Shavuot

(''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'')
, nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks"
, observedby = Jews and Samaritans
, type = Jewish and Samaritan
, begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan in Karaite Judaism)
, ends = 7th (in Israel: 6th) day of Sivan
, celebrations = Festive meals. All-night Torah study. Recital of Akdamut liturgical poem in Ashkenazic synagogues. Reading of the Book of Ruth. Eating of dairy products. Decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery (Orach Chayim
494
.
, significance = One of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Celebrates the revelation of the Five Books of the Torah by God to Moses and to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, 49 days (seven weeks) after the Exodus from ancient Egypt. Commemorates the wheat harvesting in the Land of Israel. Culmination of the 49 days of the Counting of the Omer.
, relatedto = Passover, which precedes Shavuot
, date =
, date =
, date =
, date =
, date =

''Shavuot'' (), or ''Shavuos'' () in some Ashkenazi usage ( he, , ''Šāvūʿōṯ'', "Weeks"), commonly known in English as the Feast of Weeks, is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (in the 21st century, it may fall between May 15 and June 14 on the Gregorian calendar). In the Bible, Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel (). In addition, Orthodox rabbinic traditions teach that the date also marks the revelation of the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism, occurred at this date in 1314BCE.History Crash Course #36: Timeline: From Abraham to Destruction of the Temple
by Rabbi Ken Spiro, Aish.com. Retrieved 2010-08-19.

The word ''Shavuot'' means "weeks", and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.

While it is sometimes referred to as Pentecost (in grc-koi, Πεντηκοστή) due to its timing after Passover, "pentecost" meaning "fifty" in Greek and Shavuot occurring fifty days after the first day of Pesach/Passover, it is not the same as the Christian Pentecost, which comes fifty days after Pascha/Easter. The Christian observance of Pentecost is a different holiday, but was based on a New Testament event that happened around the gathering of Jesus's followers on this Jewish holiday ( Acts of the Apostles 2:1 and following).

One of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in Israel for one day, where it is a public holiday, and for two days in the diaspora.

Significance

Agricultural (wheat harvest)

Shavuot is not explicitly named in the Bible as the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Israelite nation at Mount Sinai, although this is commonly considered to be its main significance.See, for example,

What is textually connected in the Bible to the Feast of Shavuot is the season of the grain harvest, specifically of the wheat, in the Land of Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (, , ). It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot according to the commandment in .

The last but one Qumran Scroll to be published has been discovered to contain two festival dates observed by the Qumran sect as part of their formally perfect 364-day calendar, and dedicated to "New Wine" and "New Oil", neither of which is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, but were known from another Qumran manuscript, the Temple Scroll. These festivals "constituted an extension of the festival of Shavuot... which celebrates the New Wheat." All three festivals are calculated starting from the first Sabbath following Passover, by repeatedly adding exactly fifty days each time: first came New Wheat (Shavuot), then New Wine, and then New Oil. (See also below, at "The Book of Jubilees and the Essenes".)

Scriptural

Names in the Torah

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the "Festival of Weeks" ( he, חג השבועות, ''Chag HaShavuot'', , ); "Festival of Reaping" (, ''Chag HaKatzir'', ), and "Day of the First Fruits" (, ''Yom HaBikkurim'', ).

''Shavuot'', the plural of a word meaning "week" or "seven", alludes to the fact that this festival happens exactly seven weeks (i.e. "a week of weeks") after Passover.

In the Talmud

The Talmud refers to Shavuot as ''ʻAṣeret'' ( he, עצרת, "refraining" or "holding back"), referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday and also to the conclusion of the Passover holiday-season. The other reason given for the reference ''ʻAṣeret'' is that just as ''Shemini'' ''ʻAṣeret'' brings the Festival of Succoth to a "close", in the same respect, Shavuot (''ʻAṣeret'') brings The Festival of Passover to its actual "close". Since Shavuot occurs fifty days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name "Pentecost" ( grc-koi, Πεντηκοστή, "fiftieth day").

Ancient observances

Ceremony of First Fruits, ''Bikkurim''

Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals could bring the ''Bikkurim'' ( first fruits) to the Temple in Jerusalem ( Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3). The ''Bikkurim'' were brought from the Seven Species for which the Land of Israel is praised: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates ().

In the largely agrarian society of ancient Israel, Jewish farmers would tie a reed around the first ripening fruits from each of these species in their fields. At the time of harvest, the fruits identified by the reed would be cut and placed in baskets woven of gold and silver. The baskets would then be loaded on oxen whose horns were gilded and laced with garlands of flowers, and who were led in a grand procession to Jerusalem. As the farmer and his entourage passed through cities and towns, they would be accompanied by music and parades.

Temple in Jerusalem

At the Temple in Jerusalem, each farmer would present his ''Bikkurim'' to a Kohen in a ceremony that followed the text of .

This text begins by stating: "An Aramean tried to destroy my father," referring to Laban's efforts to weaken Jacob and rob him of his progeny ( Targum Onkelos and Rashi on Deut. 26:5)or by an alternate translation, the text states "My father was a wandering Aramean," referring to the fact that Jacob was a penniless wanderer in the land of Aram for twenty years ( Abraham ibn Ezra on Deut. 26:5).

The text proceeds to retell the history of the Jewish people as they went into exile in Ancient Egypt and were enslaved and oppressed; following which God redeemed them and brought them to the land of Israel.

The ceremony of ''Bikkurim'' conveys gratitude to God both for the first fruits of the field and for His guidance throughout Jewish history (Scherman, page1068).

Modern religious observances

Nowadays in the post-Temple era, Shavuot is the only biblically ordained holiday that has no specific laws attached to it other than usual festival requirements of abstaining from creative work. The rabbinic observances for the holiday include reciting additional prayers, making kiddush, partaking of meals and being in a state of joy. There are however many customs which are observed on Shavuot. A mnemonic for the customs largely observed in Ashkenazi communities spells the Hebrew word ''aḥarit'' (, "last"):
* – ''Aqdamut'', the reading of a piyyut (liturgical poem) during Shavuot morning synagogue services
* – ''ḥalav'' (milk), the consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese
* – ''Rut'', the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services (outside Israel: on the second day)
* – ''Yereq'' (greening), the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery
* – ''Torah'', engaging in all-night Torah study.

The ''yahrzeit'' of King David is traditionally observed on Shavuot. Hasidic Jews also observe the ''yahrzeit'' of the Baal Shem Tov.

Liturgical poems

''Aqdamut''

The ''Aqdamut'' ( arc, אקדמות) is a liturgical poem recited by Ashkenazi Jews extolling the greatness of God, the Torah, and Israel that is read publicly in Ashkenazic synagogues in the middle oror in some communities right beforethe morning reading of the Torah on the first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Rabbi Meir of Worms. Rabbi Meir was forced to defend the Torah and his Jewish faith in a debate with local priests and successfully conveyed his certainty of God's power, His love for the Jewish people, and the excellence of Torah. Afterwards he wrote the ''Aqdamut'', a 90-line poem in Aramaic that stresses these themes. The poem is written in a double acrostic pattern according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet. In addition, each line ends with the syllable ''ta'' (), the last and first letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alluding to the endlessness of Torah. The traditional melodies that accompanies this poem also conveys a sense of grandeur and triumph.

''Azharot''

There is an ancient tradition to recite poems known as Azharot listing the commandments. This was already considered a well-established custom in the 9th century. These piyyutim were originally recited during the chazzan's repetition of the Mussaf amidah, in some communities they were later moved to a different part of the service.

Some Ashkenazic communities maintain the original practice of reciting the Azharot during musaf; they recite "Ata hinchlata" on the first day and "Azharat Reishit" on the second, both from the early Geonic period. Italian Jews do the same except that they switch the piyyutim of the two day, and in recent centuries, "Ata hinchlata" has been truncated to include only one 22-line poem instead of eight. Many Sephardic Jews recite the Azharot of Solomon ibn Gabirol before the mincha service; in many communities, the positive commandments are recited on the first day and the negative commandments on the second day.

''Yatziv Pitgam''

The liturgical poem ''Yatziv Pitgam'' ( arc, יציב פתגם) is recited by some synagogues in the diaspora on the second day of Shavuot. The author signs his name at the beginning of the poem's 15 linesYaakov ben Meir Levi, better knows as Rabbeinu Tam.

Dairy foods

Dairy foods such as cheesecake, cheese blintzes, and cheese kreplach among Ashkenazi Jews; cheese sambusak, kelsonnes (cheese ravioli), and atayef (a cheese-filled pancake) among Syrian Jews; kahee (a dough that is buttered and sugared) among Iraqi Jews; and a seven-layer cake called ''siete cielos'' (seven heavens) among Tunisian and Moroccan Jews are traditionally consumed on the Shavuot holiday. Yemenite Jews do not eat dairy foods on Shavuot.

In keeping with the observance of other Jewish holidays, there is both a night Seudat mitzvah#Seudat Shabbat and Seudat Yom Tov, meal and a day meal on Shavuot. Meat is usually served at night and dairy is served either for the day meal or for a morning kiddush.

Among the explanations given in rabbinic literature for the consumption of dairy foods on this holiday are:
*Before they received the Torah, the Israelites were not obligated to follow its laws, which include ''shechita'' (ritual slaughter of animals) and kashrut. Since all their meat pots and dishes now had to be made kosher before use, they opted to eat dairy foods.
*The Torah is compared to milk by King Solomon, who wrote: "Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue" ( Song of Songs 4:11).
*The gematria of the Hebrew word ''ḥalav'' () is 40, corresponding to the forty days and forty nights that Moses spent on Mount Sinai before bringing down the Torah.
*According to the ''Zohar'', each day of the year correlates to one of the Torah's 365 negative commandments. Shavuot corresponds to the commandment "Bring the first fruits of your land to the house of God your Lord; do not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 34:26). Since the first day to bring ''Bikkurim'' (the first fruits) is Shavuot, the second half of the verse refers to the custom to eat two separate mealsone milk, one meaton Shavuot.
*The Psalms call Mount Sinai ''Har Gavnunim'' (, mountain of majestic peaks, Psalm 68:16–17/15–16 ), which is etymologically similar to ''gevinah'' (, cheese).

Book of Ruth

There are five books in Tanakh