Shavuot is an important holiday in the Jewish Calendar. It is the day that the Jews received the Torah on Mount Sinai. We have spent the last 7 weeks since Passover or (Pesach) as it is appropriately called, counting the Omer which means counting the days until Shavuot.
Everyday since Passover, members of the congregation received daily email assignments from the clergy at our Temple. The assignments were opportunities for us to strengthen our spiritual practice and work on loving kindness. The Omer for me is usually a depressing time because there is so much work to be done over those 7 weeks:) And very little play time:(
Work, work, work, and search out those weak points that I would sometimes like to forget:) Procrastination??Who me? Ok, so I am still working on that on… Hold a grudge? Me never, ha! Okay so I have a few complaints that I need to drop… I have the memory of an elephant so there are people to forgive and people to ask to forgive me, there is a lot of meditation and deep reflection. I meditate more over these 7 weeks than I do the rest of the year. I sometimes feel that it would be easier to keep a list of every time someone upsets me and every time that I upset someone. But that is too easy. So I sit in Loving kindness meditation and search, who have I offended? (In-laws, need not inject here) LOL!
During this 7 week period, we refrain from moving, making any major business decisions, buying property, cars or anything of great value. Counting the Omer is usually a time when we are taught to reflect and mend any broken relationships, reassess our actions, apologize for any misdeeds, reach out to loved ones that we have lost touch with, organize our lives, focus on our strong points and work out our personal personality kinks.
This is all done so that we are fit to receive the Torah. We are taught to observe loving kindness and to clean out our emotional closets and readjust our selfish attitudes. It is also a time of completion. Completion of unfinished projects and releasing of bad habits. LOL!
I spent the Omer planning and organizing. Going through clothing and books that I haven’t used in a while and donating them to charity. Sending thank you cards for holiday gifts and dinner invitations, researching home furnishings, and getting those pesky taxes done. It was indeed a productive Omer.
It is customary to stay up all night from dusk til dawn on Shavuot and study the Torah (The Jewish Bible) so I will be studying Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I look forward to having Cheesecake which is the most iconic dairy dish for Shavuot.
I have listed further information below in case you care to learn more appropriately what has been officially written about Shavuot.
Much Love,
Ezina
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In Israel the feast, now celebrated for more than 3300 years, is celebrated for one day but in the rest of the world Jewish families celebrate Shavuot for two days.
Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai. The Commandments became part of the Books of Moses known as the Torah.
The Feast of the Weeks marks a culmination of a seven week journey. The beginning of the journey is Passover which marks the liberation of the slaves in Egypt. The journey ends with Shavuot, which celebrates the freedom along with revelation and acceptance of the holy Torah.
From the Feast of Passover Jews count the weeks towards Shavuot in anticipation of the importance of the Feast signifying the giving of the Torah and the Commandments to the people of Israel. The counting is known by Jews as the Counting of the Omer. Since the Torah and its contents were accepted by the thousands of people at Mount Sinai the people of Israel entered into a special relationship with God as a unique nation.
Most of the customs and tradition related to Shavuot celebration arose from legends and stories of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. According to one legend the people of Israel overslept on the day of the giving of Torah and Moses himself had to wake them up as God was waiting for them at the mountain. In order to rectify this, on the eve of Shavuot, the Jews do not sleep the whole night from dusk to dawn and keep themselves busy by reading the holy Torah and Talmud. This will happen after sunset on Tuesday May 18.
On the evening of Shavuot women and girls light candles to indicate that Shavuot has begin. After the holiday evening prayers families will enjoy a festive holiday meal.
It is believed that Mount Sinai suddenly bloomed with greenery and flowers in the happiness of giving Torah. To commemorate this event the Jews decorate their home and synagogue with flowers and branches. The Torah scrolls in some synagogues are adorned with flowers, mostly with rose garlands.
On Wednesday May 19 Jewish families will go to the synagogue to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments. It is also customary to read the book of Ruth as the scene of harvest of wheat and barley described in the book are in correspondence with the Shavuot festival. The book also emphasises the desire of Ruth to become one of the Jewish nation. The Priests then bless the congregation with the Priestly Blessing.
According to tradition on the day of the Giving of the Torah the Israelites did not have any meat prepared according to the rules of ritual slaughtering. Nor could they slaughter another animal on the day as it was Sabbath, the day when slaughtering was forbidden. So the people were forced to eat simple dairy products for the rest of the day. During the Shavuot festival the Jews follow this tradition by eating dairy products. As the Jewish calendar’s most dairy friendly holiday the list of traditional foods read like a who’s who of milk and cheese. And aside from perhaps the sour cream-topped cheese blintz, no dairy recipe is more iconic on Shavuot in America than cheesecake.
Jews started making cheesecake, or kasekuchen in German, in Central and Eastern Europe where it was popular in both Jewish and non-Jewish cuisines around the 18th-19th centuries. The dessert was a natural fit for Shavuot, which falls during springtime right as people’s cows and other animals were giving birth, and therefore producing milk. Making soft curd cheese was the perfect way to extend the shelf life of excess milk–a practice that Roden writes was popular amongst Eastern European housewives.
It was not until Jews migrated to America, bringing their recipes and affinity for cheesecake with them, that the dish took on a specifically Jewish identity. And it was not until the 20th century that New York-style cheesecake emerged. Unlike its European ancestors, New York cheesecake was dense and smooth, rather than textured.
In 1872 a “New York dairy man…combined cream with milk to create an ultra rich cheese.” By the 1880s, the product was being produced and distributed under the name Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, and was primed to take homemade curd cheese’s place in American Jewish kitchens.
I usually don’t mind the rain. LA is so sunny that when January rolls around I figure it’s time to pay the piper for all the other gorgeous days of weather. I can’t seem to find my wellies so I haven’t been out playing in it like I normally would. So I am here on my computer writing new music and trying to clear off my voicemail.