Shavuot

Shavuot (Hebrew: שבועות) is a Jewish holiday that takes place on the 6th day of the Jewish calendar month of Sivan which is around late May. Shavuot celebrates the anniversary of the day the Ten Commandments were given by god to Moses and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. It is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals know as the shalosh regalim. It marks the completion of the Counting of the Omer.

The date of Shavuot is connected to the date of Passover. The Torah orders the seven-week Counting of the Omer, starting on the 2nd day of Passover and right away ensued by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to signify expectation and longing for the Giving of the Torah. On Passover, the Jewish people were liberated from slavery by Pharaoh; on Shavuot they received the Torah and became a people dedicated to serving God.

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks (Ḥag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Ḥag ha-Katsir, Exodus 23:16), and Day of the 1st Fruits (Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26). The Mishnah and Talmud mention Shavuot as Atzeret (a solemn assembly), as it provides ending for the festival happenings all along and ensuing the holiday of Passover. Following all Shavuot takes place 50 days following Passover, Christians gave it the name Pentecost which means "fiftieth day".

Karaite Jews conclude that this always falls on a Sunday, "Even unto the morrow following the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord." Leviticus 23:16. Sunday is the 1st Day of the week, the "morrow" following the "Sabbath". Mainstream Jews, although, ensue the education of the Talmud that teaches that in this specific case, the "Sabbath" refers to the 1st day of Passover which may be any day of the week and not specifically Saturday. See 'Counting of the Omer' below for further explanation.

Consistent with Jewish tradition, Shavuot is commemorated in the Land of Israel for one day and in the Diaspora for two days. Reform Jews celebrate only one day, all over the world.

Connection with the harvest

Apart from its importance as the day on which the Torah was handed by God to the Hebrew people at Mount Sinai, Shavuot is also linked to the time of the grain crop in Israel. In old times, the grain crop went on for seven weeks and was a period of gladness (Jer. 5:24; Deut. 16:9-11; Isa. 9:2). It commenced with the harvest of the barley during Passover and closed with the harvest of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was hence the finishing celebration of the grain crop, exactly as the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the finishing celebration of the fruit crop. All along the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, a contribution of two loaves of bread from the wheat crop was prepared on Shavuot (Lev. 23:15-21).

Ceremony of Bikkurim

Shavuot was also the 1st day on which parties could bear the 1st fruit (Bikurin) to the Temple in Jerusalem (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3). The Bikkurim were carried from the Seven kinds for which the Land of Israel is complimented: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates (Deut. 8:8). In the mainly agricultural community of ancient Israel, Hebrew farmers would knot a reed about the 1st maturing fruits from each of these species in their territories. At the time of harvest, the fruits recognised by the reed would be sever and put in baskets woven of gold and silver. The baskets would then be packed on oxen whose horns were golden and fastened with garlands of flowers, and who were led in a large parade to Jerusalem. As the farmer and his suite crossed throughout metropolises and settlements, they would be chaperoned by harmonious sound and processions.
At the Temple, each farmer would give his Bikkurim to a Cohen in a service that followed the text of Deut. 26:1-10. This matter commences by saying, "An Aramean tried to destroy my father," relating to Laban's exploits to exhaust Jacob and plunder him of his offspring (Rashi on Deut. 26:5)—or by an alternative interpretation, the content states "My father was a wandering Aramean," relating to the detail that Jacob was a impoverished roamer in the land of Aram for 20 years (ibid., Abraham ibn Ezra). The content proceeds to recite the record of the hebrew people as they passed into exile in Egypt and were subjugated and maltreated; ensueing which God redeemed them and transported them to the land of Israel. The celebration of Bikkurim sends the Jew's gratefulness to God both for the 1st fruits of the field and for His instruction during Jewish history (Scherman, p. 1068).

Present-day Customs

Shavuot is different from other Jewish holidays in that it has no ordered mitzvoth (bible teachings) other than the customary celebration fulfilments of forbearance from labor, unique worship ceremonies and holiday meals. Although, it is distinguished by many customes (מינהגים) that have seized on the power of law in customary Jewish groups. A mnemonic for these rituals is the letters of the Hebrew word acharit (אחרית) which means last. Following all the Torah is called reishit (ראשית) meaning first, the traditions of Shavuot emphasize the significance of tradition for the extension and protection of Jewish god fearing compliance. These traditions, mainly watched in European jewish populations, are:
אקדמות – Akdamot, the reading of a liturgical poem all along Shavuot morning synagogue services
חלב – Chalav (milk), the consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese
רות – Ruth, the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services
ירק – Yerek, the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery
תורה – Torah, engaging in all-night Torah study

On the Gregorian calendar, Shavuot normally hits about late May or beginning of June. In 2007, Shavuot was on Monday, May 28. In 2008, Shavuot was on Monday, June 9, beginning at sunset the night before.

Akdamut

Akdamut (Hebrew: אקדמות) is a ceremonial epic dousing the enormity of God, the Torah and Israel that are recited overtly in the temple right in advance of the morning recital of the Torah on the 1st day of Shavuot. It was collected by Rabbi Meir of Worms, whose son was killed alongside the Crusade of 1096. Rabbi Meir was constrained to guard the Torah and his Judaic faith in a deliberation with localized clergymen, and prosperously bore his sureness of God's rule, His fondness for the Jewish people, and the excellence of Torah. Afterwards he wrote Akdamut, a 90-line poem in Aramaic which stresses these themes. The poem is written in a double acrostic decoration uniform with the arrangement of the Hebrew letters. In addition, every row ends with the syllable "ta" (תא), the final and 1st characters of the Hebrew icons, hinting to the endlessness of Torah. The customary tune which supports this epic also carries a sense of grandness and victory.

Hispanic jews did not read Akdamut, but ahead of the evening ceremony they sing a poem titled Azharot which groups the 613 Scriptural commandments. The positive commandments are read on the 1st day and the bad commandments on the 2nd day.

Milk Products

Cheese blintzes, an eastern european jewish food frequently dished up on Shavuot.

M products such as cheesecake and blintzes with cheese and different fills are customarily gave out on Shavuot. One explained for the consumption of milk products on this holiday is that the Hebrews had not yet gotten the Torah, with its rules of theritual slaughtering of animals. As the provisions they had ready in advance was not in conformity with these regulations, they picked to consume ordinary Milk Based products to honor the holiday. Some express it pays heed back to King Solomon's depiction of the Torah as "honey and milk are under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).

Book of Ruth

There are 5 books in Tanach, that are recognized as Megillot or scrolls and are openly recited in the temples on various Judaic holidays. The Book of Lamentations, which describes the devastation of the Holy Temple, is the study for Tisha B'Av; the Book of Ecclesiastes, which textures on the ephemeralness of life, concurs to Sukkot; the Megillat Esther retells the occurrences of Purim; and the Song of Songs, which reflections the subjects of spring and God's fondness for the Jewish people, is the reading for Passover.

The Book of Ruth concurs to the holiday of Shavuot both in its portrayals of the barley and wheat harvest-time periods and Ruth's yearning to come to be an associate of the Jewish people, who are characterized by their affirmation of the Torah. Furthermore, the ancestry depicted at the completion of the Book indexes King David as Ruth's great-grandson. Uniform with customs, David was born and perished on Shavuot.

Vegetation

Uniform by means of the Midrash, Mount Sinai unexpectedly flowered with blossoms in anticipation of the bestowing of the Torah on its peak. Vegetation also forms in the story of the infant Moses being discovered among the weeds in a impermeable crib (Ex. 2:3) when he was at the age of 3 months (Moses was born on 7 Adar and set in the Nile on 6 Sivan, the identicle day he later transported the Hebrews to Mount Sinai to accept the Torah).

For these causes, Judaic households customarily embellish their residences and temples with plants, blossoms and leafy shoots in tribute of Shavuot. Some temples embellish the bimah with a covering of blossoms and plants so that it looks like a chuppah, as Shavuot is mystically related to as the day the matchmaker being Moses brought the bride being the Jewish people to the chuppah meaning Mount Sinai to marry the bridegroom or God; the ketubbah aka marriage contract was actually the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi populations in point of fact recite a ketubbah among God and Israel as a portion of the ceremony.

Night Long Torah learning

The tradition of all-night Torah reading elapses back to 1533 when Rabbi Joseph Caro, writer of the Shulchan Aruch, then residing in Ottoman Salonika, summoned his Kabbalistic associates to keep a night-long learning watch, during which an angel showed infront of them and demanded them to move to reside in Eretz Israel. Consistent with a story in the Midrash, the night prior to the Torah was handed, the Hebrews withdrew before time to be well-rested for the significant day in front, however they overslept and Moses had to wake them up since God was waiting on the mountaintop. To correct this speck in the national disposition, devout Jews endure all night to study Torah.

Any subject may be studied, although Talmud, Mishna and Torah typically top the list. In many communities, men and women attend classes and lectures until the early hours of the morning. In Jerusalem, thousands of people finish off the nighttime study session by walking to the Kotel before dawn and joining the sunrise minyan there. The latter activity is reminiscent of Shavuot's status as one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals, when the Jews living in the Land of Israel journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday.

Tikkun Leil Shavuot

In trust with the tradition of winsome in all-night Torah reading, the Arizal, a prominant Kabbalist of the 16th century, organized a particular mass for the nightfall of Shavuot. The Tikkun Leil Shavuot ("Correction for Shavuot Night-time") comprises of extracts from the starting and finish of each of the 24 books of Tanakh (involving the reading in full of a number of crucial parts such as the narrative of the days of creation, The Exodus, the granting of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 parts of Mishnah. This is distributed by the recital of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as listed by Maimonides, and extracts from the Zohar, with beginning and closing exaltations. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, following each of which a Kaddish di-Rabano is recited when the Tikkun is studied in a group of at least ten Jews.

This ceremony is imprinted in a specific book, and is vastly used in Eastern Sephardic, a few German and Hasidic communities. There are similar books for the vigils in advance the 7th day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.

The Spanish and Portuguese Jews do not watch this tradition.

Ratification

Reform Judaic temples will conventionally keep festivals of Ratification for 10th grade students on the evening or dawn of Shavuot. The holiday comes around the completion of the academic year and the bestowing of the Ten Commandments obviously conforms inside the subject of lasting Judaic education.

Dates in disagreement

Following all the Torah does not stipulate the tangible day on which Shavuot comes, diverging explanations of this period have arisen out of both in customary and non-traditional Judaic groups. These debates encircle two paths of glancing at Shavuot: the day it in fact takes place (i.e., the day the Torah was handed on Mount Sinai), in addition to the day it takes place relative to the Counting of the Omer which is the 50th day from the 1st day of the Counting.

Handing of the Torah

While the majority of the Talmudic Authorities agree that the Torah was handed on the 6th of Sivan; R. Jose believes that it was handed on the 7th of that month. Uniform with the customary timeline, the Hebrews came at the desert of Sinai on the newborn moon (Ex. 19:1) and the Ten Commandments were handed on the ensuing Shabbat. The problem of if the newborn moon came on Sunday or Monday is uncertain (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 86b). By custom, Shavuot is watched on the 6th day of Sivan in Israel and a 2nd day is added in the Judaic Diaspora (in care with a distinct rabbinic judgement that addresses all biblical holidays, named Yom Tov Sheini Shel Galiyot).

Counting of the Omer

The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the 1st day of counting the Omer) should commence "on the morrow following the Shabbat" (Lev. 23:11). The Talmudic Thinkers concluded that "Shabbat" in this place means merely a day of relaxation and applies to the 1st day of Passover. Hence, the customary counting of the Omer commences on the 2nd day of Passover and carries on for the subsequent 49 days, or seven whole weeks, completion on the day in front of Shavuot.
Consistent with this computation, Shavuot will fall on the day of the week following that of the 1st day of Passover (e.g. if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will commence on a Friday).
The Sadducees and Boethusians, although, controversial this explanation. They maintained that "Shabbat" truly did suggest "Shabbat," or Saturday. Correspondently, they deemed the seven weeks from the day following the 1st Shabbat all along Passover, so that Shavuot would consistently come on a Sunday.
This analysis partook by the second-century BCE writer of the Book of Jubilees, and was prompted by the pastoral sabbatical solar almanac of the third and 2nd centuries BCE, which was intended to have jubilees and Sabbaths fall on the identical day of the week each year. On this calendar which is recognized from the Book of Luminaries in 1 Enoch, Shavuot came on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was regarded fifty days from the 1st Sabbath after Passover. Consequently, Jub. 1:1 pleas that Moses went up Mount Sinai to accept the Torah "on the sixteenth day of the third month in the 1st year of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt".
Karaite Judaism this day proceeds to follow the translation that the Numbering of the Omer commences on the Sunday after the 1st Shabbat all together with Passover, and hence commemorates Shavuot on a Sunday.
Similarly, the Christian banquet of Whitsunday, which comes on the 50th day enumerating from Easter, is consistently on a Sunday (with the exclusion of several Evangelical and Messianic Christians who commemorate it 50 days after Passover.