(, from ), or (, in some

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

usage), is a

Jewish holiday Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, one of the biblically ordained

Three Pilgrimage Festivals The Three Pilgrimage Festivals or Three Pilgrim Festivals, sometimes known in English by their Hebrew name ''Shalosh Regalim'' (, or ), are three major festivals in Judaism—two in spring; Passover, 49 days later Shavuot (literally 'weeks', or ...

. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of

Sivan ''Sivan'' (, from Akkadian ''simānu'', meaning "season; time") is the ninth month of the civil year and the third month of the religious year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 30 days. ''Sivan'' usually falls in May–June on the Grego ...

; in the 21st century, it may fall anywhere between May 15 and June 14 on the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

. Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Exodus 34:22. Rabbinic tradition teaches that the date also marks the revelation of the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

, which, according to the tradition of

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

, occurred at this date in 1312 BCE. or in 1313 BCE. The word means 'weeks' in Hebrew and marks the conclusion of the

Counting of the Omer Counting of the Omer (, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira) is a ritual in Judaism. It consists of a verbal counting of each of the 49 days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. The period of 49 days is known as the "omer p ...

. Its date is directly linked to that of

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

; the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

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 Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. While Shavuot is sometimes referred to as Pentecost (in ) due to its timing fifty days after the first day of Passover, it is not the same celebration as the Christian

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the H ...

, which comes fifty days after

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. 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 The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

2:1 and following). That said, the two festivals are related, as the first Day of Pentecost, related in the

, is said to have happened on Shavuot. Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for one day, where it is a public holiday, and for two days in the diaspora.

Names

Biblical names

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the "Festival of Weeks" (, , ); "Festival of Reaping" ( ), and "Day of the First Fruits" (, ). ''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.

Later names

The

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

refers to Shavuot as ʻAṣeret () according to

Pesachim Pesachim (, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Jewish holiday of Passove ...

68b, referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday and also to the conclusion of the Passover holiday season. The other reason given is that just as Shmini ʿAṣeret brings

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

to a close, ʿAṣeret brings Passover to a close. Since Shavuot occurs fifty days after Passover,

Hellenistic Jews Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture and religion. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Helleni ...

referred to it by the Koine name "Pentecost".

Significance

Giving of the Torah

Shavuot is not explicitly named in the Bible as the day on which the

was revealed by God to the Israelite nation at Mount Sinai, although this is commonly considered to be its main significance.See, for example, Unlike other major holidays, the Torah does not specify the date of Shavuot, but only that it falls 50 days after Passover, placing it at the 6th of Sivan according to the current fixed calendar (in earlier times when months were fixed by lunar observation, the date could vary by a day or two). The Torah states that the Israelites reached Sinai on the first day of the third month following the Exodus, i.e. Sivan. Then several events occurred, taking a total of at least three days, before the Torah was given. Thus, it is plausible that the giving of the Torah occurred on or about Shavuot, but no exact date is mentioned. Besides the timing, scholars have pointed to thematic connections between Shavuot and the giving of the Torah, which are indicated by the Bible itself: * Several aspects of the Shavuot Temple sacrifice (''shtei halechem'') suggest a connection to the Exodus and the giving of the Torah. The ''shtei halechem'' is the only holiday sacrifice which includes a communal ''shelamim'' ("peace") offering, recalling the communal ''shelamim'' offering which was offered after the acceptance of the Torah (). Also, the ''shtei halechem'' is one of the few sacrifices to include chametz, suggesting that Shavuot is a counterpoint to Passover and its historical events. *From an early period, Shavuot was regarded as an appropriate time to make covenants between God and humanity. Asa chose to make his covenant () on or about Shavuot. (Similarly, according to

Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by members of Ethiopian Jewish ...

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

made his covenant with God on Shavuot.) The association between Shavuot and covenants suggests a connection to the giving of the Torah, which itself was a covenant between God and Israel. In addition, the description of Asa's covenant repeatedly alludes both to the giving of the Torah and to the Shavuot holiday, suggesting a link between the two.Neriah Klein
חג השבועות בימי אסא
/ref> Most of the Talmudic sages agreed that the Torah was given on the 6

(the date of Shavuot), but Jose ben Halafta holds that it was given on 7 Sivan. According to the classical timeline, the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon () and the

were given on the following

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

(i.e., Saturday). The question of whether the new moon fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided.Talmud, Shabbat 86b In practice, Shavuot is observed on 6 Sivan in

and a second day is added in the

Jewish diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...

(in keeping with a separate rabbinical ruling that applies to all biblical holidays, called '' Yom tov sheni shel galuyot'', Second-Day Yom Tov in the diaspora). Thus, according to Jose ben Halafta, only outside Israel does Shavuot fall out on the day the Torah was given.

Agricultural

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

. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (, , ). It began with harvesting the barley during Passover and ended with harvesting the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot according to the commandment in . The penultimate Dead Sea text to be published has been discovered to contain two festival dates observed by the sect at

Qumran Qumran (; ; ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, about south of the historic city of Jericho, and adjac ...

as part of their formally perfect 364-day calendar. It was dedicated to New Wine and New Oil, which are not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible but were known from another Qumran manuscript, the

Temple Scroll The Temple Scroll () is the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the discoveries at Qumran it is designated: 11QTemple Scrolla (11Q19 1QTa. It describes a Jewish temple, along with extensive detailed regulations about sacrifices and temple prac ...

. 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".)

Ancient observances

Pilgrimage

Shavuot was one of the

on which Jews would visit the

''Bikkurim''

Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals could bring the bikkurim or " first fruits" to the

. Bikkurim were so crucial to Shavuot that the Torah twice describes the holiday as a day of bikkurim; wheat was ready for harvest, summer fruits were beginning to ripen, and bikkurim were brought.

''Shtei Halechem''

The Torah prescribes a unique sacrifice for Shavuot: the ''shtei halechem'' or Two Loaves, which (atypically for sacrifices) must be

chametz ''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover. ''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...

, and which are described as ''bikkurim'' of the wheat harvest. These loaves are accompanied by a set of other sacrifices. According to

Judah Loew ben Bezalel Judah Loew ben Bezalel (; 1512 – 17 September 1609), also known as Rabbi Loew ( Löw, Loewe, Löwe or Levai), the Maharal of Prague (), or simply the Maharal (the Hebrew language, Hebrew Hebrew abbreviations, acronym of "''Moreinu ha-Rav Loew'' ...

, there is a symbolic contrast between the omer offering of Passover and the Two Loaves. The former consists of barley, which is typically an animal food, and represents the low spiritual level of the Israelites immediately upon leaving Egypt during

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...

; while the latter consists of wheat and represents the high spiritual level of the Israelites upon receiving the Torah.

Modern religious observances

Nowadays in the post-Temple era, Shavuot is the only biblically ordained holiday that has no specific

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

s attached to it other than usual festival requirements of abstaining from

creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort in the world through a ''creative process'' involving one or more individuals. The term includes fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (li ...

. The rabbinic observances for the holiday include reciting additional prayers, making

kiddush Kiddush (; ), , is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Additionally, the word refers to a small repast held on Shabbat or festival mornings after the prayer services and before the meal. S ...

, 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 A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some p ...

(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 The Book of Ruth (, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings ( Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books ...

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 David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

is traditionally observed on Shavuot. Hasidic Jews also observe the ''yahrzeit'' of the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

Liturgical poems

''Aqdamut''

The ''Aqdamut'' () 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 ofor in some communities right beforethe morning

Torah reading Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the ap ...

on the first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Meir of

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

. 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 Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

that stresses these themes. The poem is written in a double

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

pattern according to the order of the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

. 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 Mussaf (also spelled Musaf or Musof) is an additional service that is recited on Shabbat, Yom Tov, Chol Hamoed, and Rosh Chodesh. The service, which is traditionally combined with the Shacharit in synagogues, is considered to be additional to t ...

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 mussaf; they recite ' 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 Hinchalta'' has been truncated to include only one 22-line poem instead of eight. Many

Sephardic Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

recite the Azharot of

Solomon ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical ...

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'' () 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 Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam (), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading '' halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a grandson of Rashi. K ...

Book of Ruth

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld- Ruth im Feld des Boaz

The

Five Megillot The Five Scrolls or the Five Megillot ( , ''Hamesh Megillot'' or ''Chomeish Megillos'') are parts of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Five Scrolls are the Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, the Bo ...

– five books from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth (, ''Megillath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings ( Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books ...

is read on Shavuot. Reasons given for this custom include: #Shavuot is harvest time (), and the events of Book of Ruth occur at harvest time. David Abudarham, end of commentary to

#Because Shavuot is traditionally cited as the day of the giving of the Torah, the entry of the entire Jewish people into the covenant of the Torah is a major theme of the day. Ruth's conversion to Judaism, and consequent entry into that covenant, is described in the book. This theme accordingly resonates with other themes of the day. #King David (Ruth's descendant, whose genealogy appears at the end of the Book of Ruth) was traditionally born and died on Shavuot. #The

gematria In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standar ...

(numerical value) of Ruth is 606. Added to the

Seven Laws of Noah In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah (, ''Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach''), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws (from the Hebrew pronunciation of "Noah"), are a set of universal moral laws which, according to the Talmud, ...

, the total equals the

613 commandments According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments (). Although the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the . Th ...

in the Torah. #Another central theme of the book is ''ḥesed'' (loving-kindness), a major theme of the Torah.

Greenery

In many Jewish communities, there is a tradition to decorate homes and synagogues with plants, flowers and leafy branches on Shavuot. In fact, Persian Jews referred to the holiday as "The Mo'ed of Flowers" (موعد گل) in Persian, and never as "Shavuot". A common reason given for this custom is the story that Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit. This idea is first mentioned in medieval Ashkenazi sources such as Maharil.''Sichot Talmidei Hachamim'', siman 296 (p.499) (se
Otzar thread
In another interpretation, flowers represent the Jewish people, which received a covenant with God on this date. Other reasons have been suggested as well. Some synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers and plants so that it resembles a

chuppah A ''chuppah'' (, ) is a canopy under which a Judaism, Jewish couple stand during their Jewish wedding, wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held u ...

, as Shavuot is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker (Moses) brought the bride (the nation of Israel) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God); the ''

ketubah A ketubah (; ) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a Jewish views on marriage, traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...

'' (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi communities read out a ''ketubah'' between God and Israel, composed by Israel ben Moses Najara as part of the service. This custom was also adopted by some Hasidic communities, particularly from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...

cancelled the tradition of decorating with trees because it too closely resembles the Christian decorations for their holidays.

All-night Torah study

Some have the custom to learn Torah all night on the first night of Shavuot, a practice known as ''Tiqqun Leyl Shavuot'' () ("Rectification for Shavuot Night"). The custom is first recorded in the . According to that work, "Our righteous forebears, servants of the Most High, would never sleep on Shavuot eve—and now we do this on both nights—for all night they would read the Torah and the

Nevi'im The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

and the

Ketuvim The (; ) is the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible, after the ("instruction") and the "Prophets". In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually titled "Writings" or "Hagiographa". In the Ketuvim, 1–2 Books ...

, and they would skip around the Talmud and the Aggadot, and they would read the secret wisdoms until dawn broke, and they would hold the legacy of their fathers in their very hands". The custom was later linked to a

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

which relates that the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead. They overslept and

had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop. To rectify this perceived flaw in the national character, many religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah. In 1533

Joseph Caro Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro (; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was a prominent Sephardic Jewish rabbi renowned as the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the ''Beit Yosef'', and its ...

, author of the '' Shulchan Arukh'', then living in Ottoman

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, invited Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz and other Kabbalistic colleagues to hold Shavuot-night study vigils for which they prepared for three days in advance, just as the Israelites had prepared for three days before the giving of the Torah. During one of those study sessions, an angel reportedly appeared and taught them

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

. It has been suggested that the introduction of

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

throughout the

Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

may have attributed to the "feasibility and popularity" of the practice of all-night Torah study. In contrast, the custom of Yemenite Jews is to ingest the fresh leaves of a stimulant herb called

Khat Khat (''Catha edulis''), also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a flowering plant native to eastern and southeastern Africa. It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harar area (present day eastern Ethiopia) and ...

(containing

cathinone Cathinone (; also known as β-ketoamphetamine) is a monoamine alkaloid found in the shrub ''Catha edulis'' (khat) and is chemically similar to ephedrine, cathine, methcathinone and other amphetamines. It is probably the main contributor to t ...

) for the all-night ritual, an herb commonly used in that region of the world. Any subject may be studied on Shavuot night, although

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, and

typically top the list. People may learn alone or with a '' chavruta'' (study partner), or attend late-night '' shiurim'' (lectures) and study groups. In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, leading 16th-century kabbalist

Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (; #FINE_2003, Fine 2003, p24/ref>July 25, 1572), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal, was a leading rabbi and Jewish mysticism, Jewish mystic in the community of Saf ...

arranged a recital consisting of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

the account of the days of creation,

, the giving of the

and the

Shema ''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or ''Sh'ma Yisrael''; , “Hear, O Israel”) is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monothe ...

) and the 63 tractates of Mishnah, followed by the reading of ''

Sefer Yetzirah ''Sefer Yetzirah'' ( ''Sēp̄er Yəṣīrā'', ''Book of Formation'', or ''Book of Creation'') is a work of Jewish mysticism. Early commentaries, such as the ''Kuzari'', treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory, as opposed t ...

'', the 613 commandments as enumerated by

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, and excerpts from the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a ''Kaddish d-Rabbanan'' is recited when the ''Tiqun'' is studied with a

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

. Today, this service is held in many communities, with the notable exception of

Spanish and Portuguese Jew Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the ...

s. The service is printed in a book called ''Tiqun Leyl Shavuot''. There exist similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of

Pesach Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

and Hosha'ana Rabbah. In

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, at the conclusion of the night time study session, tens of thousands of people walk to the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

to pray with sunrise. A week after Israel captured the Old City during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, more than 200,000 Jews streamed to the site on Shavuot, it having been made accessible to Jews for the first time since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Dairy foods

Among the customs observed on Shavuot is the consumption of dairy foods, with specific dishes varying among different communities. Dairy foods such as

cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...

, cheese ''blintzes'', and cheese '' kreplach'' among

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

; cheese '' sambusak'', ''kelsonnes'' (

ravioli Ravioli (; : ''raviolo'', ) are a type of stuffed pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, though ...

filled with tzfatit cheese), and '' atayef'' (a cheese-filled pancake) among

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

and

Syrian Jews Syrian Jews ( ''Yehudey Surya'', ''al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn'', colloquially called SYs in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin ...

; ''kahee'' (a dough that is buttered and sugared) among

Iraqi Jews The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

; ''kadeh'' (a cheese-filled bread) among

Kurdish Jews Kurdistani Jews are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities ...

, and a seven-layer cake called ''siete cielos'' (seven heavens) among

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n and

Moroccan Jews Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman Empire, Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave o ...

are traditionally consumed on the Shavuot holiday. As a dessert, Sephardic Jews traditionally consume '' sütlaç'' (a rice pudding cooked in milk) decorated with cinnamon in designs such as the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

, flowers, and other patterns.

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

do not eat dairy foods on Shavuot. Cheese blintzes with blackberries

In keeping with the observance of other

s, 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#Synagogue kiddush, 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 In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher butcher is called a ''sho ...

'' (ritual slaughter of animals) and

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...

. 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 Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, who wrote: "Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue" (

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

). *The

of the Hebrew word ''ḥalav'' () is 40, corresponding to the forty days and forty nights that

spent on

before bringing down the Torah. *According to the ''

'', 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. * calls Mount Sinai ''Har Gavnunim'' (, mountain of majestic peaks), which is possibly related to ''gevinah'' (, cheese).

Observances in secular agricultural communities

Bikkurim festival in Giv'at Shmuel, Israel, 2009 In secular agricultural communities in Israel, such as most

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

im and

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

im, Shavuot is celebrated as a harvest and first-fruit festival including a wider, symbolic meaning of joy over the accomplishments of the year. As such, not just agricultural produce and machinery is presented to the community, but also the babies born during the preceding twelve months.

Confirmation ceremonies

In the 19th century, several Orthodox synagogues in Britain and Australia held confirmation ceremonies for 12-year-old girls on Shavuot, a precursor to the modern

bat mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

. The early

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

movement made Shavuot into a religious school graduation day. Today, Reform synagogues in North America typically hold confirmation ceremonies on Shavuot for students aged 16 to 18 who are completing their religious studies. The graduating class stands before their synagogue's open

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

, recalling the Israelites' experience at

during God's giving of the Torah.

Date

The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the first day of counting the Omer) is the first day of the barley harvest. The omer count should begin "on the morrow after the

", and continue to be counted for seven weeks. The Talmudic Sages determined that "Shabbat" here means a day of rest and refers to the first day of

. Thus, the counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and continues for the next 49 days, or seven complete weeks, ending on the day before Shavuot. According to this calculation, Shavuot will fall on the day of the week after the first day of Passover (e.g., if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will begin on a Friday).

The Book of Jubilees and the Essenes

This literal interpretation of "Shabbat" as the weekly Shabbat was shared by the author of the

, who was motivated by the priestly sabbatical

solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...

to have festivals and Sabbaths fall on the same day of the week every year. On this calendar (best known from the Book of Luminaries in the

Book of Enoch The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch; Hebrew language, Hebrew: סֵפֶר חֲנוֹךְ, ''Sēfer Ḥănōḵ''; , ) is an Second Temple Judaism, ancient Jewish Apocalyptic literature, apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to the Patriar ...

), Shavuot fell on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty days from the first Shabbat after Passover (i.e., from the 25th of Nisan). Thus, Jubilees 1:1 claims that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah "on the sixteenth day of the third month in the first year of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt". In Jubilees 6:15–22 and 44:1–5, the holiday is traced to the appearance of the first rainbow on the 15th of Sivan, the day on which God made his

covenant with Noah The Hebrew Bible makes reference to a number of covenants () with God (YHWH). These include the Noahic Covenant set out in Genesis 9, which is decreed between God and all living creatures, as well as a number of more specific covenants with Abr ...

. The Qumran community, commonly associated with the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd cent ...

, held in its library several texts mentioning Shavuot, most notably a Hebrew original of the Book of Jubilees, which sought to affix the celebration of Shavuot to 15 Sivan, following their interpretation of Exodus 19:1. (See above at "Agricultural".)

Notes and references

General sources

* * *

External links

Shavuot
at

Chabad.org Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad, Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites. History In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating a Chabad-Lubavitch prese ...

Jewish Holidays: Shavuot
at the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

Jewish Confirmation
at My Jewish Learning
Shavous: Themes, Torah, Videos and More
Aish.com

Mabasir.co.il, 17 March 2023 {{Authority control Hallel Sivan observances Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Positive Mitzvoth Negative Mitzvoth