The Shavuot Time Scale

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THE SHAVUOT TIME SCALE
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Shavuot is also considered to be Judgment Day for the fruit of the tree. This is curious, because as you may recall, the holiday of Tu Be'Shvat is considered to be the "New Year of Trees." (Tu Be'Shvat usually falls around February).

It is the custom at home to eat dairy products on Shavuot. This is because the Torah is compared to milk.

Try to imagine what it must have been like to observe Shavuot in Biblical times. Remember, when we refer to "Biblical times" we usually mean that period in history after the Jews conquered Eretz Yisrael. By at least one account, Joshua conquered Jericho somewhere around 1400 BCE.

So here we are in King David's capital of Jerusalem, celebrating Shavuot and telling stories about something that happened on Mount Sinai centuries earlier. For the Jews of King David's time, the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai was ancient history! It must have totally awed them.

Now, what are we to think when we celebrate Shavuot, which commemorates an event that happened near an Israelite encampment in the shadow of Mount Sinai some 3,300 years ago? Shavuot puts the Jewish and Israeli perspective in a time scale much more ancient than those of either Europe or the United States. It is one of those things which make the Jews so unique.

Actually, according to the calculation of scholars, the holiday of Shavuot commemorates the day on which the people of Israel received the Torah exactly 3311 years ago, and the beginning of the harvest season. The holiday also marks the end of the 49-day Omer period.

Orthodox Jews throughout the world stay awake all night studying Torah in classes, study-pairs, or individually. Thousands arrive at the Western Wall for festival prayers at sunrise. First-fruit ceremonies take place in many kibbutzim throughout the country.

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