Shavuot - The holiday honoring the giving of the Torah.

Judaica Art "Shavuot" - Artist Rochelle Blumenfeld -  Limited Edition Lithograph on archival acid-free paper, hand-signed and numbered. It is boxed for special gift giving, gift card included upon request. Unframed. To order email us , call (412) 441-1282

Shavuot is a holiday with a double celebration.
Shavuot - Hag Matan Torateinu or Festival of the Giving of Our Torah
Hag ha'Bikkurim or Festival of the First Fruits

More profoundly, Shavuot commemorates the gift of the Torah, the crystallization of the ancient relationship of the peoples of Israel with their Gd. Falling in spring, Shavuot celebrates the bounty of the harvest and the first fruits of the season.

Along with Passover and Sukkot, Shavuot is a pilgrimage holiday, one of three festivals when the ancient Israelites traveled to Jerusalem to offer thanks to Gd for bountiful crops.

Biblical Significance of Shavuot:
Shavuot celebrates Moses descent from Mount Sinai and his presentation to the peoples of Israel of the Torah (the books of the Pentateuch) and the two tablets on which were recorded the "Ten Commandments". The emphasis on Shavuot is on receiving the Torah and accepting the revelations contained within it. That acceptance is a commitment to obey the laws given by Moses.

Moses ascended Mount Sinai, and Gd told him these words: "Say to the house of Jacob, and say to the Children of Israel: 'You saw what they did to the Egyptians, and how I have brought on the wings of eagles and brought them up to Me Now, therefore, if you hear my voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then are My treasure among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine, and shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation '. "

Moses climbed the mountain and stayed there for forty days and forty nights, without eating or sleeping, because he had become like an angel. During this time, Gd revealed to Moses the whole Torah, with all its laws and its interpretations.

Finally, Gd gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, made of stone containing the Ten Commandments, written by Gd Himself.

The Book of Ruth, written long after the books of the Pentateuch, is a narrative book in the Old Testament that relates the story of Ruth, a Moabite, who joined the Jewish people and who is the ancestor of King David. Though the story is told in narrative form, it stands as a metaphor for the acceptance of the Torah and is generally read on Shavuot. The story takes place at harvest time which brings a focus to the harvest, but, because Ruth was a convert who embraced Judaism fully and sincerely, she also represents the Jewish acceptance of the Torah.

The "Pessach" (Passover) marks the beginning of the barley season which ends with Shavuot when the barley is is harvested and the wheat crop is planted. In the days of the temple, some grain would be offered ritualistically. This, too, is commanded biblically: “When you enter the land that the Lord your Gd is giving you as a heritage.... you shall take some of the first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your Gd is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your Gd will choose to establish His name...” (Deuteronomy 26:1-3:)

Traditionally the offerings made to Gd were taken from what has come to be known as the seven foods species: Wheat - "Chitah", Barley - "Se'orah", Grapes - "Anavim", Figs - "Te'enah", Pomegranate (Romã) - "Rimon", Olive - "Zayit", Date - "Tamar", and "Tamar-d'vash" - The "Tamar-honey" was made by placing "Date" (tamar, tâmara) in a pot of boiling water and scooping the fruit sugar off what bubbled to the surface.