The festival of (or , in
Ashkenazi usage;
''Shabhuʿoth'' in Classical and Mizrahi Hebrew , lit. "Weeks") is a
Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of
Sivan (late May or early June).
''Shavuot'' commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire Israelite nation assembled at Mount Sinai, although the association between the giving of the Torah (''Matan Torah'') and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text. The holiday is one of the ''Shalosh Regalim'', the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer.
The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that of Passover. The Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and 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 Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
In Hasidic thought, the word ''Shavuot'' "Weeks" is interpreted as also an acronym for ''Shavuot, Bikkurim, Atzeret, Torah.
Shavuot is one of the lesser known Jewish holidays among secular Jews in the diaspora, while those in Israel are more aware of it.
According to Jewish law, Shavuot is celebrated in Israel for one day and in the Diaspora (outside of Israel) for two days. Reform Jews celebrate only one day, even in the Diaspora.
In the Hebrew Bible
In the Bible, Shavuot is called the ''Festival of Weeks'' (Hebrew: חג השבועות, ''Ḥag ha-Shavuot'', , ); ''Festival of Reaping'' (Hebrew: חג הקציר, ''Ḥag ha-Katsir'', ), and ''Day of the First Fruits'' (Hebrew יום הבכורים, ''Yom ha-Bikkurim'', ). The
Talmud refers to Shavuot as ''Atzeret'' (, literally, "refraining" or "holding back"), referring to the prohibition against work on this holiday and to the conclusion of the holiday and season of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover,
Hellenistic Jews gave it the name
Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, "fiftieth
day").
Besides its significance as the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai (which includes the Ten Commandments), Shavuot is also connected to the season of the grain harvest in 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.
Second Temple period
The date of Shevuot was disputed in the Second Temple period. The
Qumran community, commonly associated with the
Essenes, held in its library several texts mentioning Shevuot, most notably a Hebrew original of the
Book of Jubilees which sought to fix the celebration of this Feast of Weeks on 15 of Kislev, following their interpretation of Exodus 19:1.
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 (Deut. 8:8). 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.
At the Temple, 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 (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 20 years (ibid., Abraham ibn Ezra). The text proceeds to retell the history of the Jewish people as they went into exile in Egypt and were enslaved and oppressed; following which God redeemed them and brought them to the land of Israel. The ceremony of ''Bikkurim'' conveys the Jew's gratitude to God both for the first fruits of the field and for His guidance throughout Jewish history (Scherman, p. 1068).
Modern observances
Shavuot is unlike other Jewish holidays in that it has no prescribed
mitzvot (Torah commandments) other than the traditional festival observances of abstention from work, special prayer services and holiday meals. However, it is characterized by many
minhagim (customs). A mnemonic for these customs is the letters of the Hebrew word ''acharit'' (אחרית, "last"). Since the Torah is called ''reishit'' (ראשית, "first"), the customs of Shavuot highlight the importance of custom for the continuation and preservation of Jewish religious observance. These customs, largely observed in
Ashkenazic communities, are:
אקדמות – ''Akdamut,'' the reading of a liturgical poem during Shavuot morning synagogue services
חלב – ''Chalav'' (milk), the consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese
רות – ''Ruth'', the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services
ירק – ''Yerek'', the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery
תורה – ''Torah'', engaging in all-night Torah study.
Akdamut
Akdamut (
Aramaic: אקדמות) is a liturgical poem extolling the greatness of God, the Torah and Israel that is read publicly in the synagogue right before the morning reading of the
Torah on the first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Rabbi Meir of
Worms, whose son was murdered during the
Crusade of 1096. 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 ''
Akdamut'', a 90-line poem in
Aramaic which 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"'' (תא), the last and first letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alluding to the endlessness of Torah. The traditional melody which accompanies this poem also conveys a sense of grandeur and triumph.
Sephardim do not read ''Akdamut'', but before the evening service they sing a poem called ''Azharot'' which sets out the 613 Biblical commandments. The positive commandments are recited on the first day and the negative commandments on the second day.
The liturgical poem of Yatziv Pitgam (Aramaic: יציב פתגם) is recited by some synagogues in the Diaspora on the second day of Shavuot. The author and his father's name appear in an acrostic at the beginning of the poem's 15 lines.
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 Yom Tovs, there is both a night 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 ''chalav'' (חלב) is 40, corresponding to the 40 days and 40 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 meals – one milk, one meat – on Shavuot.
The Psalmist calls Mount Sinai ''Har Gavnunim'' (הר גבננים, mountain of majestic peaks), which is etymologically similar to ''gevinah'' (גבינה, cheese).
Book of Ruth
There are five books in
Tanakh that are known as ''Megillot'' (Hebrew: מגילות, "scrolls") and are publicly read in the synagogues on different Jewish holidays. The
Book of Lamentations, which details the destruction of the Holy Temple, is the reading for
Tisha B'Av; the
Book of Ecclesiastes, which touches on the ephemeralness of life, corresponds to
Sukkot; the
Book of Esther (''Megillat Esther'') retells the events of
Purim; and the
Song of Songs, which echoes the themes of springtime and God's love for the Jewish people, is the reading for Passover.
The Book of Ruth (מגילת רות, ''Megillat Ruth'') corresponds to the holiday of Shavuot both in its descriptions of the barley and wheat harvest seasons and Ruth's desire to become a member of the Jewish people, who are defined by their acceptance of the Torah. Moreover, the lineage described at the end of the Book lists King David as Ruth's great-grandson. According to tradition, David was born and died on Shavuot.
Greenery
According to the
Midrash, Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit. Greenery also figures in the story of the baby
Moses being found among the
bulrushes in a
watertight cradle () when he was three months old (Moses was born on 7 Adar and placed in the
Nile River on 6 Sivan, the same day he later brought the Jewish nation to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah).
For these reasons, many Jewish families traditionally decorate their homes and synagogues with plants, flowers and leafy branches in honor of Shavuot. Some synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers and plants so that it resembles a chuppah, as Shavuot is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker (Moses) brought the bride (the Jewish people) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God); the ''ketubbah'' (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi communities actually read out a ''ketubbah'' between God and Israel as part of the service.
The Vilna Gaon cancelled the tradition of decorating with plants because it too closely resembles the Christian decorations for their holidays.
All-night Torah study
The practice of staying up all Shavuot night to study Torah – known as ''Tikkun Leil Shavuot'' () – has its source in the
Midrash, 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
Moses 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.
The custom of all-night Torah study goes back to 1533 when Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the ''Shulchan Aruch'', then living in Ottoman Salonika, invited Rabbi 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 appeared and taught them Jewish law.
Any subject may be studied on Shavuot night, although Talmud, Mishnah and Torah typically top the list. Men may learn alone or with a ''chavruta'' (study partner), or attend late-night ''shiurim'' (lectures) and study groups. In some communities, nighttime learning programs are available for women.
In Jerusalem, tens of thousands of people finish off the nighttime study session by walking to the Western Wall before dawn and joining the sunrise minyan there. This practice began in 1967. One week before Shavuot of that year, the Israeli army recaptured the Old City in the Six-Day War, and on Shavuot day, the army opened the Western Wall to visitors. Over 200,000 Jews came to see and pray at the site that had been off-limits to them since 1948. The custom of walking to the Western Wall on Shavuot has continued every year since.
''Tikkun Leil Shavuot''
In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, the
Arizal, a leading
Kabbalist of the 16th century, arranged a special service for the evening of Shavuot. The ''Tikkun Leil Shavuot'' ("Rectification for Shavuot Night") consists of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of
Tanakh (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of
creation,
The Exodus, the giving of the
Ten Commandments and the
Shema) and the 63 books of Mishnah. This is followed by the reading of
Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by
Maimonides, and excerpts from the
Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a ''Kaddish di-Rabbanan'' is recited when the Tikkun is studied in a group of at least ten Jewish, Bar Mitzvahed men.
This service is printed in a special book, and is widely used in Eastern Sephardic, some German and Hasidic communities. There are similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.
Spanish and Portuguese Jews do not observe this custom.
Other observances
Kibbutz celebration
Due to its connection with the harvest, Shavuot is celebrated with special activities on Israeli
kibbutzim and
moshavim. These agricultural settlements hold parades and special ceremonies to show off the fruits produced in their fields, in the manner of ''bikkurim''. Argricultural machinery and farming equipment are also put on display, and the public is invited to participate in the festivities.
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 Mitvah. The early
Reform 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 in front of an open
ark, recalling the standing of the
Israelites at
Mount Sinai for the giving of the Torah.
Dates in dispute
Since the Torah does not specify the actual day on which Shavuot falls, differing interpretations of this date have arisen both in traditional and non-traditional Jewish circles. These discussions center around two ways of looking at Shavuot: the day it actually occurs (i.e., the day the Torah was given on Mount Sinai), and the day it occurs in relation to the Counting of the Omer (being the 50th day from the first day of the Counting).
Giving of the Torah
While most of the Talmudic Sages concur that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan; R. Jose holds that it was given on the seventh of that month. According to the classical timeline, the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon () and the
Ten Commandments were given on the following Shabbat (i.e., Saturday). The question of whether the new moon fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 86b). In practice, Shavuot is observed on the sixth day of Sivan in
Israel and a second day is added in the Jewish diaspora (in keeping with a separate rabbinical ruling that applies to all biblical holidays, called ''Yom Tov Sheini Shebegaliyot'', Second-Day Yom Tov in the
Diaspora).
Counting of the Omer
The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the first day of counting the Omer) is the first day of the barley harvest (). It should begin "on the morrow after the
Shabbat", and continue to be counted for seven Sabbaths. (). The Talmudic Sages determined that "Shabbat" here means a day of rest and refers to the first day of Passover. 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 that of the first day of Passover (e.g., if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will begin on a Friday).
Most secular scholarship, and the Karaites, as well as Catholics and the historical Sadducees and Boethusians, dispute this interpretation. They infer the "Shabbat" referenced is the weekly Shabbat. Accordingly, Shavuot falls on the day after the weekly shabbat, counting from seven weeks since the day after the first shabbat during Pesach.
This interpretation was shared by the 2nd-century BCE author of the Book of Jubilees who was motivated by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, which was designed 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 1 Enoch), Shavuot fell on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty days from the first Sabbath after Passover (i.e. from the 25th of Nisan). Thus, Jub. 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 Jub. 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.
Qumran school Gabriele Boccaccini has suggested that the 1,290 and 1,335 days of point to the observance of Shavuot in a restored Israel, as reckoned by the priestly solar calendar. These durations are exactly 30 and 45 days longer than the years mentioned in and . The period of years amounts to 1,260 days in the priestly solar calendar because the equinoxes and solstices count as markers of the seasons rather than monthly days (1 En. 74:11, 75:1, 82:4). The blessings expected at the end of the 1,335 days pertain to the resurrection to "everlasting life" mentioned a few verses earlier (), and this is the reward to those who refused to forsake the covenant unto death (, , , ), while those who forsook the covenant () face "everlasting contempt".
Boccaccini sees the years as ending at the spring equinox (equinoxes and solstices were important markers of the seasons in the solar calendar), to be followed by 30 days to complete the 1,290 days (the month of Passover), and an additional 45 days to reach the 15th of Sivan, the purported day of Shavuot. For those who refused to forsake the covenant, this would be the day the covenant would be renewed and the expected blessings would be realized.
The Jewish Encyclopedia points to the similarities between the Christian and Jewish Pentecost, as an outpouring of the Spirit or the giving of the Law in seventy languages.
References
Sources
External links
Study Sheet for Tikkun Leil Shavuot
Secular dates for shavuot
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Category:May observances
Category:Spring holidays
Category:Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temples
Category:Pentecost
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