| Shavuot, or Shavuos, is a Jewish festival celebrating God giving the Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Shavuot means 'weeks' in Hebrew and the festival is also referred to as "the Feast of Weeks" in the Bible. That is because the festival is seven weeks after Passover. It marks the end of the spring barley harvest and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. In the Bible, Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel.[2] In addition, rabbinic tradition teaches that the date also marks the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism, occurred at this date in 1312 BCE.[3] What Time Is Shavuot in 2024? In Israel, Shavuot 2024 falls at sundown on Tuesday, June 11th, and continues to sunset on Wednesday, June 12th. Outside Israel in the Jewish diaspora, the celebration lasts for 2 days from June 11th to 13th. In the Hebrew calendar, Shavuot is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. It usually falls in May on the Gregorian calendar. Shavuot falls 7 weeks after Passover, during which time Jews celebrate with a seder (a ceremonial Passover meal) and retell their national history about escaping from Egypt. The period between Passover and Shavuot symbolizes the journey from the Egypt Exodus to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The period is known as the Counting of the Omer — a period for progressive spiritual growth on each of the 49 days. Things Not to Do During Shavuot Shavuot is a joyful festival celebrating the giving of the Torah. It is also an important occasion for spiritual reflection. Jews refrain from doing the following things to honor the spirit of the festival: - Working: Working or engaging in any labor is generally prohibited on Shavuot, much like during Shabbat (sabbath) and other Jewish festivals.
- Driving or using electronic devices: As with Shabbat, the use of electronic devices and driving should be avoided during the holiday, as these activities are considered forms of creative work.
- Neglecting the customs:: While they are not explicitly obligatory, failing to partake in Shavuot customs, such as studying the Torah, eating dairy foods, and attending a synagogue, deprives Jews of the community spirit of fully engaging with this important religious celebration.
- Ignoring holiday candle lighting: Lighting candles on Shavuot and reciting the appropriate blessings are essential aspects of the celebrations. Upholding this candle-lighting custom is a must-do Judaic observance.
How is Shavuot celebrated traditionally? Shavuot is celebrated by all Jews all over the world, especially in Israel. As the festival commemorates both the receiving of the Torah and the spring harvest, its celebrations relate to both. 1. No Work Traditional requires no work during Shavuot. It's a time to study the Torah and reflect on the meaning behind the Ten Commandments. In Biblical times, Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals when Jewish men would leave work and go to Jerusalem. They offered their first harvest fruits/grains in the Temple of Jerusalem to thank God for protection and the gift of food. If you visit Israel during Shavuot, you might find many sights and restaurants being closed for 1–2 days. But instead, you could take in the festivities, parades, parties, and scenes of children with garlands on their heads and stores full of spring fruits. 2. Staying Up All Night Studying the Torah Jewish People Read Torah during Shavuot. This tradition is related to the story that on the day when the Jews were supposed to receive the Torah from God on Mount Sinai, they overslept. Moses had to wake them up and drag them to the mountain. In order to fix this problem and show respect, the custom of staying up all night learning the Torah (especially the Ten Commandments) is kept. In ancient times, Jewish men would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to hear the Torah read. Today, instead of going to Jerusalem, most Jewish people go to a local synagogue to hear the reading of the Torah. In Jerusalem, after finishing their Torah learning at sunrise, tens of thousands of people go to pray in front of the Western Wall. People praying in front of the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel In areas outside Israel, besides studying the Torah, many Jews read the book of Ruth on the second day of Shavuot at morning services. It's said that King David, Ruth's descendant who founded the Judaean dynasty and united all the tribes of Israel under a single monarch, was born and died on Shavuot. In addition, the themes of the Book of Ruth are similar to that of the Torah: loving, giving, kindness, and selflessness. 3. Eating Dairy Foods Like Milk and Cheese There are several stories about why dairy is eaten during Shavuot. Story 1: The ancestors of Israelites were said to be pure and innocent like new-born babies when receiving the Torah from God. As milk is the food for babies, eating dairy food today is said to keep the heart pure like a new-born baby. Story 2: Passover was the day when Israelites were rescued from Egyptian slavery. In Exodus, it is written: "And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into … a land flowing with milk and honey." Shavuot, on the 50th day after Passover, was the day when the Israelites were given the Torah, and following the commandments therein was God's precondition for receiving blessing in the land of Israel. Represented by milk and honey, Israel is a country providing Jewish people with fullness of blessing. Thus, milk and honey became traditional food for Shavuot as well as some other traditional festivals in Israel. Dairy foods are not cooked or eaten together with meat products, as an extreme version of this is explicitly forbidden in the Torah: "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk". Another saying is that milk stands for life while meat refers to death, and "life" and "death" must not be mixed together. Like on many other Jewish festivals, there are two meals on Shavuot. Milk is usually part of the day meal, while meat is usually reserved for the night meal. 4. Decorating Homes and Synagogues with Flowers and Fruit When the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, they saw flowers blossoming all over the mountain. Today, Jewish people decorate their homes and synagogues with flowers to commemorate the scene at the time of receiving the Torah. Trees are usually not used, as there is a curse in the Torah associated with being hung on wood (— the forerunner to the curse borne on Christ's cross in Christian belief). Besides flowers, fruits are also displayed everywhere during the festival as Shavuot is also a harvest festival. 5. Taking a Mountain Hike Before receiving the Torah, it took Moses and the Israelites several weeks to trek to Mount Sinai from Egypt. A mountain hike is taken by some Jews in honor of this journey and Moses' ascents of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. What Do Jews Wear on Shavuot? Many Jewish people choose to wear white clothes during Shavuot. White is associated with cleanliness, purity, and holiness, and could also make people feel festive. So, Jews wear white clothes to symbolize their renewed dedication to the Torah. In Israel, it is quite common for Jewish women to wear white breezy cotton dresses during Shavuot. However, Shavuot is more about the spirit than the dress code. Believers are not required to do this. What Food Do You Eat During Shavuot? A plate of cheese Bourekas during Shavuot. During Shavuot, Jews usually eat dairy food and meat, but they separate the two types of food. The ritual usually goes this way — they first eat the dairy food and take a break, and then eat the meat later in the day. Popular dairy treats include cheese, milk, twin challahs, cheesecake, cheese-filled crêpes (blintzes), noodle kugel (casserole), and cheese-filled dumplings called kreplach. The reason why Jewish people eat dairy is covered above. Is Everything Closed During Shavuot in Israel? As Shavuot is a festival when work is prohibited, most restaurants and shops are closed on that day. However, museums, tourist attractions, and some restaurants catering to tourists remain open. Public transportation services are generally suspended. Why is Shavuot celebrated for 2 days outside Israel? The main reason is uncertainty about the date of the new lunar month in areas outside Israel. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar system calculated according to the movement of the moon. A new month begins with the arrival of the new moon. The moon's orbit is around 29½ days, thus sometimes a new lunar month starts after 29 days and sometimes after 30 days. In ancient times, there was insufficient astronomy to anticipate a new moon's arrival. It depended on a witness's sighting and sworn testimony in the temple in Jerusalem. After that a new month would be proclaimed, and the message would be delivered to other Jewish communities by horse and rider. It took a long time for Jews outside Israel to get the message, and they sometimes took another day to start a new month. In order to celebrate Shavuot on the same day as in Israel, the diasporic Jewish people chose to observe it for two days. Today, though the new lunar month date is known exactly based on modern astronomy, the two-day celebration is kept internationally in order to respect the tradition. Another saying is that "the light of the festival" is revealed in all Jewish communities, but less outside Israel, thus 2 days are needed to absorb the "light" (festive spirit). In Jerusalem, at the conclusion of the night time study session, tens of thousands of people walk to the Western Wall to pray with sunrise. A week after Israel captured the Old City during the Six-Day War, more than 200,000 Jews streamed to the site on Shavuot, it having been made accessible to Jews for the first time since 1948.[69][73][74][75] | 
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