Shavuot: The Forgotten Holiday

Today, we celebrate Shavuot, marking the anniversary of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai. It has been called the forgotten holiday by some, as it gets far less attention than other holidays such as Pesach, Yom Kippur, or Hanukkah. But it should get more attention than it does and I believe is one of those holidays that can take on new meaning and importance in contemporary Judaism.

Shavuot was originally an agricultural holiday, marking the ripening of the fruits on trees seven weeks after the ripening of the wheat in the fields. This takes place in early June. After the biblical period, our sages realized that the giving of the Torah at Sinai happened seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt and so tied together this revelation with the agricultural celebation into the hybrid-holiday of Shavuot. To me there is special meaning to this composite celebration, as it is the descendents of slaves who are giving gratitude to God in prayer for the bounty of the land they now posess. And these slaves got their freedom and learned how to live and govern themselves with the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is the concepts first developed in the Torah that formed much of the framework for our own republican form of government here in the United States. So Shavuot serves as a reminder of the very freedoms we are blessed with today here in America and our duty to assist in spreading these concepts of liberty throughout the world.

Today, many synagogues mark Shavuot with Confirmation services where adolescents, who have studied for three years following their Bar, or Bat Mitzvah, pledge to devote their lives to Torah. It is also a time of recognizing converts, who have personally experienced the choice of personally accepting the Torah, as did the ancient Israelites at Sinai. The Book of Ruth is one of the featured scriptural readings of Shavuot, whose heroine is herself a convert to Judaism. There is a legend that one rabbi called Shavuot the "holiday of youth, truth and Ruth." I think this summarizes the holiday very nicely.

Another custom gaining popularity today first originated with medieval Jewish mystics, who would stay up all night, or at least until midnight, reading the Torah in it's entirety (or at least sections from each of the five books). It is said that on Shavuot, one can look up at the heavens at midnight and see God. There is a story of a five year old girl, who pleaded with her parents to allow her to stay up and see God. The objected, but tried to compromise by telling her that she was too young now, but could stay up when she was ten. She refused saying that she wouldn't believe it anymore by then. I really like this story, as it is faith and belief that really brings the magic to many Jewish holidays and customs. We should strive for the faith and innocence of children who in many ways have a deeper belief in the affairs of God than us adults.

Outside of Israel, many Jews celebrate Shavout for two days. This goes back to a time when communication wasn't so quick as it is today and Jews outside of the Holy Land couldn't be sure of the exact time of sunset in Israel. Not wanting to celebrate on the wrong day, they marked the occasion of Shavuot on the day and the day after as a precautionary measure.

Like many, I overlooked and wasn't so familiar with Shavuot. Much of my introduction to this holiday came from the book, "To Life," by Rabbi Harold Kushner. But it is gaining in importance and personal meaning for me, as it relates to many areas in my current life.

1) Although raised Jewish, my mother never formally converted and I've been lately considering going through the conversion process with my wife, who was raised Irish-Catholic, as a means of expanding my devotion to my faith and bringing my family closer together in a shared experience. We are already raising my two year old son as a Jew and are both learning in the process. Thus, the tie in of Shavuot with conversion and Confirmation are important aspects of Shavuot for me.

2) I am also a very big proponent of liberty and personal responsibility, which are emphasized aspects of Shavuot.

3) The concept of showing gratitude to God for the ripening of the first fruits is also very appealing to me. One thing that I appreciate about Judaism is it's seemingly unique ability to tie nature and civilization together in compromise and harmony.

I would ask that you consider the relevance of Shavuout in your own personal life and help me to promote it to a more prominant holiday on the Jewish calendar. It really deserves our attention and can enrich our lives.

Until next time....

Shmuel