Counting of the Omer

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Counting of the Omer (or Sefirat Ha'omer, Hebrew: ספירת העומר) is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passoverand Shavuot. This mitzvah derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the 'fiftieth day.'

The idea of counting each day represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah, which was given by God on Mount Sinai at the beginning of the month of Sivan, around the same time as the holiday of Shavuot. The Sefer HaChinuch states that the Jewish people were only freed from Egyptat Passover in order to receive the Torah at Sinai, an event which is now celebrated on Shavuot, and to fulfill its laws. Thus the Counting of the Omer demonstrates how much a Jew desires to accept the Torah in his own life.

Contents

1 Source

2 Background

3 The count

4 Deeper symbolism

5 As a period of semi-mourning

6 Lag Ba'omer

7 Karaite Practice

8 External links

The commandment for counting the Omer is recorded in Leviticus 23:15-16:

15. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the omer of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete;

16. even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto the LORD.

Background

The omeris a Biblical measure of volume of grain. On the second day of Passover, an omer of barley was offered in the Temple, signalling the allowance of the consumption of chadash (grains from the new harvest). On the 50th day after the beginning of the count, corresponding to the holiday of Shavuot, two loaves made of wheat were offered in the Templeto signal the start of the wheat harvest.

The origins of the omer count, enumerated in the Midrash Rabbah Parashas Emor, explains that when the Children of Israel left Egypt they were told by Moses that 49 days after the exodus, they would be given the Torah. The populace was so excited at the prospect of a spiritual liberation, following the physical emancipation from Egypt, they kept a count of the passing days that ended with the giving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai. The Torah itself, in Leviticus23:15-16, states that it is a commandment to count seven complete weeks from the day after Passover night ending with the festival of Shavuot on the fiftith day. Shavuot is the festival marking the giving of the Torah to the Jewish nation on the 6th of the Hebrew month of Sivan.

In keeping with the themes of spiritual growth and character development during this period, the Jewish sages compare the process of growth to the two types of grain offered at either pole of the counting period. In ancient times, barley was an animal food and wheat, a human food.[citation needed] At Passover, the Jews were raised out of the Egyptian exile although they had sunken almost to the point of no return. The Exodus was unearned, a gift from God, like the food of animals who are not expected to develop their spiritual potential. For the next forty-nine days, however, the Jewish people worked on themselves to be able to receive the Torah on their own merit. The receiving of the Torah required spiritual elevation and active cooperation. Thus the Shavuot offering is "people food" [1].

The count

As soon as it is definitely night (approximately thirty minutes after sundown), the one who is counting the Omer recites this blessing:

"Baruch atah A-donai E-loheinu Melekh Ha-olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al S'firat Ha-omer."

("Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.")

Then he or she states the Omer-count in terms of both total days and weeks and days. For example, on the 23rd day the count would be stated thus: "Today is twenty-three days, which is three weeks and two days of (or "in" [2]) the Omer." The count is said in Hebrew.

According to the Halakha, a person may only recite the blessing while it is still night. If he or she remembers the count the next morning or afternoon, the count may still be made, but without a blessing. If one forgets to count a day altogether, he or she may continue to count succeeding days, but without a blessing.

"Omer-counters" are typically offered for sale during this time, and are displayed in synagogues for the benefit of worshippers who count the Omer with the congregation at the conclusion of evening services. Omer-counters range from decorative boxes with an interior scroll that shows each day's count through a small opening; to posters and magnets in which each day's count is recorded on a tear-off piece of paper; to calendars depicting all seven weeks and 49 days of the Omer (a small pointer is advanced from day to day); to pegboards that keep track of both the day and the week of the Omer. Reminders to count the Omer are also produced for hand-held computers and via SMS services for cell phones.

Deeper symbolism

The period of Omer is considered to be a time of potential for inner growth - for a person to work on one's middot or good characteristics through reflection and development of one aspect each day for the 49 days of the counting.

In Kabbalah, each of the seven weeks of the Omer-counting is associated with one of the seven lower sefirot (a step by step process illuminating the Divine plan as it unfolds itself in our world listed highest to lowest) (#4-10): Chesed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. 

Keter - Crown - Divine Plan/ Creator/ infinite light/ Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh - I AM THAT I AM (Supreme/ Total Consciousness)

Chokmah - Divine Reality/ revelation/ Yesh me-ayin - being from nothingness (Power of Wisdom)

Binah - Understanding/ repentance/ reason (Power of Love)

Chesed - Mercy/ Grace/ Love of (intention to emulate) God (Power of Vision

Gevurah - Judgment/ strength/ determination (Power of Intention)

Tipheret - Symmetry/ balance/ compassion (Creative Power)

Netzach - Contemplation/ Initiative/ persistence (Power of the Eternal Now)

Hod - Surrender/ sincerity/ steadfastness (Intellectual/ Observational Power)

Yesod - Foundation/ wholly remembering/ coherent knowledge (Power of Manifesting)

Malkuth - Lower Crown - Kingdom/ physical presence/ vision and illusion (Power of Healing/ Accomplishment/ Level of Realization of Divine Plan)

Each day of each week is also associated with one of these same seven sefirot, creating forty-nine permutations. The first day of the Omer is therefore associated with "chesed that is in chesed", the second day with "gevurah that is in chesed"; the first day of the second week is associated with "chesed that is in gevurah," the second day of the second week with "gevurah that is in gevurah," and so on. Symbolically, each of these 49 permutations represents an aspect of each person's character that can be improved or further developed. Rabbi Simon Jacobson explains these 49 levels in his classic book, The Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer. [3], as do Rabbi Yaacov Haber and Rabbi David Sedley in their book Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement through Counting the Omer [4].

The forty-nine-day period of counting the Omer is also a conducive time to study the teaching of the Mishna in Pirkei Avoth 6:6, which enumerates the "48 ways" by which Torah is acquired. Rabbi Aharon Kotler explains that the study of each "way" can be done on each of the first forty-eight days of the Omer-counting; on the forty-ninth day, one should review all the "ways"[5].

As a period of semi-mourning

The period of counting the Omer is also a time of semi-mourning, during which the Halakha forbids haircuts, shaving, listening to live instrumental music, or conducting weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing. Traditionally, the reason cited is that this is in memory of a plague that killed the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva. According to the Talmud, 12,000 chevrutot(pairs of study partners) were divinely killed during the days of the Omer-counting for not honoring one another properly. Many scholars suggest that this talk of "plague" was really a way for the early Talmudic rabbis (who were living under Roman rule) to speak in code about a failed uprising against Roman power in which many Jews (possibly Rabbi Akiva's students) died.

Lag Ba'omer, the thirty-third day of the Counting of the Omer, is considered to be the day in which the plague was lifted, (and/or: the day in which the rebellion saw a victory,) so on that day, all the rules of mourning are lifted (some Sephardim, however, continue the mourning period up until the 34th day of the Omer, which is considered by them to be the day of joy and celebration). Spanish and Portuguese Jews do not observe these customs. Some religious Jews will shave during the Omer period on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), as they see this as a joyous occasion worthy of shaving. Although, after this they don't shave until the mourning period of the Omer (see below for different customs re mourning periods)is over. In addition, some religious Jews also shave each Friday afternoon during the mourning period of the Omer in order to be neat in honor of the Shabbat.

In practice, different Jewish communities observe different periods of mourning. Some families listen to music during the week of Passover and then commence the period of mourning until Lag Ba'omer. Some SephardicJewish families begin the period of mourning from the first day of the Hebrew month of Iyar and continue for thirty-three days until the third of Sivan. The custom among Jerusalemites (minhag Yerushalmi) is to follow the mourning practices during the entire Counting of the Omer, save for the day of Lag Ba'omer and the last three days of the counting (sheloshet yemei hagbalah). The extent of mourning is also based heavily on family custom, and therefore Jews will mourn to different degrees.

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, author of Aruch Hashulchan, postulates that the mourning period also memorializes Jews who were murdered during the Crusades, pogroms and blood libels that occurred in Europe 1,000 years after the period of Rabbi Akiva [6].

The Jewish calendar is largely agricultural, and the period of Omer falls between Passover and Shavuot. On Passover there is a shift from praying for rain to praying for dew and this begins the growth period for the fruit of the season. Shavuot is the day of the giving of the first fruits. The outcome of the season's crop and fruit was still vulnerable during this period. Over these seven weeks, daily reflection, work on one's middot (characteristics) and potential inner growth from this work on self was one way to pray for and invite the possibility of affecting one's external fate and potential - the growth of the crop and the fruit of that season.

Although the period of the Omer is traditionally a mourning one, Jews can do actions that are not allowed during mourning on Lag Ba'Omer and a day of extreme happiness. Many Religious Zionists shave their beards and do other actions that are typically not allowed during the mourning period on Yom Ha'atzmaut, the independence day of Israel.

Lag Ba'omer

Main article: Lag Ba'omer

Besides being the day on which the plague affecting Rabbi Akiva's students ceased, Lag Ba'omer marks the yahrzeit(anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. After the death of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, Rabbi Akiva taught five students, among them Rabbi Shimon. The latter went on to become the greatest teacher of Torah in his generation. According to tradition, on the day of his death, he revealed the deepest secrets of the Torah in a Kabbalistic work called the Zohar.

According to the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon's house was filled with fire and light that entire day as he taught his students. At the end of the day, the fire subsided and Rabbi Shimon died [7]. On successive years, his students sought to recreate that experience of light and mystical revelation by kindling bonfires and studying the Zohar in the light of the flames.

Although the anniversary of the death of a tzaddikis usually a mournful day, the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon's death on Lag Ba'omer is a festive one. Bonfires are lit and people sing and dance by the flames. Weddings, parties, listening to music, picnics, and haircuts are commonplace.

Karaite Practice

Karaite Judaism begins counting the omer on the day after the weekly Sabbath rather than on the 16th of Nisan.

Shavuot

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Shavuot

Ruth the Moabite

Official name

Hebrew: שבועות or חג שבעות‎

Also called

English: "Festival of Weeks"

Observed by

Judaism and Jews

Type

Jewish

Significance

One of the Three Pilgrim Festivals. Celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments by God to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai, 49 days (7 weeks) after the Exodus from ancient Egypt. Commemorates the fruit harvesting in the Land of Israel. Culmination of the 49 days of Counting of the Omer.

Begins

6th day of Sivan

Ends

7th (in Israel 6th) day of Sivan

Celebrations

Festive meals. All-night Torah study. Recital of Akdamut liturgical poem in Ashkenazic synagogues. Reading of the Book of Ruth. Eating of dairy foods. Decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery.

Related to

Passover, which precedes Shavuot.

Shavuot (help·info) (or Shavuos (help·info), in Ashkenazi usage; Hebrew: שבועות‎, lit. "Weeks") is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June). Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. It is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer.

The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that of Passover. The Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the Giving of the Torah. On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.

In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks (Hebrew: חג השבועות, Ḥag ha-Shavuot, Exodus34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Hebrew: חג הקציר, Ḥag ha-Katsir, Exodus23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (Hebrew יום הבכורים, Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers28:26). The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (Hebrew: עצרת, a solemn assembly), as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Christians gave it the name Pentecost(πεντηκόστη, "fiftieth day").

According to Jewish tradition, Shavuot is celebrated in the Land of Israel for one day and in the diaspora (outside of Israel) for two days. Reform Jews[1] celebrate only one day, even in the diaspora.

Contents

1 Connection with the harvest

2 Ceremony of Bikkurim

3 Modern observances

3.1 Akdamut

3.2 Dairy foods

3.3 Book of Ruth

3.4 Greenery

3.5 All-night Torah study

3.6 Tikkun Leil Shavuot

3.7 Confirmation

4 Dates in dispute

4.1 Giving of the Torah

4.2 Counting of the Omer

5 Critical scholarship

6 References

7 Sources

8 External links

Connection with the harvest

Besides its significance as the day on which the Torah was given by God to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, Shavuot is also connected to the season of the grain harvest in Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jer. 5:24; Deut.16:9-11; Isa.9:2). It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot(Tabernacles) was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot.

Ceremony of Bikkurim

Bikkurim offerings in Nahalal

Shavuot was also the first day on which individuals could bring the Bikkurim (first fruits) to the Temple in Jerusalem (Mishnah Bikkurim1:3). The Bikkurim were brought from the Seven Species for which the Land of Israel is praised: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates(Deut. 8:8). In the largely agrarian society of ancient Israel, Jewish farmers would tie a reed around the first ripening fruits from each of these species in their fields. At the time of harvest, the fruits identified by the reed would be cut and placed in baskets woven of gold and silver. The baskets would then be loaded on oxen whose horns were gilded and laced with garlands of flowers, and who were led in a grand procession to Jerusalem. As the farmer and his entourage passed through cities and towns, they would be accompanied by music and parades.[2]

At the Temple, each farmer would present his Bikkurimto a kohen in a ceremony that followed the text of Deut.26:1-10. This text begins by stating, "An Aramean tried to destroy my father," referring to Laban's efforts to weaken Jacob and rob him of his progeny (Rashion Deut. 26:5)—or by an alternate translation, the text states "My father was a wandering Aramean," referring to the fact that Jacob was a penniless wanderer in the land of Aram for 20 years (ibid., Abraham ibn Ezra). The text proceeds to retell the history of the Jewish people as they went into exile in Egypt and were enslaved and oppressed; following which God redeemed them and brought them to the land of Israel. The ceremony of Bikkurim conveys the Jew's gratitude to God both for the first fruits of the field and for His guidance throughout Jewish history (Scherman, p. 1068).

Modern observances

A synagogues/anctuary decked out in greenery in honor of Shavuot

Shavuot is unlike other Jewish holidays in that it has no prescribed mitzvoth (Torah commandments) other than the traditional festival observances of abstention from work, special prayer services and holiday meals. However, it is characterized by many minhagim (customs). A mnemonic for these customs is the letters of the Hebrew word acharit (אחרית, "last"). Since the Torah is called reishit (ראשית, "first"), the customs of Shavuot highlight the importance of custom for the continuation and preservation of Jewish religious observance. These customs, largely observed in Ashkenazic communities, are:

אקדמות – Akdamot, the reading of a liturgical poem during Shavuot morning synagogue services

חלב – Chalav (milk), the consumption of dairy products like milk and cheese

רות – Ruth, the reading of the Book of Ruth at morning services

ירק – Yerek, the decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery

תורה – Torah, engaging in all-night Torah study.

On the Gregorian calendar, Shavuot usually falls around late May or early June. In 2007, Shavuot was on Monday, May 28. In 2008, Shavuot was on Monday, June 9, beginning at sunset the evening before.

Akdamut

Main article: Akdamut

Akdamut (Aramaic: אקדמות) is a liturgical poem extolling the greatness of God, the Torah and Israel that is read publicly in the synagogue right before the morning reading of the Torah on the first day of Shavuot. It was composed by Rabbi Meir of Worms, whose son was murdered during the Crusade of 1096. Rabbi Meir was forced to defend the Torah and his Jewish faith in a debate with local priests, and successfully conveyed his certainty of God's power, His love for the Jewish people, and the excellence of Torah. Afterwards he wrote Akdamut, a 90-line poem in Aramaic which stresses these themes. The poem is written in a double acrostic pattern according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet. In addition, each line ends with the syllable "ta"(תא), the last and first letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alluding to the endlessness of Torah. The traditional melody which accompanies this poem also conveys a sense of grandeur and triumph.

Sephardim do not read akdamut, but before the evening service they sing a poem called Azharot which sets out the 613 Biblical commandments. The positive commandments are recited on the first day and the negative commandments on the second day.

Dairy foods

Cheese blintzes, an Ashkenazi food often served on Shavuot.

Dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes with cheese and other fillings are traditionally served on Shavuot. [3]One explanation for the consumption of dairy foods on this holiday is that the Israelites had not yet received the Torah, with its laws of shechita (ritual slaughtering of animals). As the food they had prepared beforehand was not in accordance with these laws, they opted to eat simple dairy meals to honor the holiday. Some say it harks back to King Solomon's portrayal of the Torah as "honey and milk are under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).[4]

Book of Ruth

There are five books in Tanakh that are known as Megillot (Hebrew: מגילות, "scrolls") and are publicly read in the synagogues on different Jewish holidays. The Book of Lamentations, which details the destruction of the Holy Temple, is the reading for Tisha B'Av(Fastings); the Book of Ecclesiastes, which touches on the ephemeralness of life, corresponds to Sukkot(Tabernacles); the Book of Esther (Megillat Esther) retells the events of Purim(Lots); and the Song of Songs, which echoes the themes of springtime and God's love for the Jewish people, is the reading for Passover.

The Book of Ruth (מגילת רות, Megillat Ruth) corresponds to the holiday of Shavuot (Passover) both in its descriptions of the barley and wheat harvest seasons and Ruth's desire to become a member of the Jewish people, who are defined by their acceptance of the Torah. Moreover, the lineage described at the end of the Book lists King David as Ruth's great-grandson. According to tradition, David was born and died on Shavuot (Sha'arei Teshuvah to Orach Hayyim, 494).

Greenery

According to the Midrash, Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit. Greenery also figures in the story of the baby Moses being found among the bulrushes in a watertight cradle (Ex. 2:3) when he was three months old (Moses was born on 7 Adar and placed in the Nile River on 6 Sivan, the same day he later brought the Jewish nation to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah).[citation needed]

For these reasons, many Jewish families traditionally decorate their homes and synagogues with plants, flowers and leafy branches in honor of Shavuot. Some synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers and plants so that it resembles a chuppah, as Shavuot is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker (Moses) brought the bride (the Jewish people) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God); the ketubbah (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi communities actually read out a ketubbah between God and Israelas part of the service.

The Vilna Gaon cancelled the tradition of decorating with plants because it too closely resembles the Christian decorations for their holidays.

All-night Torah study

The custom of all-night Torah study goes back to 1533 when Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch, then living in Ottoman Salonika, invited his Kabbalistic colleagues to hold a night-long study vigil, in the course of which an angel appeared before them and commanded them to go live in Eretz Yisrael. According to a story in the Midrash, the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead, but they overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop.[5] To rectify this flaw in the national character, religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah.

Any subject may be studied, although Talmud, Mishna and Torah typically top the list. In many communities, men and women attend classes and lectures until the early hours of the morning. In Jerusalem, thousands of people finish off the nighttime study session by walking to the Kotel before dawn and joining the sunrise minyan there. The latter activity is reminiscent of Shavuot's status as one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals, when the Jews living in the Landof Israel journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday.[6]

Tikkun Leil Shavuot

In keeping with the custom of engaging in all-night Torah study, the Arizal, a leading Kabbalistof the 16th century, arranged a special service for the evening of Shavuot. The Tikkun Leil Shavuot ("Rectification for Shavuot Night") consists of excerpts from the beginning and end of each of the 24 books of Tanakh (including the reading in full of several key sections such as the account of the days of creation, The Exodus, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Shema) and the 63 chapters of Mishnah. This is followed by the reading of Sefer Yetzirah, the 613 commandments as enumerated by Maimonides, and excerpts from the Zohar, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a Kaddish di-Rabbanan is recited when the Tikkun is studied in a group of at least ten Jewish, Bar Mitzvahed men.

This service is printed in a special book, and is widely used in Eastern Sephardic, some German and Hasidic communities. There are similar books for the vigils before the seventh day of Pesach and Hosha'ana Rabbah.

The Spanish and Portuguese Jews do not observe this custom.

Confirmation

Reform Jewish synagogues will typically hold celebrations of Confirmation for tenth graders on the evening or morning of Shavuot. The holiday falls around the end of the school year and the giving of the Ten Commandments naturally fits into the theme of continued Jewish learning.

Dates in dispute

Since the Torah does not specify the actual day on which Shavuot falls, differing interpretations of this date have arisen both in traditional and non-traditional Jewish circles. These discussions center around two ways of looking at Shavuot: the day it actually occurs (i.e., the day the Torah was given on Mount Sinai), and the day it occurs in relation to the Counting of the Omer (being the 50th day from the first day of the Counting).

Giving of the Torah

While most of the Talmudic Sages concur that the Torah was given on the sixth of Sivan; R. Jose holds that it was given on the seventh of that month. According to the classical timeline, the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Ex. 19:1) and the Ten Commandments were given on the following Shabbat (i.e., Saturday). The question of whether the new moon fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 86b). In practice, Shavuot is observed on the sixth day of Sivan in Israel and a second day is added in the Jewish diaspora (in keeping with a separate rabbinical ruling that applies to all biblical holidays, called Yom Tov Sheini Shel Galiyot).

Counting of the Omer

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 BCE author of the Book of Jubilees, and was motivated by the priestly sabbatical solar calendar of the third and second centuries BCE, 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".

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 Daniel12:11-12 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 Dan 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.

The Jewish Encyclopedia points to the similarities between the Christian and Jewish Pentecost, as an outpouring of the spirit or the giving of the Law in seventy languages.[7]

References

^ My Jewish Learning on Shavuot - see 7th paragraph

^ The Temple Institute. "The Festival of Shavout: Bringing the Firstfruits to the Temple". The Temple Institute. http://www.templeinstitute.org/shavuot.htm. Retrieved on September 5 2007.

^ Shavuot - Hag Ha'Bikkurim, -Festival of the First Fruits

^ Rabbi Berel Wein. "Why do we eat dairy foods and decorate the synagogue on Shavuot?". aish.com. http://www.aish.com/shavuotfeatures/shavuotfeaturesdefault/Cheese_and_Flowers.asp. Retrieved on September 5 2007.

^ Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman (2004). "Sleepless Shavuot in Shicago". OHR.edu. http://www.ohr.org.il/yhiy/article.php/1688. Retrieved on September 5 2007.

^ Mor Altshuler (2007). "'Let each help his neighbor'". Haaretz.com. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/862344.html. Retrieved on September 5 2007.

^ The Jewish Encyclopedia. Accessed on May 29th 2009. URL: http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=177&letter=P

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.

External links

Pentecost at the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia.

"Pentecost (Jewish Feast)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Pentecost_(Jewish_Feast).

PENTECOST

Name given by the Greek-speaking Jews to the festival which occurred fifty days (ἡ πεντηκόστη, sc. ἡΜέρα = "Ḥag Ḥamishshim Yom"; comp. Lev. xxiii. 16) after the offering of the barley sheaf during the Passover feast (Tobit ii. 1; II Macc. xii. 32; Josephus, "Ant." iii. 10, § 6; I Cor. xvi. 8; Philo, "De Septenario," §21). The Feast of the Fiftieth Day has been a many-sided one (comp. Book of Jubilees, vi. 21: "This feast is twofold and of a double nature"), and as a consequence has been called by many names. In the Old Testament it is called the "Feast of Harvest" ("Ḥag ha-Ḳaẓir"; Ex. xxiii. 16) and the "Feast of Weeks" ("Ḥag Shabu'ot"; ib. xxxiv. 22; Deut. xvi. 10; II Chron. viii. 13; Aramaic, "Ḥagga di-Shebu'aya," Men. 65a; Greek, έορτὴ έΒδοΜάδων), also the "Day of the First-Fruits" ("Yom ha-Bikkurim"; Num. xxviii. 26; ήΜέρα τῶν νεῶν, LXX.). In the later literature it was called also the "closing festival" ("'aẓeret"; Ḥag. ii. 4; Aramaic, "'aẓarta"; Pes. 42b; Greek, ἄσαρθα Josephus, l.c.). It is called, too, the "closing season of the Passover" ("'aẓeret shel Pesaḥ"; Pesiḳ. xxx. 193) to distinguish it from the seventh day of Passover and from the closing day of the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e., the end of the fruit harvest (Lev. xxiii. 36; Num. xxix. 35; Deut. xvi. 8).

Connection with Harvest.

In Palestinethe grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jer. v. 24; Deut. xvi. 9; Isa. ix. 2). It began with the harvesting of the barley (Men. 65-66) during the Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Pentecost, the wheat being the last cereal to ripen. Pentecost was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Tabernacles was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest (comp. Pesiḳ. xxx. 193). According to Ex. xxxiv. 18-26 (comp. ib. xxiii. 10-17), the Feast of Weeks is the second of the three festivals to be celebrated by the altar dance of all males at the sanctuary. They are to bring to the sanctuary "the first-fruits of wheat harvest," "the first-fruits of thy labors which thou hast sown in the field." These are not offerings definitely prescribed for the community; "but with a tribute of a free-will offering of thine hand . . . shalt thou [the individual] rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter, . . . the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow" (Deut. xvi. 9-12). In Lev. xxiii. 15-22, however, there is a regularly appointed first-fruit offering which the whole community must bring. It consists of two first-fruit loaves ("leḥem ha-bikkurim") of new meal, of two-tenths of an ephah, baked with leaven. The loaves were to be waved; hence the name "wave-loaves" ("leḥem tenufah"). Furthermore, various animal sacrifices were enjoined, and no work was permitted. In Num. xxviii. 26-31 the main pentecostal offering is one of new meal ("minḥah ḥadashah"). There is also a list of grain and animal offerings differing somewhat from that in Lev.xxiii.15-22. These offerings are to be made in addition to the fixed daily offering. In Men. iv. 5, x. 4 the list of Leviticus is referred to the sacrifices directly connected with the loaves, and the Numbers list is referred to the sacrifices for Pentecost considered as a special festival; the one was designated for the journeyings in the desert; the other was added after the Israelites had entered the promised land. The concluding festival of the harvest weeks was largely attended (Josephus, l.c. xvii. 10, § 2; idem, "B. J." ii., iii. 1; Acts ii. 5).K. J. L. M. —In Rabbinical Literature:

The festival is known in Mishnah and Talmud as "'Aẓeret" ( or ), excepting in Megillah Ta'anit i., where (= "the Feast of Weeks") occurs, which is explained as meaning "'Aẓeret." "'Aẓeret" is usually translated a "solemn assembly," meaning the congregation at the pilgrimage festivals. The name is applied also to Passover (Deut. xvi. 8) and to Sukkot (Lev. xxiii. 36). Ibn Ezra thinks "'Aẓeret" denotes a holy day, a day of rest and cessation from work (comp. = "detained," I Sam. xxi. 7). In post-Talmudic and geonic literature the Biblical name "Shabu'ot" was resumed. Pentecost falls on the 6th of Siwan and never occurs on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. Outside of Palestine the Orthodox Jews have since the exilic period celebrated the following day also, as "the second day of Shabu'ot." Pentecost is the fiftieth day of 'Omer, beginning from the second day of Passover. During the existence of the Temple the first-fruits were offered as well as a sacrifice of two loaves of bread from the new harvest, etc. (Lev. xxiii. 15-21).

"The Morrow After Sabbath."

Regarding the Biblical commandment to offer the 'omer "on the morrow after the Sabbath" = (ib. verse 11), the Rabbis maintained that "Sabbath" here means simply a day of rest and refers to Passover. The Sadducees (Boethusians) disputed this interpretation, contending that "Sabbath" meant "Saturday." Accordingly they would transfer the count of "seven weeks" from the morrow of the first Saturday in Passover, so that Pentecost would always fall on Sunday. The Boethusians advanced the argument "because Moses, as a friend of the Israelites, wished to give them an extended holy day by annexing Pentecost to the Sabbath." Johanan then turned to his disciples and pointed out that the Law purposely fixed the interval of fifty days in order to explain that the seven weeks, nominally, do not necessarily begin from Sunday (Men. 65a, b). See also Pharisees.

Some claim that this controversy was the reason for the substitution by the Talmudists of "'Aẓeret" for "Shabu'ot" or "Weeks," on which the Sadducees, and later the Karaites in the geonic period, based their adverse contention. Another reason might be to avoid confusion with "shebu'ot" = "oaths." The Septuagint translation τῆ ἑπαύριον τῆς πρώτης ("on the morrow of the first day") confirms the rabbinical interpretation. Onḳelos paraphrases "mi-batar yoma ṭaba" (="from after the holy day"). The Karaites accepted the Sadducees' view. They claim to have advanced "lion" (powerful) arguments at the time of Anan (840). In this discussion, they say, Anan sacrificed his life("Apiryon 'Asah Lo," ed. Neubauer, § 6, p. 11, Leipsic, 1866). Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) argues against the contention of the Karaites and claims that as all other holy days have fixed days in the month, it would be unreasonable to suppose that Pentecost depended on a certain day of the week. The original contention of the Sadducees was one of the reasons for fixing the Christian Passover on Sunday, in the year 325 (Pineles, "Darkeh shel Torah," p. 212, Vienna, 1861).

The Cabalists and Pentecost.

The traditional festival of Pentecost as the birthday of the Torah ( = "the time our Law was given"), when Israel became a constitutional body and "a distinguished people," remained the sole celebration after the Exile. The Shabu'ot prayers and Maḥzor have references to this and particularly to the precepts deduced from the Pentateuch. The cabalists arranged a special "tiḳḳun" for Pentecost eve, consisting of excerpts from the beginning and end of every book of the Bible and Mishnah, which abridgment they considered tantamount to the reading of the complete works, and accepted as the approval of the Law. Apparently the custom of studying the Law all night of Pentecost is old (Zohar, Emor, 98a); but there is no record of the practise prior to the Safed cabalists headed by Isaac Luria in the sixteenth century. The custom has since been observed in the eastern states of Europe, and particularly in the Orient.

Tiḳḳun Lel Shabu'ot.

The reading occupies the pious till morning; others finish it at midnight. The collection is called "Tiḳḳun Lel Shabu'ot" (="Preparation for Pentecost Eve"; comp. the "Tiḳḳun Lel Hosha'na Rabbah" for Tabernacles). The Pentateuch reading contains three to seven verses from the beginning and the end of every "parashah" ("sidra"). Some of the important sections are read in full, as follows: the days of Creation (Gen. i. 1-ii. 3); the Exodus and the song at the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 1-xv. 27); the giving of the Decalogue on Mount Sinai (ib.xviii. 1-xx. 26, xxiv. 1-18, xxxiv. 27-35; Deut. v. 1-vi. 9); the historical review and part of "Shema'" (ib. x. 12-xi. 25). The same method is used with the excerpts from the Prophets: the important ch. i. of Ezekiel (the "Merkabah") is read in full. The Minor Prophets are considered as one book: the excerpts are from Hos. i.1-3, Hab. ii. 20-iii. 19, and Mal. iii. 22-24 (A. V. iv. 4-6). Ruth is read in full; and of the Psalms, Ps. i., xix., lxviii., cxix., cl. The order of the twenty-four books of the Scriptures is different from the accepted one: probably it is an ancient order, as follows: (Torah) Five Books of Moses; (Prophets) Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel; (Minor Prophets) [Hagiographa] Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Chronicles, Ezra = 24 books. Next, the excerpts from mishnayyot are read, the beginning and end of every treatise, in all sixty-three, with some important chapters in extenso; next, the "Sefer Yeẓirah"; the 613 precepts as enumerated by Maimonides (see Commandments, The 613). Later, excerpts from the Zohar bearing on the subject were added, with opening and concluding prayers. The whole reading is divided into thirteen parts, after each of which a "Ḳaddish di-Rabbanan" is recited.

The Zohar calls the time between Passover and Pentecost the "courting days of the bridegroom Israel with the bride Torah." Those who participate in the tiḳḳun celebration are the Temple-men = " of the King [God]." The Zohar has two epigrams on Pentecost: (1) "In the twin month [zodiac sign of Gemini] the twin Law [written and oral] was given to the children of twin Israel [Jacob and Esau]." (2) "In the third month [Siwan] the treble Law [Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa] was given to the third [best] people" (Zohar, Yitro, 78b).

Because the Law was given on Pentecost, the Rabbis wished to make that day the most enjoyable holy day. R. Joseph ordered a third (best) calf for the festival, saying: "Were it not for this day how many Josephs would there be in the street!" ("without the Law there would be no distinction of scholarship," Pes. 68b). A popular custom on Pentecost is to eat dairy foods and cheese-cakes in honor of the Law, which is likened to "honey and milk" (Cant.iv. 11). The meat meal follows the milk meal. These two meals represent the two loaves of bread, formerly offered in the "bikkurim" offering at the Temple service.

In the synagogue the scroll of Ruth is read because the story of Ruth embracing Judaism and the description of the scene of harvesting are appropriate to the festival of the Law and of the harvest. Another reason given is that King David, a descendant of Ruth, died on Pentecost ("Sha'are Teshubah" to Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 494).

Floral Decorations and Confirmation.

The custom widely prevails of displaying greens on the floors and of otherwise decorating the home and the synagogue with plants, flowers, and even with trees. The greens serve to remind one of the green mountain of Sinai; the trees, of the judgment day for fruit-trees on Pentecost (R. H. i. 2); they also commemorate the harvest festival of former times.

The rite of confirmation for Jewish girls in the synagogue on Pentecost was introduced by the Reform party. This festival was selected because it was the birthday of Judaism. The story of Ruth's recognition of the Jewish religion gives color to the exercise (see Confirmation).

The exact day on which the Law was given is, however, in dispute. The Rabbis say it was the 6th of Siwan; according to R. Jose it was the 7th of that month. All agree that the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Ex. xix. 1), and that the Decalogue was given on the following Saturday. But the question whether the new-moon day fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided (Shab. 86b).

The three days preceding Pentecost are called "the three days of the bounds" () to commemorate the incident of the three days' preparation before Mount Sinai (Ex. xix. 11, 12). These days are distinguished by the permission of marriage celebrations, which are prohibited on the other days of Sefirah save Lag be-'Omer and Rosh-Ḥodesh. See Aḳdamut; First-Fruits; Flowers in the Home and the Synagogue; Law, Reading from the; Pilgrimages to the Holy Land; Prayer. Bibliography: Halakot Gedolot, ed. Berlin, 1888, i. 146; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Hayyim, 494; Der Jude, pp. 42-48. Leipsic, 1769; Hebrew Review, ii. 152-157; Addresses to Young Children, xxi. 189-201, London, 1858; Friedländer, Jewish Religion, pp. 393-394, 2d ed., London, 1900; Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. xiv. 64. For the interpretation of "the morrow after Sabbath": Aaron of Nicomedia (Karaite), Keter Torah, Lev. 65a, Eupatoria, 1866; Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, Appendix, p. 96; Cusari, iii. 41; Lichtenstadt, Ḳunṭros mi-Moḥorot ha-Shabbat, Vienna, 1860; Gottlober, Biḳḳorotle-Toledot ha-Ḳara'im, p. 84, Wilna, 1865; Ha-Maggid, 1840, iv., No. 40; 1879, xxiii., No. 22; Frankel, Vorstudien zu der Septuaginta, pp. 190-191, Leipsic, 1841; Geiger, Urschrift, p. 138, Breslau, 1857; Wellhausen, Pharisäer und Sadducäer, p. 59, Bamberg, 1874.E. C. J. D. E.

According to the Sects. —Critical View:

In the Old Testament the exact day of the celebration of Pentecost is not given. It is seen from Ex. xxiii. 10-17, xxxiv. 18 that it was celebrated some time in the late spring or the early summer. In Deut. xvi. 9 (R. V.) the date is given "seven weeks from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing corn." In Lev. xxiii. 15, 16 the date is more definitely given: "And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days." The meaning of the word "Sabbath" in the phrase "after the Sabbath" ("mimoḥorat ha-Shabbat") and, consequently, the question as to the day upon which the Pentecost was to fall have constituted a chief point of difference between Jewish sects (comp. Charles, "The Book of Jubilees," vi. 22, 32; xvi. 3). Sabbath may mean either a "festival" (Lev. xxv. 2, 46) or the weekly Sabbath. In the general sense of "festival" the day of bringing the sheaf of the wave-offering ("yom ḥanef"), i.e., "the day after the Sabbath," would mean the day after either the first or the last day of Passover. (a) That the "Sabbath" in this case means the first day of Passover is the view of the Septuagint, Targ. pseudo-Jonathan, Targ. Onḳelos, Josephus ("Ant." iii. 10, § 5), Philo ("De Septenario," § 20; comp. Ḥag. ii. 4, Men. vi. 1-3), and of the later rabbinic literature. Since, according to this view, the sheaf-offering was waved on the 16th of Nisan, Pentecost, fifty days later, was celebrated on the 6th of Siwan without regard to the day of the week on which that fell. (b) That the "Sabbath," according to the general meaning "festival," signifies the seventh day of Passover, i.e., 21st of Nisan, without regard to the day of the week, is the view of the Falashas of Abyssinia, the Syriac version of Lev. xxiii. 11, 15, and the Book of Jubilees (c. 135 B.C.). The "day after the Sabbath" is, accordingly, the 22d of Nisan. The Falashas reckon fifty days according to a system of months alternating thirty and twenty-nine days, the Feast of Weeks thus falling on Siwan 12. In Jubilees the Feast of Weeks and Feast of First-Fruits of the Harvest are celebrated on Siwan 15 (Jubilees, xvi. 1, xliv. 4). Reckoning fifty days backward, with an ecclesiastical month of twenty-eight days, one arrives at Nisan 22 as the date when the wave-sheaf was offered. (c) The term "Sabbath," as is shown above, was taken to mean also the weekly Sabbath.

Association with the Giving of the Law.

It is difficult to determine whether the controversy as to the date of the celebration of Pentecost was merely a question of calendation or whether it had its origin in the attempt to assign to the festival a historical motive such as was lacking in the Old Testament. Just as Passover and Tabernacles were associated with historical events, so Pentecost was brought together with the day on which the Torah was given on Sinai (Ex. R. xxxi.; Shab. 88a; Pes. 68b; Maimonides, "Moreh," iii. 41; comp. Ex. xix. 1). That this association had something to do with the calendar controversy would seem to follow from the fact that both Philo and Josephus make no mention of either the giving of the Law on that day or of the calendar dispute. Some insight into the origin of this association of Pentecost with the giving of the Law is afforded by Jubilees where the covenant with Noah as regards the eating of blood is made on the Feast of Weeks. This covenant is renewed with Abraham and with Moses on the same day. It needed but a step for later times to place the covenant on Sinai also on the same day.

According to Jubilees, Isaac was born (xvi. 13), Abraham died (xxii. 1), Judah was born (xxviii. 15), and Jacob and Laban bound themselves by mutual vows (xxix. 7) on the Feast of Weeks. See Jew. Encyc. v. 374b, s.v. Festivals (Shabu'ot). The relation of the Jewish to the Christian Pentecost with its pouring out of the spirit as an analogy to the giving the Law in seventy languages is obvious. Bibliography: Charles, The Book of Jubilees, London, 1902; Frankel, Einfluss der Palästinensischen Exegese auf die Alexandrinische Hermeneutik, pp. 136-137, Leipsic, 1851.K. J. L. M.