Shavuot starts at sunset this evening. This wheat harvest festival gets its name from the Hebrew word for "weeks", because it is celebrated 7 weeks or 50 days after Passover. It is one of the 3 pilgrimage festivals where the men of Israel were to travel to Jerusalem to formally worship at the temple. You may know this feast as Pentecost, the birthday of God's body of believers - the church - when the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers. (Acts 2:1...Pente" is the Greek for 50.) As well as rejoicing as the wheat crops were gathered in, Shavuot is traditionally celebrated as the day that God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai to Moses for Israel. Many Jews gather the night before Shavuot for an all-night Torah study session called "tikkun leil Shavuot." If you manage to stay awake until the morning service, you would hear readings from the Ten Commandments and from the book of Ruth. This book describes the grain harvest in ancient days. Cheese cakes, honey cakes and other dairy foods are eaten to remember the Land of Israel as it was described as a "land flowing with milk and honey." Honey & milk are also symbols of Torah or "the Word".
Shavuot starts at sunset this evening. This wheat harvest festival gets its name from the Hebrew word for "weeks", because it is celebrated 7 weeks or 50 days after Passover. It is one of the 3 pilgrimage festivals where the men of Israel were to travel to Jerusalem to formally worship at the temple. You may know this feast as Pentecost, the birthday of God's body of believers - the church - when the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers. (Acts 2:1...Pente" is the Greek for 50.) As well as rejoicing as the wheat crops were gathered in, Shavuot is traditionally celebrated as the day that God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai to Moses for Israel. Many Jews gather the night before Shavuot for an all-night Torah study session called "tikkun leil Shavuot." If you manage to stay awake until the morning service, you would hear readings from the Ten Commandments and from the book of Ruth. This book describes the grain harvest in ancient days. Cheese cakes, honey cakes and other dairy foods are eaten to remember the Land of Israel as it was described as a "land flowing with milk and honey." Honey & milk are also symbols of Torah or "the Word".
2 comments:
Yesterday I noticed Shavout listed on my calendar (shown as "Erev Shavout), also shown as "Shavout" for today, and "Isru Hag (Shavout)" on Saturday. I checked your blog to see if you wrote about it, but you didn't, so I didn't give any further thought to it.
I'm so glad you wrote about it today. But, what an interesting "coincidence" that you would post this today. In my morning devotions I read Psalm 122, which is described as a song for the ascent to Jerusalem. (vs.4: " All the people of Israel--the LORD's people--make their pilgrimage here. They come to give thanks to the name of the LORD.")
I thought of you when I read vs.8: "For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, "Peace be with you.", because so often your greeting to me is "Shalom".
Thanks, Cary!
Shalom!
P.S. I just noticed the date of this post -- it was yesterday! (last night, after I looked at the blogs)
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