01/06/2015
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SHAVUOT
Shavuot: Beginning at sundown today, May 23rd, until sundown tomorrow, May 24th. It falls on different days each year because it's based on the Hebrew calendar and not the Roman one.
Here's a little lesson about Shavuot...
Today is Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot marks the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai.
Shavuot is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals and it marks the end of the Counting of the Omer.
The date of Shavuot is linked to Passover. The Torah directs the seven-week counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover. The counting of the Omer is an expression of anticipation and longing for the giving of the Word of God.
On Passover the people of Israel were set free from the enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
The word Shavuot actually means ‘weeks’ and in the Bible it is called the ‘Feast of Weeks’. Shavuot is celebrated for one day in Israel and two days everywhere else.
Shavuot is also associated with the first grain harvest and was the time of the bringing of the ‘First Fruits’ offering to the Temple in Jerusalem. The First Fruits/Bikkurim was a compilation of the Seven Species for which Eretz Israel (land of Israel) is praised…. wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates (Deuteronomy 8:8).
Unlike other Jewish holidays there are no Biblical commandments other than the traditional Feast observances of no work, special prayer services, and holiday meals. There are however several customs associated with Shavuot such as:
Eating dairy meals
Reading the book of Ruth at the morning service
Decorating homes and synagogues with greenery and
Spending all-night in Torah/Bible studies
Because Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage’s in the Bible when everyone came to the Temple in Jerusalem they now come to the Western Wall - HaKotel. In 1967 Jerusalem was re-united and Israel was once again in control of the Western Wall - HaKotel. On Shavuot of 1967 the Israeli Army opened the Western Wall - HaKotel to visitors and over 200,000 Jews walked to the Wall to pray. Every year since then on the morning of Shavuot, the streets of Jerusalem are filled with tens of thousands of Jewish people walking to the Western Wall - HaKotel to pray!! It is a very moving sight and experience to be at the Wall on the morning of Shavuot!!
Shavuot: Beginning at sundown today, May 23rd, until sundown tomorrow, May 24th. It falls on different days each year because it's based on the Hebrew calendar and not the Roman one.
Here's a little lesson about Shavuot...
Today is Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks. Shavuot marks the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai.
Shavuot is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals and it marks the end of the Counting of the Omer.
The date of Shavuot is linked to Passover. The Torah directs the seven-week counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover. The counting of the Omer is an expression of anticipation and longing for the giving of the Word of God.
On Passover the people of Israel were set free from the enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.
The word Shavuot actually means ‘weeks’ and in the Bible it is called the ‘Feast of Weeks’. Shavuot is celebrated for one day in Israel and two days everywhere else.
Shavuot is also associated with the first grain harvest and was the time of the bringing of the ‘First Fruits’ offering to the Temple in Jerusalem. The First Fruits/Bikkurim was a compilation of the Seven Species for which Eretz Israel (land of Israel) is praised…. wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates (Deuteronomy 8:8).
Unlike other Jewish holidays there are no Biblical commandments other than the traditional Feast observances of no work, special prayer services, and holiday meals. There are however several customs associated with Shavuot such as:
Eating dairy meals
Reading the book of Ruth at the morning service
Decorating homes and synagogues with greenery and
Spending all-night in Torah/Bible studies
Because Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage’s in the Bible when everyone came to the Temple in Jerusalem they now come to the Western Wall - HaKotel. In 1967 Jerusalem was re-united and Israel was once again in control of the Western Wall - HaKotel. On Shavuot of 1967 the Israeli Army opened the Western Wall - HaKotel to visitors and over 200,000 Jews walked to the Wall to pray. Every year since then on the morning of Shavuot, the streets of Jerusalem are filled with tens of thousands of Jewish people walking to the Western Wall - HaKotel to pray!! It is a very moving sight and experience to be at the Wall on the morning of Shavuot!!
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