The Festival of Shavuot

There are three major festivals observed on the annual Jewish calendar.  They are Sukkot, the Festival of Booths in the Fall; Pesach, the Festival of Passover in the Spring; and Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, again in the Spring. All three have something in common.  Collectively they are known as the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimage Festivals.  Each is not only associated with an historical event in the life of the Children of Israel but also with the agricultural calendar.  Agriculturally, each of the festivals is also associated with a harvest.

In the days when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the people were required to bring the first fruits of each harvest to the Temple as a sacrifice, hence the term “Pilgrimage Festival”.  In pre-Talmudic times, the rabbis who were instrumental in the development of Judaism determined that making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times in a year was too onerous a requirement for a basically agrarian population.  Thus they ruled that each person was obligated to make only one pilgrimage in a year and could do so for any of the above three Festivals

This month, we will celebrate the Festival of Shavuot.  It occurs exactly seven weeks after Pesach (Passover).  The Torah (Five Books of Moses) tells us that this was the length of time it took the Israelites to travel from Egypt after the Exodus to Mt. Sinai in the wilderness.  At Sinai they received the Ten Commandments.  Thus Shavuot is seen as the logical conclusion to Pesach.  We went free from bondage in Egypt in order to receive the Torah (of which the Ten Commandments are representative).  It is the Torah, in the form of the laws, traditions and teachings that makes up the core of Judaism.  The Covenant at Sinai, of which the Torah is central, is what bound us for the first time as a people rather than individual tribes or families.  It is the seminal experience of the Jewish People. 

There are several distinct customs associate with Shavuot.  One revolves around study.  It has become customary to stay up the entire night before the Festival begins studying some aspect of Jewish law and/or history.  Many communities have established this as an opportunity for community wide study night.  It is known as Leil Tikun Shavuot.  A second custom is that dairy foods are associated with the Festival.

All of three of the Pilgrimage Festivals are joyously celebrated, each representing an important event in the development of Judaism and the Jewish People.  On Shavuot we see ourselves standing together at Mt. Sinai as Moses delivers the Ten Commandments to us and we affirm, for the first time, our Covenant with God as a people.

On each Festival we greet each other with the words:  Chag Sameach!  May you have a joyous holiday!

Rabbi Robert P. Kirzner