Shavuot

Jewish Calendar

Shavuot is a holiday that celebrates both the wheat harvest and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Many stay up all night learning to honor the latter. It is traditional to chant the book of Ruth on this holiday and to indulge in dairy foods.

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Shavuot and the Giving of the Torah

TALMUD

While the Torah never specifies that the festival of Shavuot commemorates the day that the Torah was given, there are many rabbinic sources that make the connection. In this talmudic passage, an early sage notices the links between creation, revelation, and the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan.

Ḥizkiya said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “You caused sentence to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was silent” (Psalms 76:9)? If it was afraid, why was it silent; and if it was silent, why was it afraid? Rather, the meaning is: At first, it was afraid, and in the end, it was silent. “You caused sentence to be heard from heaven” refers to the revelation at Sinai. And why was the earth afraid? It is in accordance with the statement of Reish Lakish…

Shabbat 88a:6

Late Night Learning

MUSAR

The practice of learning Torah late into the night on Shavuot has been done for at least 500 years. This 16th-century ethical and theological treatise reproduces a letter originally written by famous kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Alkebetz (16th century, Israel), describing staying up all night on Shavuot learning with Rabbi Yosef Karo.

Know - that the pious one (R. Yosef Karo) and I agreed to make a great effort on the night of Shavuot, and to keep sleep from our eyes. Praise to God, so it was. We didn't stop one moment - listen, and your soul will be revived... The moment that we began to learn the Mishnah, and we learned two tractates, our Creator graced us and we heard a voice speaking from the mouth of the pious one. A great voice, with clear enunciation, and all around us heard but did not understand. It was very pleasant, and the voice gained strength. We fell on our faces, and none could raise their eyes from fear…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Aseret HaDibrot, Shevuot, Ner Mitzva 13-14

An(other) Occasion for Judgment

MISHNAH

The three pilgrimage festivals and Rosh Hashanah are considered by rabbinic sources to be times of judgment for different aspects of the natural world. The Mishnah understands the festival of Shavuot, which it calls Atzeret, to be the time for divine judgment regarding the next year's fruit harvest.

At four times of the year the world is judged: On Passover judgment is passed concerning grain; on Shavuot concerning fruits that grow on a tree; on Rosh HaShana, all creatures pass before Him like sheep [benei maron], as it is stated: “He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds” (Psalms 33:15); and on the festival of Sukkot they are judged concerning water, i.e., the rainfall of the coming year.

Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:2

Wheat Harvest

COMMENTARY

Unlike Sukkot and Passover, Shavuot is not connected to a full moon; rather, it is to take place seven weeks following the beginning of Passover. In his commentary on the command to eat matzah during Passover, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra (12th century, Spain) uses an interesting linguistic feature to explain the relationship between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest.

THIS DAY. Moses first mentions, there shall be no leavened bread eaten, its meaning being, do in future generations what you did on the day that you left Egypt. As you left Egypt at the time when the first ears (aviv) are found, so shall you do yearly in the future in the Land of Israel when the first ears come. The first ears refers to the first ears of barley. The word aviv (Abib) means the first that ripens. Aviv comes from the same root as av (father), which means first to the one whom one begets, or sage to the student whom one teaches…

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 13:4:1

The Ten Commandments

TANAKH

Rabbinic tradition describes the festival of Shavuot as a commemoration of the revelation at Mount Sinai. For this reason, the Ten Commandments are traditionally read in synagogues on Shavuot.

God spoke all these words, saying: I יהוה am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods besides Me. You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I your God יהוה am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me…

Exodus 20:1-18

Dairy Foods and Festive Plants

HALAKHAH

Shavuot's distinctive traditions include eating dairy foods and decorating synagogues with greenery. In his seminal legal code, Rabbi Yosef Karo (16th-century, Israel) shares his thoughts about the reasons for these customs.

It is prohibited to fast immediately after the holiday of Shavuot. Ramah: And we do not say Tachanun from the beginning of Rosh Chodesh Sivan until the 8th day, which is after the post-holiday day (Hagahot Maimoni, Hil' Tefillah Umnagim). We have the custom to spread out plants on Shavuot in the synagogue and in houses, as a memory for the happiness of the receiving of the Torah. We have a custom everywhere to eat dairy food on the first day of Shavuot. And it seems to me that the reason is: It is like the two foods that are taken on the evening of Pesach…

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 494:3

Bringing the First Fruits on Shavuot

MISHNAH

Shavuot is the beginning of the season for bringing the first fruits to the Temple in an elaborate ritual. This Mishnah explains what happens if a person can't bring Bikkurim (first fruits) at the ideal time.

One who buys two trees [that had grown] in property belonging to his fellow brings bikkurim but does not recite the declaration. Rabbi Meir says: he brings and recites. If the well dried up, or the tree was cut down, he brings but does not recite. Rabbi Judah says: he brings and recites. From Atzeret (Shavuot) until the Festival (of Sukkot) he brings and recites. From the Festival (of Sukkot) and until Hannukah he brings, but does not recite. Rabbi Judah ben Batera says: he brings and recites.

Mishnah Bikkurim 1:6

Reading the Book of Ruth

COMMENTARY

For centuries, Jewish communities have recited the Book of Ruth in synagogues on Shavuot. In this 11th-century legal work on the canonization of the synagogue service and its liturgy, Rabbi Simcha of Vitri explains various reasons why Ruth is recited on Shavuot.

312 On the second day, we complete the Hallel. [We say] the full Kaddish. And we sit and read the Scroll of Ruth. [We do so] because it is written in it (Ruth 1:22), "at the beginning of the barley harvest" - corresponding to [Shavuot], which is called, "the first fruits of the wheat harvest" (Exodus 34:12). And some say it is because Ruth converted, as it is written (Ruth 2:12), "under whose wings you have sought refuge”; and we say in [the chapter entitled] HaCholetz that Naomi said to her, "It is forbidden for us to go outside of the Shabbat perimeter…

Machzor Vitry, Order of Shavuot 312

A New Grain Offering

TANAKH

The central ritual of Shavuot as described in the Torah is a special bread offering that was brought to the Temple. This sacrifice marked the beginning of sacrifices that were brought using grain from that year, as opposed to grains from the previous year, as explained in the Book of Numbers.

On the day of the first fruits, your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to יהוה, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.

Numbers 28:26

Celebrating the giving of the Torah at Shavuot, Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1880

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National Library of Israel

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Offering of the Two Breads

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