Shavuot - the Feast of Weeks

“Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the first fruits of the wheat harvest and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.” Exodus 34:22.

Shavuot means “weeks” and refers to the counting of seven weeks (Counting of the Omer) from the second day of the Pesach (Passover) holiday. It is the only Pilgrim festival of which the Bible doesn’t give a specific date on which to celebrate.

Pesach and Shavuot are linked together. First because of the barley and wheat harvests, secondly as a reminder that the Israelites were freed from Egyptian bondage (Pesach) and during Shavuot received the Torah on Mount Sinai. By accepting the Torah they became a nation committed to serving God.

Shavuot is called by different names. Chag Shavuot (Festival of Weeks); Chag ha Katsir (Reaping holiday); Yom ha Bikkurim (day of first fruits); Pentecost (Greek for 50).

In Israel, Shavuot is celebrated only for one day - on the 6^th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; Jews abroad celebrate it for two days. Christians always celebrate Pentecost on the 7^th Sunday after Easter.

In ancient times the Israelites brought their first fruits to the Tabernacle in Shiloh and later to the Temples in Jerusalem. Bikkurim (first fruits) had to be brought from the “seven species” – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates.(Deuteronomy 8: 7,8)

When the first fruit appeared, the farmer would tie a reed around the fruit and declare, “this is a first fruit” and then, when the time came to go up to Jerusalem, the second pilgrim’s holiday to the Holy City, they would put their first fruits in a basket and set out for their closest assembly point.  

Pilgrims assembled in specific cities and traveled, singing and dancing, as a group to Jerusalem.

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD,” (Psalm 122:1)

Welcomed by the Jerusalemites, the pilgrims would sing,

“Our feet are standing in your gates, o Jerusalem!” (Psalm 122:2).

The baskets with fruits became property of the priest and Levites, who represented the “firstborn” sons of the Israelites.

The Hebrew word “Bikkurim” has the same root as “bechor” – first born. The first of everything belongs to God – man and animal alike. Israel was God’s “firstborn”, and in recognition of His ownership of the land and His sovereignty over nature, the first grain and fruits had to be offered to God.

Likewise, after Jesus’ sacrifice during Pesach, the new believers in Jerusalem that were baptized with the Holy Spirit became “first fruits” during Shavuot.

Shavuot - the Feast of Weeks

In Israel, Shavuot is celebrated only for one day - on the 6^th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (This year on May 20.) In the Diaspora, Jews celebrate it for two days. The Christian holiday of Pentecost always falls on the 7^th Sunday after Easter which in 2018, is on the same Sunday as Shavuot.

The Hebrew word for Shavuot means “weeks” and refers to the counting of seven weeks from the second day of the Pesach (Passover) holiday. This period is called the “Counting of the Omer”. Shavuot is the only Pilgrim festival of which the Bible doesn’t give a specific date on which to celebrate.

The Festival has different names:

 à Chag Shavuot (Festival of Weeks)

à Chag ha Katsir (Reaping holiday)

à Yom ha Bikkurim (day of first fruits)

à Pentecost (Greek for 50)

According to a certain stream in Judaism: Torah must be reshit (first). This is linked to a set of customs, whose first letters form the word “acharit” (last).

1. Akdamot - a liturgical poem, read in synagogue.

2. Chalav - milk. The Rabbis reasoned that because the Israelites didn’t have time to prepare meat for Shavuot, they only consumed dairy products. It’s a popular custom to eat cheese cake and blintzes (pancakes filled with cheese) during Shavuot.

3. Ruth - the scroll of Ruth is read in synagogues. She became a member of the Jewish people by accepting the Torah. Converts to Judaism are honoured at this time. Tradition tells us that King David (form the line of Boaz and Ruth) was born and died on Shavuot. Many people visit his grave on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

4. Yerek - greenery. Homes and synagogues are decorated with greenery. The bimah* (platform) where the Torah readings take place now looks like a chuppah* (wedding canopy). Moses, the matchmaker, brought the Jewish people (bride) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God). The Torah was the ketubah* (wedding contract).

5. Torah study (all night). Hourly subjects are taught by different teachers and ‘the night passes like a dream’.

Exceprt from the book "Remember, Observe, Rejoice - a guide to the Jewish Feasts, holidays, memorial days and events" by Petra van der Zande.