Shavuot
The Torah states that the Omer offering (i.e., the first day of counting the Omer) should begin "on the morrow after the Shabbat" (Lev. 23:11). The Talmudic Sages determined that "Shabbat" here means simply a day of rest and refers to the first day of Passover. Thus, the traditional counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and continues for the next 49 days, or seven complete weeks, ending on the day before Shavuot.
According to this calculation, Shavuot will fall on the day of the week after that of the first day of Passover (e.g. if Passover starts on a Thursday, Shavuot will begin on a Friday).
The Sadducees and Boethusians, however, disputed this interpretation. They contended that "Shabbat" really did mean "Shabbat," or Saturday. Accordingly, they reckoned the seven weeks from the day after the first Shabbat during Passover, so that Shavuot would always fall on a Sunday.
This interpretation was shared by the second-century BC author of the Book of Jubilees, and was motivated by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar of the third and second centuries B.C., which was designed to have festivals and Sabbaths fall on the same day of the week every year. On this calendar (best known from the Book of Luminaries in 1 Enoch), Shavuot fell on the 15th of Sivan, a Sunday. The date was reckoned fifty days from the first Sabbath after Passover (i.e. from the 25th of Nisan). Thus, Jub. 1:1 claims that Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah "on the sixteenth day of the third month in the first year of the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt".
Karaite Judaism today continues to follow the interpretation that the Counting of the Omer begins on the Sunday after the first Shabbat during Passover, and thus celebrates Shavuot on a Sunday.[7]
Similarly the Christian feast of Pentecost, which falls on the fiftieth day counting from Easter, is always on a Sunday (except among the very large number of Evangelicals and Messianics who celebrate it 50 days after Passover).
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Critical scholarship
The Book of Jubilees describes the celebration of Shavuot in pre-Mosaic times. In Jub. 6:15-22 and 44:1-5, the holiday is traced to the appearance of the first rainbow on the 15th of Sivan, the day on which God made his covenant with Noah. The covenant renewal feature of Shavuot is thus attributed to this first covenant. Subsequently, it was observed by Noah until his death but revived again by Abraham (Jub. 15:1), and after Abraham's death it was forgotten again until Moses restored it once more.
Qumran scholar Gabriele Boccaccini has suggested that the 1,290 and 1,335 days of Daniel 12:11-12 point to the observance of Shavuot in a restored Israel, as reckoned by the priestly solar calendar. These durations are exactly 30 and 45 days longer than the 3½ years mentioned in Dan. 7:25 and 9:27. The period of 3½ years amounts to 1,260 days in the priestly solar calendar because the equinoxes and solstices count as markers of the seasons rather than monthly days (1 En. 74:11, 75:1, 82:4). The blessings expected at the end of the 1,335 days pertain to the resurrection to "everlasting life" mentioned a few verses earlier (12:2), and this is the reward to those who refused to forsake the covenant unto death (Dan. 11:22, 11:28, 11:30, 11:33-35), while those who forsook the covenant (11:30-32) face "everlasting contempt".
Boccaccini sees the 3½ years as ending at the spring equinox (equinoxes and solstices were important markers of the seasons in the solar calendar), to be followed by 30 days to complete the 1,290 days (the month of Passover), and an additional 45 days to reach the 15th of Sivan, the purported day of Shavuot. For those who refused to forsake the covenant, this would be the day the covenant would be renewed and the expected blessings would be realized.
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References
- ^ My Jewish Learning on Shavuot - see 7th paragraph
- ^ The Temple Institute. The Festival of Shavout: Bringing the Firstfruits to the Temple (English). The Temple Institute. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
- ^ http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/Shavuot/shavuot.html
- ^ Rabbi Berel Wein. Why do we eat dairy foods and decorate the synagogue on Shavuot? (English). aish.com. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
- ^ Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman (2004). Sleepless Shavuot in Shicago (English). OHR.edu. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
- ^ Mor Altshuler (2007). 'Let each help his neighbor' (English). Haaretz.com. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
- ^ The Karaite Korner. Shavuot (English). The Karaite Korner. Retrieved on September 5, 2007.
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Sources
- Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). The Book of Our Heritage, Vol. 3: Iyar-Elul. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-87306-154-3.
- Scherman, Nosson ed. (1993). The Chumash. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. ISBN 0-89906-014-5.
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External links
- The Shavuot & Dairy Connection
- Digging Deeper into Shavuot
- Shavuot themes on aish.com
- Complete Shavuot guide on chabad.org
- Shavuot on ou.org
- Judaism 101
- Judaism 101
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Shavuot food recipes
- Torah insights on Shavu'ot from http://www.oztorah.com
"Pentecost (Jewish Feast)". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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