu’ot. It’s one of the big three holidays of the Jewish year, or at least it used to be. It’s still considered as it has always been, one of the Shalosh Regalim, “The Three Pilgrimages”. In ancient Israel, anyone physically able was obligated to go to Jerusalem and celebrate. Shavu’ot, the “feast of weeks”, so named because it celebrates a ‘week of weeks” where the barley grows between Passover and this day. Shavu’ot, the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai and the attendant Theophany. Prepare to meet your God, Oh Israel!
Shavu’ot, the holiday that represents the union of Israel and God; the consummation of an ancient betrothal; the Torah given as Ketubah, the Shabbat as sign of the compact. A mystical wedding between our people and The One Who Spoke Creation.
Shavu’ot, where we would bring baskets of the first yield of the spring harvest, and recite the ancient words given to us in Deuteronomy; instructed to us by Moses himself:
“A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and enslaved us. And we cried unto the LORD, God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression. And the LORD y hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with awesome deeds, and with signs, and with wonders. And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land, which Thou, O LORD, hast given me.”
We have no Temple nor priests, and the old ways are not our ways;
Fitting it is, then, that the traditional practice is to read the Book of Ruth on Shavu’ot, where the most famous convert of all makes her choice to join the people of Israel. Her descendants would become the Judean royal family.
Yet there it is, Shavu’ot; often as lonely as the barren Temple Mount all those years; overlooked, forgotten. It has no great ceremony like Passover; nor visible peculiarities like the four species or little buildings like Sukkot. It’s the middle child of the religious year; following Passover and followed by Sukkot. And then there is the risen importance of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur; Shavu’ot barely stands a chance.
Shavu’ot is, in our day a holiday celebrated primarily through text and liturgy, and for most of our brethren, it holds as much interest as does ancient religious text and unfamiliar Hebrew liturgy.
There are, of course, special things we do; and obviously, it involves food. Shavu’ot is a holiday of dairy goods. Why dairy? Because dairy is associated with the life-force; and Torah is the Tree of Life; God the Source of Life; communion with those entities the purpose and meaning of human life.
It also seems that Ice Cream and Cheesecake are good consolations for not having Seders to go to or Lulavs to shake.
In the middle ages, the mystics began a practice that remains perhaps the most popular and interesting way of celebrating Shavu’ot; the Tikkun Leil Shavuot. this “preparation” on the eve of the holiday consists of the late-night study (or all-night study for the hardcore) of texts, particularly mystical texts from the Bible such as Ezekiel’s vision of the Chariot or sections of later religious and mystical texts like the Zohar.
This is done in keeping with the idea that before we received Torah at the first Shavu’ot, at Sinai, we had to prepare ourselves. Prepare to meet your God, Oh Israel.
In most communities Reform Jews observe Shavu’ot by celebrating the Confirmation of our youth on this day; when our young men and women publicly demonstrate their choice to stand as Jews in a world where it is all too easy to choose otherwise. Unfortunately, sometimes, as it does this year, Shavu’ot falls late in the year, during Summer recess. This makes it challenging, if not impossible, to do Shavu’ot the honor it deserves or to get as much joy as we could out of this wonderful anniversary.
So maybe even if we can’t have a big anniversary party this year, we can make a lot out of Shavu’ot. It’s not settling at all to choose to have a nice, quiet romantic dinner celebrating our relationships with God and our family. Crack open a bottle of wine and some good cheese. Get some Graeter’s, Ben and Jerry’s, or Eli’s.
Break open a Jewish text and study a little with your family or friends. May I suggest the first chapter of Ezekiel? This is wild, wild, stuff.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1201.htm
Should you need some help wrapping your head around the vision, someone made a very helpful computer animation of the vision; complete with music, a British accent and lots of mispronounced Hebrew words. It’s pretty cheesy, but that’s appropriate. (Dairy joke.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ET7WXK4D_g
Following your study, you can come up with catchy slogans for Shavu’ot, and help in the campaign to get this wonderful, important and meaningful holiday the respect it deserves. I’ll start:
Shavu’ot: the official Jewish Holiday of Wisconsin? The Cheesecake Factory: Here, It’s Always Shavuot?
However you celebrate; Hag HaShevu’ot Sameach! (Happy Feast of Weeks!)
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You convinced me I have to go to shul…so I will go down to my “other synagogue” (Temple Sinai) where there is a confirmation and service tonight on Erev Shevu’ot…and celebrate with their promised post service dessert selection. No Cheesecake Factory but hopefully some cheesecake.