What is Shavuot and Why is it Celebrated?
Shavuot commemorates the spring harvest and receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, making it one of the most significant events in Jewish history also known as Pentecost.
The Jewish Agency For Israel shares that Shavuot falls seven weeks after Passover at the end of the counting of the Omer (a verbal counting of each of the 49 days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot).
In biblical times, Shavuot was one of three pilgrimage festivals in which all the Jewish men would go to Jerusalem and bring their first fruits as offerings to God. Britannica shares that Shavuot was originally an agricultural festival, marking the beginning of the wheat harvest.
During the Temple period, the first fruits of the harvest were brought to the Temple, and two loaves of bread made from the new wheat were offered. This aspect of the holiday is reflected in the custom of decorating the synagogue with fruits and flowers and in the names Yom ha-Bikkurim (“Day of the First Fruits”) and Ḥag ha-Qazir (“Harvest Feast”).
A Love Story
In my blog, What does it mean that we are the Bride of Christ?, I’ve shared that one of the best ways of looking at God’s relationship with His people is as a love story. Like An Anchor writes about this saying that in ancient Jewish traditions, the bridegroom gave this betrothed bride a gift and a promise that he would come back for her. As the church’s bridegroom, Jesus Christ did something similar for us on the day of Pentecost.
Jewish tradition reveals how strongly it’s connected with the love story God has between Him and His people. Today, we celebrate Shavuot in the context of God’s love story. Jesus made a promise to come back.
Shavuot means “sevens” in reference to counting seven weeks of seven days from the Sabbath after Passover. The completion of 7 out of 7 falls on Pentecost, the date the bridegroom gave his down payment for his bride
Pentecost is then kept on the Sunday after the seventh Sabbath (hence the name “Pentecost,” which means count fifty). The word for the bride is “kallah” with “kla” as the root word which means complete or finished. When we think about Shabbat as the day of completion, we say, “Shabbat Shalom” because of the peace and rest this completion or restoration brings about.
Just like the promised union of Christ and His Church, we finally will get to the ultimate culmination wedding ceremony and the true reward that we look forward to as the bride of Christ.
Clarence Haynes’s article from People from the Bible Series reminds us that this is why we live the way we do and make the sacrifices we make — because there is a glorious day coming that will make it all worth it. The final ceremony in heaven brings peace in the fact that we, as the Bride of Christ, are reunited with Him through His pledge and promise and have remained committed and faithful as Christ is.
In My Jewish Learning’s Shabbat 101, we learn that by associating an ancient holiday of the grain harvest with the exodus from Egypt, Jewish tradition has imbued Shavuot with religious significance derived from the foundational event in Jewish historical consciousness.
In the specific case of Shavuot, this takes the form of entering into a covenant or formal agreement between God and Israel at Mount Sinai. This is a joyous time since it is the moment at which God and Israel entered into a figurative marriage with each other, the hopeful springtime of their relationship.
A Meaningful Celebration
On Shavuot, the people of Israel were given the Torah and committed themselves to serve God. AlephBeta’s article, Shavuot: What Is Shavuot? Shavuot Meaning, Importance & More, reiterates that Shavuot marks the renewal of their commitment and dedication to God as a people.
We learn more about the importance and deeper relevance of this holiday as we remember how this event (often referred to as a “marriage” between God and the Israelites) created the Jewish people. After accepting the commandments at Sinai, the Jewish people were no longer just descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, they became God’s chosen people, who had chosen God in return and would study and abide by the laws of the Torah as part of their service to the Almighty.
AlephBeta further adds that on Shavuot, we commemorate Israel’s encounter with God at Sinai… how the people received the Torah, committed to God’s laws, and became His People. Unlike most other Jewish holidays, Shavuot has no prescribed Torah commandments other than the traditional festival observances, such as having joyous feasts, special holiday prayers, and abstention from work.
It does go beyond partaking in customs such as our synagogue attendance, having festive meals of dairy foods, staying up all night to learn, and reading the Book of Ruth. When God gave us bread and law, he did it for us… they are true gifts from God. When God gave His laws, there was one non-negotiable condition, and that was “rest”. God’s provision to sustain us will never let up.