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Ceremonies

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Description and comparative analysis of the ceremonies of different religions and confessions

Cerimonies

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2.2. Shavuot
Of all the Jewish festivals in the calendar, Shavuot is not the best-known. But it’s one of their three major yearly celebrations, and it takes place over one to two days in early summer, falling on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. The festival marks the announcement of the 10 commandments of the Torah, and in English it’s referred to as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot itself meaning ‘weeks’).

Shavuot has a double significance. It marks the all-important wheat harvest in Israel (Exodus 34:22), and it commemorates the anniversary of the day when God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinaii—although the association is not explicit in the Biblical text between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) and Shavuot.

The holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. The word Shavuot means weeks, and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be 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 people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. The yahrzeit of King David is traditionally observed on Shavuot. Hasidic Jews also observe the yahrzeit of the Baal Shem Tov.

Shavuot is one of the less familiar Jewish holidays to secular Jews in the Jewish diaspora, while those in Israel and the Orthodox community are more aware of it. According to Jewish law, Shavuot is celebrated in Israel for one day and in the Diaspora for two days. Reform Judaism celebrates only one day, even in the Diaspora.

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks
(Ḥag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10);

Festival of Reaping
(Ḥag ha-Katsir, Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26).

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" ("fiftieth day").

The festival commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai, and it marks the start of the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel too. The day is typically marked by the consumption of dairy products and fish, because before God gave his commandments his devotees were unsure of what kind of meat they would be permitted to eat. Among the dairy dishes consumed are cheesecake, cheese blintzes, cheese kreplach and cheese sambousek.

Greenery and flowers are often used to decorate homes during Shavuot because Mount Sinai was thought to have burst into bloom in anticipation of God’s words. On top of this, there is also all-night Torah study, plus readings from the Book of Ruth and a liturgical poem called Akdamut in synagogue.
Pictures

A jubilant Shavuot celebration using props to symbolise the beginning of the Land of Israel’s wheat harvest

Flowers and greenery are key to the event’s symbolism (Shavuot)

Shavuot celebrations in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine

Shavuot, Kibbutz Gan-Shmuel, Israel

Ethiopian Israeli girls dressed in traditional white dresses hold a basket of fruits and vegetables as they stand in a field, ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot

Videos

The Shavuot Ceremony in Moshav Bilu, Israel on 2014.06.04

Shavuot First-Fruits/Twin Loaves Reenactment

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.