Shofar Iyar/Sivan 5770
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
May 2010
From the Rabbi’s Desk This month, we will celebrate Shavuot, the second of some agricultural connections because of the use of the the two major festivals mandated by the Torah (Leviticus lulav and etrog in worship rituals. 23) for the spring {the Shavuot service will be Tuesday, Shavuot, coming 49 days after Pesakh, is the least well May 18 at 7:30 pm}. known of these festivals, and that is surprising, given that In ancient times, adult Jewish males were required to the rabbis turned it into a celebration of the revelation at present themselves at the Temple in Jerusalem prepared Sinai. After all, the central narrative presents the giving of to offer a sacrifice on each of the three Pilgrimage festithe Torah as the climax of the exodus experience. And all vals: Pesakh, Shavuot and Sukkot. of Judaism derives from Torah. Originally, it is thought by Bible and history scholars, If you think about Shavuot, you will quickly realize that each of these occasions was a harvest festival. Pesakh was there are no terrific songs associated with it. And though the early grain harvest time, and Shavuot was the later there is a tradition of eating dairy food on Shavuot, the grain harvest occasion; Sukkot was the general produce basis for that is rather weak (since the Israelites had just harvest season, as well as the latest grain harvest. And received the Torah with its dietary restrictions, they had no probably, when the Israelites arrived in Canaan, they found time to prepare meat appropriately, so they only ate dairy the local residents marking these occasions at these times. at that point), blintzes have never achieved the celebrated As the Israelites overtook the land and its peoples, they status of chicken soup with matzah balls. adopted the existing festival calen- Pesakh became the celebration of the exodus Without great songs and wondar and overlaid it with elements from Egypt, and Sukkot was commemorated ... derful food traditions, Shavuot has from their own history, to give it to remind us of the temporary dwellings that languished in contemporary obwhat we would now recognize as a our ancestors lived in during their forty-year servance. This may be especially “Jewish” flavour. true for Jews who question the trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. So Pesakh became the celebraauthorship of the Torah, and tion of the exodus from Egypt, and Sukkot was commemo- therefore doubt or completely reject the historical referent rated with little booths (Hebrew: Sukkot) to remind us of of the revelation at Sinai. the temporary dwellings that our ancestors lived in during In an attempt to rescue Shavuot from its diminished their forty year trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. status, the Reform movement made Shavuot the occasion And the rabbis, who came along later, identified Shavuot of Confirmation, a ceremony actually borrowed from Chriswith the giving of the Torah at Sinai. tian practice. Because children born to Christian parents While we lived in the Promised Land, the agricultural must be formally entered into their religion, and this is aspect of these festivals was clear and easily honoured. usually done in early infancy when the child cannot assent But after the dispersion of the Jews following the two re- to the practice, Christianity developed the concept of havbellions against Rome, the agricultural elements of these ing their children later “confirm” for themselves the relioccasions were dominated by the links to the central nar- gious choice made for them by their parents. rative of the Jewish people, the exodus from Egypt, the Jews, by contrast, acquire their Jewishness by virtue of sojourn in the wilderness, and the ultimate entry into the their biological connection to the religion of their mothers Promised Land. All three of the Pilgrimage Festivals took (and in Reform, also their fathers), so no “confirmation” on this Jewish colouration, though Sukkot has still retained (Continued on page 18) From the Rabbi’s Desk The President’s Message Donations to JFC Service Schedule Oneg Schedule Confirmation Invitation Early Childhood Center The Religious School
page page page page page page page page
1 2 2 3 3 3 6 7
Social Action Committee JFCAdults ECC Pictures RS Pictures JiFTY Anniversaries/Birthdays Ask the Rabbi Kids Ask the Rabbi
page page page page page page page page
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19
JFC Classified Donations Form Summer Camp Reg Form Calendar
Please Support Our Advertisers
page page page page
20 21 22 23
URJ