Annie's Shavuot Page

Annie's Shavuot Page

~Shavuot Celebrates the Giving of the Torah~
~On the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan~
~In 2010 it is Celebrated on May 18th, 2010~
All Jewish Feast Days begin the night before at Sundown!

"And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest."
~Exodus 34:22~

Shavuot - Moses Receives The Torah (Pentecost) - Celebrating God's giving of the Torah and Ten Commandments to the Jews at Mt. Sinai.

Shavuot, pronounced shah VOO oht or pronounced shah voo OHT, is a Jewish festival that celebrates the day the Ten Commandments--the foundation of Jewish written and oral law--were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. It falls in May or June, on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside Israel observe Shavuot for two days. The holiday is also called Feast of Weeks because it comes seven weeks, or "a week of weeks," after the first day of Passover.

The ancient Hebrews celebrated Shavuot as a harvest festival. They made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple. During the festival today, Jews read the Book of Ruth from the Bible. The book is set during the spring harvest.
~Above article is from the World Book Encyclopedia~

Shabuoth or Shavuoth , also Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, Jewish holiday. It is celebrated in the late spring during the Hebrew month of Sivan, seven weeks after Passover. In biblical times the festival was a thanksgiving for the grain harvest. Later tradition associates the holiday with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. Shabuoth observances include the reading of the Book of Ruth and the decoration of the home and synagogue with greens. In addition, a dairy meal, symbolic of milk and honey, is eaten.
~Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 1993-1997 Microsoft Corp.~

Pentecost (Greek pent e cost e , fiftieth), in Christianity , a festival observed on the seventh Sunday (50th day) after Easter , commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles as they celebrated the ancient Jewish feast of Shabuoth (see Acts 2:1-4). In the early church it was a time for administration of the sacrament of baptism, and in the Church of England and other Anglican churches the festival is called Whitsunday in allusion to the white robes traditionally worn by the newly baptized. ~Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.~

Shavuot
6 Sivan - Israel (6 & 7 In Diaspora)
Moses Receives The Torah (Pentecost) - Celebrating G-d's giving of the Torah and Ten Commandments to the Jews at Mt. Sinai. Memorial (Yizkor) services said (on 2nd day in diaspora). Work Restrictions: Sabbath-like work restrictions one day in Israel - two days in diaspora.

What are the differences and significanes of the different names for the feasts?
Baker's Evangelical Dictionary tells us that: The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) occurred seven full weeks after the wave offering of the Firstfruits at Passover (Lev 23:15; Deut 16:9). It celebrated the end of the grain harvest. Because of the fifty-day interval (in the inclusive method of reckoning), it is also known by the Greek name "Pentecost." Like Firstfruits, it took place on the day after the Sabbath. Exodus 23:14-19 refers to the Feast of Weeks when it links the "Feast of the Harvest" to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and to the Feast of Ingathering (Booths) as the three major agricultural festivals of Israel (see Deut 16:16; 2 Chron 8:13).

Deuteronomy 16:10 simply stipulates that individuals were to make an offering in proportion to the size of the harvest they had taken in that year, but Leviticus 23:17-20 and Numbers 28:27-30 give much more detailed lists of what the priests were to offer on behalf of the nation. Following the stipulations in Leviticus (the two lists differ slightly), this included burnt offerings of seven male lambs, one bull, and two rams, followed by a sin offering of one goat and a fellowship offering of two lambs. It was a day of sacred assembly in which no work was allowed. The primary focus of the festival was gratitude to God for the harvest.

What foods are served at Shavuot?
Blintzes because it is customary to enjoy dairy foods on Shavuot, traced to the phrase from the Song of Songs, "honey and milk under your lips." That implies that the words of the Torah energize our spirits as milk and honey strengthen and sweeten our bodies. Receiving the Torah was the first step towards entering the land of Israel.

What happened when Moses was given the Ten Commandments?
Moses had to take his shoes because it was holy ground and he experienced God for 40 days and 40 nights alone atop Mount Sinai.

What passages are historically read?
On Shavuot, it is traditional to read the Book of Ruth, the story of a Moabite woman who follows her mother-in-law Naomi and converts to Judaism.

What blessing is read?
Barukh atah Adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, she-hakol nih'yeh bi-d'varo. Translated means: Praised are You, God, by whose word everything comes into being.

What does the number 40 mean?
The gematria, or numerical value, of halav is 40, the number of days Moses spent on Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. It is also the number of years the Israelites wandered in the desert.

TEN COMMANDMENTS

I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
Honor your father and mother.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness.
Do not covet.

What is the significance of "Milk & Honey"?
(Ezekiel 3:3).
And I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.

Is there any significance between the Jubilee & the Feast of Shavuot?
Well 7 x7 plus one in years is for Jubilee & 7x7 plus one in days is for Shavuot

Shavuot is the holiday that occurs at the end of the counting of the omer, the seven weeks following Passover during which the days are counted to the first harvest of wheat and barley. Due to its connection with the first harvest of wheat, Shavuot is also a holiday directly associated with leavened bread. In fact, the Bible directs us to bring two leavened loaves of bread to the Temple. Only after Shavuot may we eat fully of the harvest.

Why do people stay up all night?
One stays up the whole first night of Shavuot studying Torah. The tikkun (what is studied) begins late in the evening and ends at sunrise.

Do you know the names of the three pilgrim festivals, or as they are called in Hebrew, the "shalosh regalim," in the Jewish calendar?

They are the three holidays during which our ancestors walked to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and celebrate together. As God says in Exodus 23: 14-17 : "Three times you are to hold pilgrimage for me, every year...At three points in the year are all your males to be seen before the presence of God."
These holidays included Pesach (Passover) - the Festival of Freedom, Sukkot - the Harvest Festival, and Shavuot - the Time of Receiving the Torah.

What is the "omer"?
By counting each day, we recall the biblical custom of the daily offering of an "omer," a sheaf of barley, from the early spring harvest
until the time of the ripening wheat.

1. Decorating the Home and Synagogue - To maintain a link with the agricultural nature of the festival, it is customary to decorate the home and synagogue with beautiful flowers and greens.
2. Bringing the First Fruits - In the kibbutzim in Israel, the custom of bringing the first fruits has been revived and the ceremonies included processions, dancing and singing, and a celebration of the blessed fruits of the land.
3. Dairy Dishes - No on knows for sure why this custom arose. Perhaps it is because of the verse in the Song of Songs 4:11, "honey and milk shall be under your tongue," referring to Torah. Cheese blintzes are on of the favorite
foods for Shavuot.
4. Reading the Book of Ruth - The Book of Ruth is read for several reasons. In the story, Ruth arrives in the land of Israel around the time of Shavuot. Her genealogy at the end of the book reveals that she is the great-grandmother of King David who died on Shavuot. And her acceptance of our people and our traditions is
comparable to receiving the Torah at Sinai.
5. Conversion - Perhaps inspired by Ruth's choice to embrace the Jewish people, people often complete their learning, go to mikveh, and enter the covenant before Shavuot. Women often take the name Ruth for their Hebrew name. Jews by
Choice in many places are called to the Torah for the first time on
Shavuot.
6. Confirmation - In the Reform and Conservative movements, this is the ceremonial time for the graduation from Hebrew High School.
7. Tikkun Leyl Shavuot - Since the Torah is so deeply connected to learning, there is a kabbalistic custom to stay awake the entire night of Shavuot studying texts, singing songs and telling stories until the first rays of the sun call us to offer our Shacharit Prayers and read the Ten Commandments.

"And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:"
~Deuteronomy 16:10~

What foods are eaten on this Feast?
Cheese? Dairy?
Dairy feast (cheesecake, blintzes etc.)

Some of the Don'ts of Shavuot:
Here are just a few ----- Don’t turn the electric switch on or off.
No need to write, touch money, or ride in the car.
The Guide for Shavuot - has all the different restrictions for the feast written for kids

Shavuot Email Cards:
Send a FREE Email Greeting Card for Pentecost today!!!

Just click the Ten Commandments above.