Shavuot
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Shavuot :
Held seven weeks after Passover, this holiday celebrates the harvest season of the land of Israel - the
land of ever-flowing milk and honey.
Celebrate the reaping of the harvest
In Shavout, the Jewish people celebrate the gifts of G-d to the land of Israel. Shavuot is the plural form or
the word shavua, which means a week. The holiday is sometimes referred to as "Yom Habikhurim",
which means the first of the fruit.
Where did it all begin?
The holiday is rooted in an historical ritual from the biblical times: the Hebrew farmers used to bring
their first fruits - bikhurim - in large baskets to be eaten in the holy city of Jerusalem.
No blowing horns or lighting candles, so what do we do on Shavuot?
Although considered very sacred in the Jewish tradition, this holiday is not so well-known. There aren't
many mitzvoth to be observed in Shavuot, except the abstention from work which is much appreciated in
today's hectic world.
But if you pay a visit to Israel during this holiday, you will notice many beautiful customs practiced all
around. Here are some of them:
Milk and wine-
At Shavuot we celebrate the blessing of the land by having holiday meals that include a wide variety of
dairy products.
If you know how to make a good cheesecake, you'd be a very popular guest in a Jewish home.
Study the torah 'till the sunrise
Shavuot also celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites through Moses on Mount
Sinai, thus it is a common and encouraged practice to study the torah all night at Shavuot as a way of
expressing one's love for the teachings.
Who is Ruth and why there's a whole book about her?
There are many interpretations as to why we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot.
Ruth was a non-Jewish woman from the land of Moav who decided to join her mother in-law who had
returned to the land of Israel after her husband had died. Ruth converted to Judaism as a sign of her
love to the G-d of the Hebrews and to demonstrate loyalty to her family.
This verse from the Book of Ruth is recited often; it expresses one's absolute loyalty:
"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will
stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be
buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
(Ruth 1:16-17 NIV)
Ruth was an ancestor of King David who, according to beliefs, was born and died on that day.
Held seven weeks after Passover, this holiday celebrates the harvest season of the land of Israel - the
land of ever-flowing milk and honey.
Celebrate the reaping of the harvest
In Shavout, the Jewish people celebrate the gifts of G-d to the land of Israel. Shavuot is the plural form or
the word shavua, which means a week. The holiday is sometimes referred to as "Yom Habikhurim",
which means the first of the fruit.
Where did it all begin?
The holiday is rooted in an historical ritual from the biblical times: the Hebrew farmers used to bring
their first fruits - bikhurim - in large baskets to be eaten in the holy city of Jerusalem.
No blowing horns or lighting candles, so what do we do on Shavuot?
Although considered very sacred in the Jewish tradition, this holiday is not so well-known. There aren't
many mitzvoth to be observed in Shavuot, except the abstention from work which is much appreciated in
today's hectic world.
But if you pay a visit to Israel during this holiday, you will notice many beautiful customs practiced all
around. Here are some of them:
Milk and wine-
At Shavuot we celebrate the blessing of the land by having holiday meals that include a wide variety of
dairy products.
If you know how to make a good cheesecake, you'd be a very popular guest in a Jewish home.
Study the torah 'till the sunrise
Shavuot also celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites through Moses on Mount
Sinai, thus it is a common and encouraged practice to study the torah all night at Shavuot as a way of
expressing one's love for the teachings.
Who is Ruth and why there's a whole book about her?
There are many interpretations as to why we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot.
Ruth was a non-Jewish woman from the land of Moav who decided to join her mother in-law who had
returned to the land of Israel after her husband had died. Ruth converted to Judaism as a sign of her
love to the G-d of the Hebrews and to demonstrate loyalty to her family.
This verse from the Book of Ruth is recited often; it expresses one's absolute loyalty:
"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will
stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be
buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
(Ruth 1:16-17 NIV)
Ruth was an ancestor of King David who, according to beliefs, was born and died on that day.
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Shavuot