Shalom everyone,
Shavuot is only a minor religious festival today, but in the original Israelite faith, it was a major, lavish and most moving festival. It was one of the three pilgrim-festivals that we swore to observe as Jews, as part of our Covenant-agreement with God (the other two being Matzot and Sukkot).
During my journey to convert to the Jewish faith, a rabbi told me, “The Israelite faith is dead! Modern Judaism is not based on the Bible, but on the teachings of the ancient rabbis!” This was his annoyed response to my mentioning my love of the Israelite faith, and of how it was portrayed in the Hebrew Bible.
When I was transitioning from being a Christian to becoming a Follower of the Way, a Talmidi, I was ever conscious of the dilemma of, ‘Would Yeshua recognise the faith I follow?’ If I was going to live the same faith that produced Yeshua – if I was ever going to understand his teachings in their proper, cultural context – I felt that I would have to at least practise the culture and customs that he was familiar with. That meant studying Judaism as it was practised in his time, rather than focussing solely on Judaism as it is now.
My conversion process took place in the 1990s, and so I studied rabbinic Judaism at the same time as I delved deep into the practices of the biblical Israelite faith – I was able to see the stark contrasts between the two.
I have a whole range of books which describe Judaism as it was in the late Second Temple Period, which was the time during which Yeshua and his earliest Jewish followers lived. One of the first books I bought was ‘The Jewish Festivals’, by Hayyim Schauss. One useful aspect about this book was how it contrasts the festivals as they are practised today, with how they were practised in Temple times. I also have several books which are beautifully illustrated, such as ‘Carta’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem’. I love to look through these books at festival times, to drift off into imagination, and to put myself in the mind of a Jew who lived at the time of Yeshua – to imagine God’s festivals as he would have known them.
How could I ever claim to follow the Jewish faith of Yeshua, if I didn’t practise anything in the way that he would have known? When you look at modern Shavuot as it is now, and compare that with the meaningful and exuberant beauty of how it was practised in Yeshua’s time, there is no comparison! Shavuot as Yeshua knew it, and Shavuot as modern Judaism practises it, are very different. I myself had an eager yearning to know the Shavuot that Yeshua would have known, especially since I had no dogged, emotional investment in what it is now.
Ancient Shavuot had nothing to do with the giving of the Torah; anyone who tries to insist that it did is being dishonest with you – it is well-known by scholars and historians that it did not originally have this meaning (I was even told this by the rabbis teaching my conversion course). It wouldn’t be given this meaning until 40 years after Yeshua’s death. So what was its significance in Yeshua’s day?
The main clue is in one of the alternative names of the festival, Hag ha-Bikkurim: The Festival of First-Fruits. One of the emphases of living in accordance with the Covenant between God and Israel, is that it will enable the Land to produce a great abundance of agricultural produce. Shavuot was therefore the most supreme Thanksgiving Festival, to thank God for the bounty of the fruits of the Land.
Shavuot in ancient times
Shavuot occurs at the time of the wheat harvest in Israel, and so one of the ancient customs of the festival was eating various bread-products and baked goods during the festival (not dairy products, as is the rabbinic custom).
In ancient times, there were three main aspects of the festival:
— thanksgiving for the wheat harvest
— thanksgiving for the first-fruits of our crops, and for the firstborn of our domestic animals
— remembering the ongoing history of Israel’s covenantal relationship with God
The first of Israel’s crops and animals were brought in great ceremony to Jerusalem, in carts drawn by white oxen, with colourful garlands around their necks; some even had special gold tips put on their horns. These carts were brought up to Jerusalem in colourful procession, accompanied by singing and the playing of musical instruments. As they entered Jerusalem, each male pilgrim would transfer his produce into a basket, and carry this on his shoulder to the Temple. With great ceremony, these baskets were handed over to the priests at the altar. Even the king would do this, in the exact same way as any ordinary Israelite.
During the festival celebrations, the first-fruits of the Land’s agricultural produce, and the firstborn of all our animals, were dedicated to God in the Temple in a lavish ceremony, since the first-fruits of every living thing, plant, animal and human, belong to God. Today, even though most of us do not live in the Land of Israel, we can still gather round us our first-fruits, and give thanks to God for them.
We can give thanks for whatever we have produced this year, as the produce of our hands or minds; we can give thanks for our firstborn children, our firstborn animals, and whatever we have gained so far this year, as gifts from God. We can even give a monetary offering to our favourite charity as a thank-offering to God.
During the seven weeks leading up to Shavuot, we have been remembering the seven covenants, and so as part of the thanksgiving ceremony, we can remember the good things that we have gained or experienced, as part of living our covenant with YHVH. I know that in the States, you have a Thanksgiving meal in November, but for Jews in ancient times, Shavuot was our Thanksgiving!
In keeping with the ancient way of celebrating Shavuot as a supreme Thanksgiving, my book on Shavuot shows you all the different kinds of foods you can celebrate with at your main meal on Sunday.
Shavuot, when celebrated in the same spirit and meaning that was originally intended by God, is above all a festival supremely of the Sovereignty of YHVH over all life on earth. At this time of year, we are supremely reminded that everything on this entire planet belongs to YHVH – every plant, every animal, every piece of land, and every human being. We are, in a sense, tenants in this world, and we pay God a ‘rent’ for everything we use. Celebrating Shavuot according to its original spirit, helps to develop this mindset. It is meant to shape how we think about the world, and who really owns it; it is one of the great spiritual fruits of remembering the original themes and purposes of Shavuot.
Massorite Talmidi culture tries as much as possible to follow ancient Israelite culture, insofar as it is possible, given the limitations of the modern day. This is done to help us experience God and the Israelite religion, as much as possible in the same way as the ancient Israelites did – to experience our God-given faith in the way that it was originally intended, so that we stay on the journey and the Way that God originally planned out for us, and do not divert either to the right or the left. It is also done so that, naturally and with ease, we will come to understand all the cultural connotations alluded to in the Hebrew Bible, for the simple reason that we will be immersed and engaged in that very same culture ourselves.
blessings in the Holy Name of YHVH our Supreme Provider
your brother
Shmuliq