JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – (ANS)- Israelis continue the Biblical
celebrations of the harvest when they observe the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot,
beginning at sundown Tuesday(June 7, 2011).

Shavuot,
which means weeks in Hebrew, is celebrated exactly seven weeks after the first
day of Passover. Many people believe that Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah
to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The scriptures first mention Shavuot in Exodus 32:22:
“Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the first fruits of the wheat
harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.” The
Israelites brought their first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem

It is one of the three pilgrimage feasts. God commanded in Deuteronomy
16:16-17, “Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD
your God at the place He will choose.” The three feasts are Passover,
Shavuot and the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot.

In Israel, Shavuot begins with evening prayers and a festive meal, mainly
dairy. The Hebrew word for milk, halav, is 40, the number of days Moses spent
on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the Torah. Cheesecakes are especially
popular on the Shavuot menu.

After dinner, many observant Jews will stay awake all night to study
religious texts, say morning prayers at the earliest permitted time and, if
they are in Jerusalem, go to the Western Wall, many people staying the night to
pray and dance at the Wall.

The scriptural readings include the Book of Ruth. Biblically, Shavuot marked
the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. Ruth was
gleaning wheat in the fields for herself and her mother in law. She met and
married Boaz soon after.

“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people
will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I
will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything
but death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17

“From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of
the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the
day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the
LORD. … On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no
regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
wherever you live. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the
very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them
for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 23:15-22

“Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to
the standing grain. Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the LORD your God
by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God
has given you. And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose
as a dwelling for his Name-you, your sons and daughters, your male and female
servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the
widows living among you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow
carefully these decrees.” Deuteronomy 16:9-12

What To Do

In honor of Shavuot’s status as the “Day of First Fruits” and the
“Harvest Festival” many of Israel’s kibbutzes and moshavs hold
special celebrations of their produce. Check with individual locations for
details.

Abu Gosh
June 7 to June 11
Choirs from Israel and abroad are featured at a festival at historic churches
in Abu Gosh. The singing highlights the marvelous acoustics of the churches’
halls where it take place. The Festival’s concerts will be performed in the
800-year-old Crusader-Benedictine Church and the Kiryat Ye’arim Church,
overlooking the village from atop the hill. Read about a past Music Festival in
Abu Gosh at http://www.travelujah.com/blogs/entry/The-Abu-Gosh-Vocal-Music-Festival-Israel

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About Nicole Jansezian

Nicole
Jansezian is a journalist and editor based in Jerusalem.
Nicole
moved to Israel more than six years ago. An experienced
journalist, Nicole now speaks Hebrew and “Israeli,” a
language in itself, and is learning Arabic … in hopes of one day
catching up with her husband who grew up in Jerusalem and speaks
five languages. Nicole has more than 10 years of reporting
experience. Her stateside experience includes The Associated Press
and a daily newspaper in New Hampshire. In Israel, Nicole
freelances and has worked as an editor of a monthly magazine

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