In the News  ||  Media Releases  ||  Events  ||  Jewish Life & Celebrations  ||  Careers  ||  Newsletter

Jewish Life & Celebrations

Shavuot

Shavuot - Background and Practices

Rabbi Judith Seid
Rabbi Seid discusses the origins of the holiday and makes suggestions observing Shavuot in a secular manner. Rabbi Seid is the author of We Rejoice in Our Heritage: Home Rituals for Secular and Humanistic Jews, and God-Optional Judaism: Alternatives for Cultural Jews who Love Their History, Heritage, and Community. Rabbi Seid is also the cultural leader at Tri-Valley Cultural Jews in Pleasanton, California. Visit Rabbi Seid at www.SecularJewishWeddings.com
Judith Seid, God-Optional Judaism, Citadel Press, 2001, pp 120-127.

Shavuot has primitive, seasonal, religious, national, and ethical components. It marks the festival at which the product of the grain harvest was brought to the Temple. The reason that the Book of Ruth is read on the holiday is that part of the story of Ruth takes place at the time of the barley harvest.

Shavuot is traditionally a dairy holiday for European Jews. Although this has been explained in various Torah-based ways, Gaster’s Festivals of the Jewish Year notes that many ancient and modern cultures have a dairy-eating holiday this time of year. Explanations for this vary from culture to culture, the reason appears to be that milk is available. The young cattle born earlier in the spring are just being weaned and the mother animals are uncomfortably full of milk.

The religious meaning comes from the legend that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai on Shavuot. Although this idea does not appear in the Bible, it was inconceivable to the rabbis that a Jewish holiday should be totally pagan, so, probably sometime in the early Middle Ages, they began to teach this.

The national component is one that most speaks to Secular Humanistic Jews, since this is the component that makes Secular Humanistic Judaism possible. According to religious tradition, Shavuot is the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments, and by extension, all of the written and oral Torah. While we believe that the Jewish law evolved rather than being revealed and is a creation of the Jewish People, we agree that the existence of law and the Jewish national narrative is of primary importance to our People. For us, the existence of Torah (by which we mean both oral and written law and the stories that are told along with the law) represents the transformation of a tribal religion ruled by its god into a civilization ruled by its laws. The fact that the Jewish People are ruled by law and carry forth a literary culture makes us a nation, a People, a civilization, rather than just a religion. It allows the existence of Jewish Secularism.

The ethical component is made up both of what is in the Torah and the other stories and customs concerning the holiday. It contains the concepts of mentchlichkeit (behaving like a decent human being), of social justice, of tikkun olam (the completion of the creation of a just world), of a defiance of the status quo, of the dignity of each individual, and of tzedakah (the just economic ordering of society).

Talmudic stories of the giving of the Torah include a statement that all Jewish souls, born and yet unborn, were present at Mount Sinai. This reminds us of the absolute equality of every Jew to understand and interpret Jewish law, history, and culture. This is the meaning of the phrase “a nation of priests,” and it signifies that Jewish learning and literature belong to all of us, no matter our religious perspective.

Ruth, the hero of the story we read on Shavuot, was not born a Jew. She converted by the simple expedient of saying she would be Jewish. She didn’t go to any mikveh, she didn’t promise to follow 613 commandments, and no three male rabbis ruled on her fitness. She chose to be Jewish and she was Jewish. We learn from this that a sincere attachment to the Jewish People is a sufficient conversion and that converts have the same standing and value as born Jews.

Observances
Shavuot is celebrated in both the community and the home. The Book of Ruth is read in a community setting during the morning service. It should be noted that although the book is profoundly antiracist, it has offensively ageist, sexist, and heterosexist elements that cannot be ignored.

Some Jews follow the tradition of staying up all night before the ceremony and studying sacred texts in the synagogue. It’s a good time for a youth group all-nighter with some learning interspersed with fun activities.

Reform Jews often conduct the ceremony of confirmation for sixteen-year-olds at Shavuot. New Jews (converts) may be welcomed with a ceremony at Shavuot, the holiday at which we note Ruth’s conversion to Judaism. It’s also a good time to think about what your commitment to Jewish life is and to write your own “ten commandments.”

It’s a good time to honor those who have graduated or earned advanced degrees or published during the year. You can exhibit artwork created during the year, or read poetry written that year, or demonstrate any new skill learned during the year.

At home you can decorate the house with paper cuts, branches, and flowers and enjoy a dairy meal. Blintzes are most commonly prepared for Shavuot and are often accompanied by challah, borscht, and gefilte fish. Cheesecake is the traditional dessert.

A Jewish Book Festival
Shavuot, the traditional time to celebrate the giving of our germinal Jewish literature, the Torah, is also a great time to celebrate all of Jewish literary culture. Have a gathering of adults and children, and have your own book festival. Here are some ideas:

1. Kids can write their own books. Ask them to write or dictate a story about a Jewish holiday or event. Let them illustrate the pages, then sew them together into a book.
2. You can use this occasion to form a book club, and have the first meeting on Shavuot.
3. Have an informal discussion on the books – Jewish or not – that have most influenced your lives.
4. Invite a local Jewish author or poet to read and discuss his/her work.
5. Ask everyone to bring in an old book for a grab bag.
6. Ask everyone to bring in a new kids’ book to donate to your local shelter or an organization that gives books to kids.
7. Invite a storyteller, or have someone reading Jewish kids’ books aloud.
8. Make bookmarks out of leather and tooling devices or out of heavy paper.

Back to Shavuot

Back to Jewish Life & Celebrations