Family Fun Shavuot

The King of Kings - Hashem Himselfhad a great gift – The Torah. Who would want to receive it? He went around to various nations but they all said, “What does it say in it?” G-d replied with a type of Mitzva that ran contrary to their habit and they declined, “Sorry, it’s not for us!”

When He reached the Jewish people and asked do you want the Torah, they replied, “Na’aseh Venishma” – we will do and then we will try to comprehend. Early in one’s life, when following an adult’s instruction, this is a really important concept to come to terms with, that not always do we understand why we are told to do or not to do something. The nation too was then in its infancy and therefore needed to agree to keeping the Torah’s laws before understanding why.

So, for 5 (or 6) days we prepared and surrounded Mount Sinai – a humble mountain. We were told to surround the mountain with a fence and to be super careful not to go up the mountain – not even to touch it! It was super important that the Torah reached EVERYONE, not only the “holy people” who are able to climb high in life, but even “simple people” who don’t have the greatest minds must all receive an equal chance to succeed in learning and keeping the Torah.

On the great morning, fifty days after leaving Egypt, the Jewish people awakened to the sound of the Shofar – Hashem was there before us! . Many people stay up in the night learning Torah to show our keen interest in receiving it.

Arriving at Har Sinai – they hear the first two commandments directly from Hashem, but it is too dramatic for them and they beg Moshe to continue instead – and so he does, giving the other 8 commandments. The Jews go home to eat – but wait! The pots and pans we used yesterday are now not kosher! We can’t cook any meat so what shall we eat? And so they ate milky products instead, and this is one of the many reasons that Jewish people have a custom to eat milky products on Shavuot

On Shavuot we also read the story of Ruth – the great-grandmother of King David (who died on Shavuot) and which is jam-packed with kindness to teach us that Torah must go with Derech Eretz – with being humane and acting with kindness. At first, the family of Elimelech are punished for abandoning the Jewish land and its people during a famine – a lack of kindness. Then we see the extreme kindness that a former princess shows her mother-in-law, insisting that she would join her on her return journey and stay with her for ever. Finally, the great kindness that Bo’az – the leader of the generation, does with his cousin’s family, and meriting to be the ancestor of the Moshiach, may he come speedily in our time.

The Torah teaches kindness from beginning to end, and in order to receive the Torah one must ensure to always try to become a kinder person. That way, we hope to see even more kindness from Hashem too!

Shavuot means weeks. It marks the completion of the Omer (the seven-week period between Pesach and Shavuot).

It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. There are a number of reasons for this custom… how many can you find?

G-d gave the Torah to Moshe on Mount Sinai on Shavuot