Shavuot

 

A day of study of G-d’s Word

Being at a Public reading of the Ten Commandments

Reading from the book of Ruth

Why do we eat dairy foods?

 

Each of these will be discussed in order.

 

A day of study of G-d’s word.

 

Tradition says that on the first night of Shavuot Jews throughout the world observe the centuries-old custom of conducting an all-night vigil dedicated to Torah learning, and preparation for receiving the Torah anew the next morning. One explanation for this tradition is that the Jewish people did not rise early on the day G-d gave the Torah, and it was necessary for G-d Himself to awaken them. To compensate for their behavior, Jews have accepted upon themselves the custom of remaining awake all night.

The reason for two days of observance is two-fold.  One is based upon the enemies of the Jews lighting false signal fires, causing the feast to be observed on the day before the feast.  For this reason, Jews living in the Diaspora, outside of Israel, were given a second day to allow for such errors and still fill the commandment to observe the feast.   In the case of this feast it is further necessary in that scholars can not determine from the Biblical account if the day of the Ten Commandments being given by the L-rd was the 6^th or 7^th of Sivan.

 

 

Being at a public reading of the Ten Commandments.

 

The holiday of Shavuot is the day on which we celebrate the great revelation of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, 3319 years ago. The Talmud teaches that all Jews for all time, even those not born yet, stood at the foot of the mountain; your grandparents and great-grandparents before them. The souls of all Jews, from all times, came together to hear the Ten Commandments from G-d Himself.

 

For this reason it is a mitzvot to go to your local synagogue to hear the Ten Commandments and reaffirm the covenant with G-d and His Torah.  Since we all stood at Mount Sinai, the rabbis I know say we must all reaffirm our commitment. Babies, young children, the elderly, and all that are able should attend.  But as we all know there are a lot more than just ten commandments and the proper attitude is to develop a lifestyle where by you live every one of them as fully as your circumstances allow.

 

 

Reading of the Book of Ruth and why it is done at this time.

 

In many synagogues the Book of Ruth is read. There are several reasons for this custom:

A) Shavuot is the birthday and yahrtzeit (day of passing) of King David, and the Book of Ruth records his ancestry. Ruth and her husband Boaz were King David's great-grandparents.

B) The scenes of harvesting described in the book of Ruth are appropriate to the Festival of Harvest.

C) Ruth was a sincere convert who embraced Judaism with all her heart. On Shavuot all Jews were converts -- having accepted the Torah and all of its precepts.

This is where we can all join together in recognizing the one and only true G-d, the creator of the universe, and call upon all people to say to the people of G-d, “...your G-d shall be my G-d and your people my people.”  May we all make such a public profession of support and joining to the Maker of the universe.

 

Why do we eat dairy on Shavuot?

 

With the giving of the Torah the Jews now became obligated to observe the laws of Kosher. As the Torah was given on Shabbat no cattle could be slaughtered nor could utensils be koshered, and thus on that day they ate dairy.

 

Another reason is that the Torah is likened to nourishing milk. Also, the Hebrew word for milk is "chalav." When the numerical value of each of the letters in the word chalav are added together - 8; 30; 2 - the total is forty. Forty is the number of days Moses spent on Mount Sinai when receiving the Torah.

 

And between you and me, I will take any chance to eat my wife’s yummy cheesecake.

Standing Strong

A Messianic Jewish Congregation with an outreach to Believers in Israel