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| A bit of Wit |
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A Hebrew school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and thy mother," she asked "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat one little boy answered, "Thou shall not kill."
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| Jewish Youtube |
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INFINATE WISDOM
The Torah... A Mitzvah that Unifies and Informs
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Ask The Rabbi |
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Dear Rabbi: Shavuot is when we celebrate G-d giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt Sinai. So why is it celebrated by eating cheesecake? Shouldn't this, the holiest event in history, be acknowledged in a more spiritual way than just eating?
Answer:
Some have suggested that eating cheesecake on Shavuot is based on a spelling mistake. An early English Bible read, "And G-d spoke to the Israelites in the middle of the dessert..."
But I think there's more to it.
Spirituality existed long before Judaism. People prayed and meditated, brought sacrifices and served their deities many centuries before Moses climbed Mt Sinai. Judaism didn't invent spirituality. It was around before.
But what was not around before was the idea that your physical life can be made holy. People knew that G-d was in heaven, but never dreamed that you could find Him on earth. All religious thinking went along the same lines: we are physical beings in a physical world, G-d is a spiritual being in a higher world. To reach G-d, we must negate our physical self and reach toward heaven.
Suddenly the Torah came along and said something no one ever thought could be true: G-d can be found in cheesecake too. You can't limit G-d to being only in the spiritual. He is infinite, which means no place is too low for His presence. You can find G-d right here in the physical world. It may take some work, but that's what we are here for - to transform our bodily self and our physical world into a home for G-d.
While other spiritual traditions emphasized abstinence, celibacy and other-worldliness, Judaism emphasizes this-worldliness, by enjoining us to create sanctity in our family life, to view the home as a sanctuary, and the workplace as an arena for kindness and integrity. Don't seek G-d in the heavens; reveal Him right down here on earth.
So we celebrate the giving of the Torah by eating cheesecake, one of the most physical and indulgent activities you could possibly imagine. Because to find G-d in meditation is a spiritual experience; but when you find G-d in the middle of dessert, that's experiencing infinity.
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Shavuot Schedule |
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Dear Friends,
Tonight we celebrate Shavuot. Shavuot is a Jewish holiday that simultaneously commemorates two things: the reaping of the spring wheat harvest and the Giving of the Torah. It is called Pentecost in English, and always falls on the sixth and seventh of the Hebrew month of Sivan.
Shavuot also caps off the Counting of the Omer, the 49-day count which starts with the second day of Passover, the day when the First Barley Offering was offered in the Temple. Though the Temple no longer stands, the omer must be counted even without the offering.
ALL NIGHT LEARNING
Tonight, Sunday, June 8th , we will be having an All Night Learning session for Shavuot. Join Jewish men throughout the world in observing the centuries old custom of conducting an all night vigil dedicated to Torah learning - the first night of Shavuot. This will start at 11:45 pm, light refreshments will be served.
1st DAY SHAVUOT
Then on Monday, June 9th, we will celebrate Shavuot. Join us at 10:30am when we read the Ten Commandments and enjoy a delicious dairy kiddush and Ice Cream Party.
2nd DAY SHAVUOT
On Tuesday morning we will begin services at 9:30am and Yizkor should take place around 11:30, followed by a delicious kiddush.
Sunday June 8th - Sleepless on Shavuot
7:53 pm Candle Lighting
8:00 pm Evening Services
11:45 pm - All night learning vigil, refreshments will be served
Monday, June 9th - Services & Dairy
Kiddush
9:30 am - Morning Services
10:30 am - Reading of the Ten Commandments, followed by dairy Kiddush & Ice Cream Party Sponsored by the Rosenthal Family
8:00 Evening service
Candle lighting after 8:51pm
Tuesday, June 10 - Services, Yizkor
9:30 am - Morning Service
11:30 am - Yizkor followed by a dairy Kiddush
8:00 pm - Evening Service
8:51 pm - Yom Tov Ends |
| ten commandments |
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1. "I am the Lord your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
2. "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any manner of likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
3. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your G-d in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
4. "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord your G-d. On it you shall not do any manner of work -- you, your son, your daughter, your man-servant, your maid-servant, your cattle, and your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.
5. "Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.
6. "You shall not murder.
7. "You shall not commit adultery.
8. "You shall not steal.
9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his manservant, his maid-servant, his ox, his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's."
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| SHAVOUT IN NUTSHELL |
Shavuot is the second of the three major festivals (Passover being the first and Sukkot the third) and comes exactly fifty days after Passover. The Torah was given by G-d to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai over 3,300 years ago. Every year on this day we renew our acceptance of G-d's gift.
The word Shavuot means "weeks": It marks the completion of the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot (the 'Omer' period) during which the Jewish people prepared themselves for the giving of the Torah. During this time they cleansed themselves of the scars of slavery and became a holy nation ready to enter into an eternal covenant with G-d with the giving of the Torah.
Shavuot also means "oaths", with the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people and G-d exchanged oaths, forming an everlasting covenant, not to forsake one another.
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| What is Shavout? |
Shavuot marks the anniversary of the day when we received the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is the second of the three major festivals (Passover being the first, and Sukkot the third), occuring exactly fifty days after the second day of Passover.
This is a biblical holiday complete with special prayers, holiday candle lighting and kiddush. During the course of the holiday we don't go to work, drive, write or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors.
The word "Shavuot" means "weeks"; it marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot. During these seven weeks, the Jewish people cleansed themselves of the scars of Egyptian slavery and became a holy nation, ready to enter into an eternal covenant with God with the giving of the Torah.
On this day, we received a gift from Above which we could not have achieved with our own limited faculties. We received the ability to reach and touch the Divine; not only to be cultivated human beings, but Divine human beings who are capable of rising above and beyond the limitations of nature.
Before the giving of the Torah, we were a family and a community. The experience of Sinai bonded us into a new entity: the Jewish people, the Chosen Nation. This holiday is likened to our wedding day beneath the wedding canopy of Mount Sinai, God betrothed us to Him. God swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.
Every year on the holiday of Shavuot, we reenact this historic moment. God re gives the Torah, and we lovingly reaccept, and reaffirm our fidelity to Him alone.
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