Shavuot

Shavuot begins in the evening on Tuesday, June 11 and ends in the evening on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

A joyous festival to be observed on many levels means “weeks.” It falls exactly seven weeks after the second day of Passover, on the sixth and seventh days of the month of Sivan. Shavuot is a three-fold celebration which commemorates:

• the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai - Z’man Matan Torateinu
• the harvesting of wheat in Israel - Hag Hakatzir
• the ripening of the first fruit in the Holy Land - Yom Ha-Bikkurim

Thus, Shavuot is a celebration which involves the work of physical labour, intellectual computation, and emotional exultation making it a holy day which can be observed by all of us with all of our senses.

In marking and celebrating the receiving of the Aseret Hadibrot (The Ten Commandments), we welcome the implications of the Law, past and present, committing ourselves to do honour to its teachings.  At this Harvest Festival, we pause to consider the earth’s bounty and our responsibility to ensure its continued fulfilment.  We must, more than ever, become alert to, and aware of, man’s careless destruction of nature, his poisoning of the environment, and dedicate ourselves to promoting and participating in strong ecology programmes.  In reading the story of Ruth, we search within ourselves and our communities to find the true meaning of what it is to be a Jew and resolve to observe the mitzvot of living Jewishly.

This holiday is filled with beauty, both visual and spiritual. Our renewed
acceptance of the Ten Commandments broadens our moral and ethical horizons. If
only we will take the time and effort to truly observe this Festival, not only will we find ourselves beginning the summer season with renewed vigour and enthusiasm, but we will actually deepen and strengthen our own roots in Judaism.

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