Shavuot

Shavuot

(As the sunsets tonight we have the opportunity to celebrate Shavuot)

THE JEWISH SIDE OF THE COIN

Jews celebrate this day for the giving of the Torah, which represents their being chosen by God to be His People.

The obscurity of Shavuot may be that it has no obvious “symbols” of the day – i.e. no Shofar, no Sukkah, no Chanukah Menorah.

So how do Jews commemorate Shavuot? It is a widespread custom to stay up the entire night studying Torah. And since Torah is the way to self-perfection, the Shavuot night learning is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which means “an act of self-perfection on the night of Shavuot.”

At synagogue services on Shavuot morning, we read the biblical book of Ruth. Ruth was a non-Jewish woman whose love for God and Torah led her to convert to Judaism. Ruth has a further connection to Shavuot, in that she became the ancestor of King David, who was born on Shavuot, and died on Shavuot.
There is a universal Jewish tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot. Various reasons have been suggested, among them:

The Biblical book Song of Songs (4:11) refers to the sweet nourishing value of Torah by saying: “It drips from your lips, like honey and milk under your tongue.”

Upon receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jews immediately became obligated in the laws of ritual slaughter. Since they did not have time to prepare kosher meat, they ate dairy instead.

Sharon and I have been able to celebrate Shavuot on a Moshav in Gamla. This holiday also is a time to present the first fruits of the harvest. The major crop would be wheat but many others are offered at this time.

THE CHRISTIAN SIDE OF THE COIN

Not only is Shavuot (the Day of Pentecost) the birthday of the Church but it also is the time that mankind and his / her relationship with God would change forever. With the giving of the Holy Spirit we no longer need to seek God in temples, buildings or altars … for now He has taken up His residence within us. The more one contemplates this the more mind boggling it is! SELAH!