What is Shavuot?

Shavuot is the Jewish festival that celebrates the giving of the Torah to the entire Jewish people at Mount Sinai in the year 2448 (-1313 BCE) after their miraculous redemption from Egyptian slavery only seven weeks prior.

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The giving of the Torah was a far-reaching spiritual event; one that touched the essence of the Jewish soul for all times. Our sages have compared it to a wedding between G‑d and the Jewish people.

 

Shavuot also means “oaths” because on this day G‑d swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.

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In ancient times, two wheat loaves would be offered in the Holy Temple on Shavuot. It was also at this time that people would begin to bring bikkurim, their first and choicest fruits, to thank G‑d for Israel’s bounty. Click here for more info

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Customs

• Women and girls light holiday candles to usher in the festival, on both the first and second evenings of the holidays.

• It is customary to stay up all night learning Torah on the first night of Shavuot.

• All men, women and children would usually go to the shul on the first day of Shavuot to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments. This year due to the virus, we wont be able to attend shul so we should read the Ten Commandments from a Chumash or Machzor.

• As on other festivals, special meals are eaten, and no “work” should be performed.

• It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. Menus range from traditional cheese blintzes to quiches, casseroles and more.

• On the second day of Shavuot, the Yizkor memorial service is recited. 

• Some communities read the Book of Ruth publicly, as King David, whose passing occurred on this day, was a descendant of Ruth the Moabite.

• Some have the custom to decorate their homes (and shuls) with flowers and sweet-smelling plants in advance of Shavuot. 

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Insights

From Barley to Wheat - by Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe
Passover and Shavuot, most commonly known as the festivals that commemorate, respectively, the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah, each also have a pronounced agricultural element.

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The Torah instructs that on the second day of Passover we should bring the first cutting of our barley harvest to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to G‑d, and not to partake of that year's barley crop until that offering is made. On Shavout, we are commanded to bring the first of our wheat harvest as an offering to G‑d, and not partake of that year's wheat until this is done. Hence, the 49-day count leading from Passover to Shavuot is called "The Counting of the Omer", a reference to the omer (a biblical measure) of barley that was brought on the first day of the count, and Shavuot is called Yom Habikkurim, "The Day of the First-Fruits Offering".

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In Biblical tradition, barley is primarily animal food. Wheat is the key and ideal human food.

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The instruction that we gain from these offerings is:

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In each one of us there is a human and a beast, or, in the words of the Chassidic masters, a "G‑dly soul" and an "animal soul." As regards our animal soul, most of us would agree that a "barley offering" is in order. Obviously, my animalistic passions and desires need taming and binding to the divine. I must therefore offer up my physical drives and desires to control by G‑d, lest they get the better of me.

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I may, however, believe that all intellectual and artistic endeavor is good and safe, inasmuch as it is uniquely human and refined. The Torah teaches us: No! We must also bring an offering of the first of our "wheat", our human endeavor, to G‑d. If we do not bind our intellect and creativity to G‑d, no matter how profound our musings and how refined our aesthetic, we risk creating and inspiring falsehood and evil. Not all art inspires positive behavior or attitudes; not every philosophy is helpful or even benign.

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Indeed, there is nothing more destructive than bad ideas and beliefs. All the worst evils of the 20th century stemmed not from greed and base animal passions, but from malignant ideologies. Only by shining the light of G‑dliness as embodied in the Torah into our souls can we distinguish between the ideas and creations that elevate humanity and those that pollute it.

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Each and every one of us, always, must begin every intellectual and creative endeavor by asking: "Does this essay or work of art or music move the world closer to being a dwelling place for G‑d?"

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This is the eternal question asked of each of us our by obligation to bring the first fruits offering on Shavout: "Did you offer the first of your wheat, your humanity, to G‑d?"

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May we all merit to receive the Torah anew with joy and inner meaning.

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Recipes

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WHOLE WHEAT CRUST

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

• 4 tbsps. brown sugar

• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)

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FILLING

• 1lb cream cheese

• 3/4 pound cottage cheese

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/2 cups sugar (or as you feel appropriate)

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 2 1/2 tbsps. cornstarch

• 1 1/4 cups sour cream

• 3/4 cup milk

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

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USE: 9 x 13 inch pan

YIELDS: 20 servings

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Preheat oven to 350°.

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WHOLE WHEAT CRUST: Mix oil, flour, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add coconut, if desired. Press mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

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FILLING: Beat cream cheese and cottage cheese together until smooth. Add eggs and beat until blended Combine sugar, salt, and cornstarch with cheese mixture Add sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Blend well. Pour filling slowly into crust.

Bake for I hour. Turn oven off and allow cake to cool in oven for about I hour.

Serve chilled.

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TOPPING SUGGESTIONS: Add fresh fruit or berries, shaved almonds or 1/2 cup reserved graham cracker crust.

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