Shalom everyone,
Most of the laws of biblical Shavuot – that is, the Festival of First-Fruits – only really apply to produce grown or animals raised in the Holy Land. This may be why, as a festival, it has fallen from relevance for those of us who do not live in the Land. However, we can still celebrate the original spirit of the festival. It therefore helps to realise what that original spirit and purpose was.
There are many religious communities which talk about ‘gifts’ at this time of year – that is, the things that they will be receiving themselves from God, and then leave it at that. However, this festival is not just about the blessings and gifts we receive from God; it is about giving back to God a portion of what we have received. And not just leftovers or throw-aways, or any old thing we might have to spare, but the best of what we have received – that is, the first-fruits. Any other time of year, it’s perfectly acceptable to give away what we no longer need, but at Shavuot, we give of the best we have received from God.
Even though we do not live in the Land, we are still under the Covenant. The Covenant is the agreement that we have made with God, that in return for YHVH agreeing to be our God, we too have made a promise to live and act in a certain way.
Each part of the Covenant has its own blessings, and we give back to God something of those blessings. The first-fruit blessing of the Universal covenant, for example, is a righteous person who does their best to live a good and decent life. ‘Righteous’ does not mean ‘self-righteous’; a righteous person is not necessarily a perfect person, rather, someone who acknowledges what is good, and does their best to live by it.
What we give back to God as part of the Universal covenant is our love. Even the poorest person who literally has nothing, can still be blest by the Universal covenant, and return to God their love for God.
One of the blessings of the Adamic covenant is sentience. Adam and Eve symbolically represent the first sentient human beings. The first-fruit of sentience is an awareness of good and evil, and a thirst for knowledge. Therefore, what we give back to God is the promise to love knowledge, and use it wisely for good, not evil; to use it for building good things for the future, not for destruction.
James 1:18 says, ‘God resolved to give birth to us through the message of Truth, so that in a way we might become the first-fruits of God’s created works.’ Humanity is the first-fruit of God’s creation; this does not mean that we can do whatever we want to Creation. In being God’s first-fruit, we have a special responsibility towards the rest of Creation as stewards.
James 3:17 says, ‘the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.’ This is how someone who is mindful of what they have received from God acts towards others. For example, we do not force our beliefs on others; our teachings should result in blessings for others, not give them a feeling that they are being bullied or coerced.
One of the blessings of the Noachic covenant is that, “seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease” (Gen 8:22). The soil of this planet Earth was given to humanity to support us, and we were given Time, the length of our lives, to live God’s ways. Someone who loves YHVH will be willing to give out of what God has given them in order to help others, and not resent it, whether it is donating to charity, or giving good-quality material goods to benefit others. They will also give of their time to help others, and not resent it. This is essentially because everything we have, belongs to God. A wealthy person will say, “Everything I have is mine, I earned it, why should I give anything to help others!” The truth is that nothing they have is theirs. They only have what they have because of God, in the expectation that some of it is given back to help other children of God who are less fortunate.
One of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant is that all the peoples of the earth will be blest because of Abraham – that is, nations will be blest because of the presence of the Jewish people among them. The first-fruit of this blessing is the expectation that an Israelite works for the prosperity of the nation in which they live, because if that nation prospers, then we prosper (Jer 29:7). As Jews, we are meant to give back to the nation that has given us sanctuary.
If a religious community is labelled ‘first-fruits’, this is not a license to rest on our laurels. It does not mean we pat ourselves on the back in self-adulation. A religious community of ‘first-fruits’ has a responsibility to be a blessing to the people they live amongst, especially if those people are of a different religion to us.
The first-fruit of the Sinai covenant is the nation and people of Israel (Jer 2:3, Hos 9:10). The blessing of that covenant, is that we will be given the fruits of the soil and the offspring of our animals in abundance. For those of us who live in the Land, we give back to God the best of what the Land produces. For those of us who do not live in the Land, we give thanks to YHVH for the good things that YHVH has given us; we acknowledge YHVH’s Sovereignty over what we have, and give some of that goodness back to the society in which we live. This is the central mindset and purpose that Shavuot is meant to remind us of.
The easiest way to do that as part of your Shavuot-giving, is a financial donation to charity – any organisation that helps the less fortunate in our society. However, if you prefer to give material goods or food, this does not mean giving whatever we have left over, or merely things we no longer need. This is the festival of First-Fruits, so you give the best of what you have received from God. If the poor are in need, then if you are giving to them as part of your Shavuot-giving, you don’t merely give them what you are going to throw away, or things you no longer need; instead, you buy the goods or the food brand-new, and give it directly to them.
When the brothers Cain and Abel came before God to offer up some of what they had received from God, a lot of Christians say that the reason why God was pleased with Abel was because it was a blood-offering, but this has nothing to do with it. Abel gave to God the best of his flock, whereas Cain merely gave to God what he could spare, and had left over and didn’t need himself.
Biblical Shavuot – when we observe the original spirit in which it was given to us – reminds us of the blessings we have received from God, as a result of our participation in the agreement with God called the Covenant, whether we are Noahide, Godfearer or Israelite. We remember that YHVH, our gracious, beneficent and giving God, is our ultimate Sovereign. Therefore, everything we have and produce belongs to God. Giving thanks to God by giving some of that back to God, helps us to remember that.
peace and blessings in the Holy Name of YHVH, our gracious Provider
your brother
Shmuliq