Shavuot: Israel Commemorates the Giving of the Torah

June 11, 2024

by: Ilse Strauss

Please note that our offices will be closed on June 12 for the Shavuot (Pentecost) holiday. We will resume normal operations, including news, on Thursday, June 13.

Tuesday, 11 June 2024 | The rhythm of life in the Land of Promise is governed by a cycle of annual holidays—days set aside in the 12-month Israeli calendar to celebrate what Leviticus 23:2 calls, “the feasts of the Lord.” Sunset tonight ushers in the festival of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks), the fourth of the seven God-ordained festivals.

Shavuot, which simply means “weeks” in Hebrew, is a one-day festival that falls seven weeks or 50 days after Pesach (Passover). During the time of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, Shavuot was the second of the Pilgrimage Festivals, the three feast days—together with Passover and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)—on which God required all Israelite males to go up to Israel’s capital to appear before the Lord in the Temple.

Shavuot has a deep spiritual and agricultural significance. Agriculturally, it falls between the grain and barley harvests and celebrates the ripened produce of the Land brought to the Temple as a first fruit offering. Spiritually, the Feast of Weeks commemorates the day God gave His instructions—the Torah (Gen.–Deut.)—to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai some 3,300 years ago.

We find the account in Exodus 19. A fledgling nation of former slaves was en route from Egypt to the Land God had promised to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their exodus started on Passover, when God delivered them from the Angel of Death—and the cruel oppression of Pharaoh—through the blood of Passover Lamb. Seven weeks had passed since the nation, soon to be known as Israel, had left a plague-ravaged Egypt behind. And then, coming up to the fiftieth day, Moses received this instruction from God: “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people” (Exod. 19:10–11).

The rest of the story is well known. Israel heeded God’s command, prepared themselves according to His instructions and gathered at Mount Sinai. Moses headed up the mountain as the nation’s representative and received the Torah from God.

Today, more than 3,300 years later, the offspring of those who stood assembled at the base of Mount Sinai on the morning of the first Shavuot continue to commemorate God’s sharing of His instructions with the Israelites. And every year, the Jewish people use this day to rededicate themselves to the gift from the hand of God.

Shavuot begins on sundown on the 5th day of the biblical month Sivan and lasts until nightfall on the 6th of Sivan. Preparations for the feast include a practice called “Counting the Omer,” marking the days from Passover to the Feast of Weeks as called for in Leviticus 23:15–16, “And you shall count for yourselves from…the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath…”

The number of days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavuot is exactly 49 days or seven weeks, which is the reason behind the name of the feast. The practice of counting the days from one feast to the next has a very specific purpose: it underscores the crucial connection between Passover and Shavuot. While Passover freed the Jewish people from the hand of Pharaoh and physical slavery, it was the giving of the Torah on Shavuot that led Israel forth into spiritual freedom.

On Shavuot, Israel celebrates the generosity of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not only in receiving the Torah, but also the blessing of the Land of Israel, a land of milk and honey in which the seven species—wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates—grow in abundance. As such, the fruits of the land are found on the menu of many Shavuot meals. It is also a considered customary to feast on foods rich in dairy, like cheesecake, pastries and quiche.

Sundown tonight marks the start of another Feast of Weeks tradition. Jewish tradition says the first Shavuot morning was marred because the Israelites overslept and Moses had to wake them for their appointment at Mount Sinai. As such, many Jewish men today will spend the night of Shavuot wide awake, studying the Torah with friends and family.

From Jerusalem, Bridges for Peace wishes all those who celebrate chag Shavuot sameach (happy Shavuot).

Posted on June 11, 2024

Source: (Bridges for Peace, May 25, 2023)

Photo Credit: Chesdovi/commons.wikimedia.org

Photo License: Wikimedia