9 SHAVUOT FACTS EVERY JEW EVERY SHOULD KNOW

By Yossi Feller

7:04 PM, and again on Friday, May 26 at 7:05 PM.

Blessing 1: Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-loh-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm ah-sher ki-deh-shah-noo beh-mitz-voh-tahv veh-tzee-vah-noo leh-hahd-lik nehr shehl (on the second night: shah-baht vih-shehl) yohm tohv.

Blessing 2: Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-loh-hay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm sheh-heh-kheh-yah-noo veh-kee-mah-noo ve-hih-gee-ah-noo liz-mahn hah-zeh.

3. It is customary to stay up and learn Torah on the first night of Shavuot.

The Midrash relates that on the night before the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people did what anybody does before an important event—they turned in early for a good night’s sleep. Moses had to wake them—causing G d to later lament, “Why have I come and no one is here to receive Me?” To rectify our forefathers’ mistake, we stay up late every Shavuot night to show that our enthusiasm isn’t lacking.

4. All men, women and children should hear the reading of the Ten Commandments on the first day of Shavuot.

Before G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, He demanded guarantors. The Jews promised, “Our children will be our guarantors that we will cherish and observe the Torah.” There is, therefore, special significance to bringing children to hear the Ten Commandments.

5. As on other holidays, festive meals are eaten, and no “work” may be performed.

Shavuot is a sacred time and work is prohibited.

6. It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot.

There are a number of reasons for this custom. Here are a few:

-On the holiday of Shavuot, a two-loaf bread offering was brought in the Temple. To commemorate this, we eat two meals on Shavuot—first a dairy meal, and then, after the required break between eating milk and meat, we eat the traditional holiday meat meal.

-With the giving of the Torah, the Jews became obligated to observe the kosher laws. As the Torah was given on Shabbat, no cattle could be slaughtered nor could utensils be koshered, and thus on that day, they ate dairy.

-The Torah is likened to nourishing milk. Also, the Hebrew word for milk is chalav, and when the numerical values of each of the letters in the word chalav are added together—8 + 30 + 2—the total is 40. Forty is the number of days Moses spent on Mount Sinai when receiving the Torah.

7. On the second day of Shavuot, the Yizkor memorial service is recited.

Yizkor, a special memorial prayer for the departed, is recited in the synagogue four times a year: 1) Following the Torah reading on the last day of Passover, 2) on the second day of Shavuot, 3) on Shemini Atzeret and 4) on Yom Kippur.

8. Three famous Jewish personalities have a special connection to Shavuot.

-Moses, who received the Torah from G d at Mount Sinai on this day;

- King David, the second Jewish king who passed away on this day; and

-the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement also passed on this day.

9. Some decorate their homes and synagogues with flowers and sweetsmelling plants.

It became the custom to celebrate Shavuot with greenery to commemorate Mount Sinai being miraculously covered with abundant vegetation despite being in a desert. Therefore, trees are placed in the synagogue to remind us to pray for the trees and their fruits.