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Reading Room ViewPoint Shavuot - A Very Brief
Insight The following ViewPoint was intended to provoke thought and discussion. The Hebrew word Shavuot means weeks. The ancient Israelites had no written calendar, therefore the exact date of Shavuot was calculated by counting seven weeks from the second day of Pesach (Passover). This added up to 49 days, and the fiftieth day was Shavuot, the Festival (or Feast) of Weeks. The Greek word Pentecost means fifty days. The Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsun (as it is called by Christianity), is Shavuot, the Hebrew Festival of Weeks.The word Shavuot designated the festival that ends the weeks of the grain harvest. It was only later, during the days of the second Temple, that Shavuot became a two-fold festival celebrating both the wheat harvest and the pact entered into between God and mankind. The grain harvest began with the reaping of the barley and, after seven weeks, culminated with the harvest of the wheat. On the fiftieth day, two loaves of bread, baked from the wheat of the new crop, were offered at the sanctuary as a sacrifice. This bread-offering was called "the first fruits of the wheat harvest," and the festival was therefore also called Yom ha-Bikkurim, the day of offering the first loaves of the new crop to God.1 Shavuot is also seen as marking the concluding phase of Pesach.2 The Torah does not designate a name for the festival, nor does it fix a date for Shavuot, as one would expect regarding an independent holiday; the sephirah (counting) days established the chronological link between Pesach and Shavuot. The twenty-third chapter of Leviticus lists the rituals of the festivals. In beginning with the Festival of Matzot in verse 6, it requires the counting of fifty days and then verse 21 reads, "there shall be a holy convocation (mikra kodesh) unto you." The relationship between Pesach and Shavuot is that they share a common bond which links them together both historically and agriculturally. The link historically has to do with the slavery and the subsequent liberation of Israel from the clutches of Egypt. Pesach was the time to dwell on the oppression and slavery of the past, and to celebrate the Redemption of Israel, when HaShem (G-d) sent Moshe to lead Israel out of Egypt. Shavuot was the time of the celebration of the Revelation at Sinai, when Israel was liberated spiritually. The link agriculturally deals with the harvest season - its beginning on the second day of Pesach with the Omer, the first-fruits of the new barley grain, and its conclusion on Shavuot with the lechem tnufah, the two wave-loaves of bread, which were to be baked from the new crop of wheat.3 Shavuot was one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesach and Sukkot being the other two) during which the ancient Israelites journeyed to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Festival at the Temple. During the latter days of the second Temple an important debate arose among the Jewish people concerning different understandings of Shavuot. Deep disagreements emerged between the Sadducees of the priestly caste who focused on the sacrificial system, and the Pharisees who were more interested in prayer and study of the Torah, and who were developing the [understanding] of the two-fold Torah: written and oral. 4 The Pharisees saw with clarity that the Revelation at Sinai was the moment of a marriage between G-d and Israel, and that the Torah was the ketubah, (marriage contract), the covenantal contract. Eventually, the scholars and sages were able to fix the time of the Revelation as being on Shavuot, as the Torah is mute regarding exactly on what day it was given by G-d to Israel in covenantal agreement. The rabbis did midrash so as to discover, hidden in the text, the festival that makes it possible to keep on doing midrash. 5 Shavuot is also called Zeman Mattan Toratenu, which means "the time of the giving of the Torah." According to the Midrash (interpretation based on an implied ethical or moral lesson found underneath the literal meaning or word of a phrase), Israel was not the first and only nation that G-d offered the Torah to:
The midrashim dealing with the event of the Revelation is quite extensive, and the scene that unfolded at Mt. Sinai has not been parallelled in the course of human history. With G-d's arrival at Mt. Sinai came a great flood of smoke, like that of a furnace. There was thunder and lightning and a large cloud of fog. The mountain itself shook and trembled, while other mountains danced and cavorted. Israel too trembled, because the earth beneath them rocked. They withdrew far away from the mountain, in fear and trepidation. 8 Amidst all the wonders of the Revelation, Israel heard and saw the words of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), also known as the Devarim, or the Ten Words. The Decalogue represents that true relationship for man; that perfect harmony between man's private, personalized and particularized maturation and the total general public life to which he must convey his identity... 9 Because Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Law on Sinai, it is customary for the scholars to spend the whole night of Shavuot studying the Law. A special book was prepared for this occasion, called Tikkun leil Shavuot (Restoration of the Night of Shavuot). 10 The Tikkun is composed of selections from the Bible, rabbinic literature, and even mystical literature such as the Zohar. The Tikkun ends at sunrise and the morning services are recited. 11 During the service the Torah reading is that of the Ten Commandments, and (for those who only observe one day of Shavuot) the Book of Ruth is also read. There are two reasons for this: first, an important part of Ruth's story unfolds during the harvest season; second, Ruth voluntarily accepted the Torah (she became a Jew by choice) and she is the first recorded convert to Judaism. 12 Indeed, Shavuot is a two-fold festival, and all of the Jewish customs reflect this two-fold celebration; the reading of the Ten Commandments, the Tikkun, and the Book of Ruth tells of both Torah and Land. It is the celebration of the Giving of the Torah and the Revelation of G-d at Har Sinai. B'nei Noach recognizes and commemorates this important event with a non-religious celebration, such as a festive meal and discussions about the event. As a result of the Jewish people accepting and receiving the Torah on Shavout, we are able to learn from them and know about our obligation to keep the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach, the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah, as commanded by G-d.
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