Shavuot in Jerusalem: A night and day of celebration
Shavuot, meaning "weeks," is the sister holiday of Passover, the culmination of the seven-week Omer period that begins as Passover ends. Shavuot is one of Judaism's most important holidays, as it celebrates the event that turned the Hebrews into the Jewish people: the giving of the Torah.
If you're not Jewish, you may never have considered that it might be perfectly valid to celebrate a holiday by staying up all night and eating cheese. If you are Jewish, though, then you know that sleep deprivation and dairy are the way to celebrate Shavuot in style.
Shavuot, meaning "weeks," is the sister holiday of Passover, the culmination of the seven-week Omer period that begins as Passover ends (the 49 days between the holidays led the Greeks to call Shavuot "Pentecost," meaning "50 days"). Although it hardly attracts as much attention as the street-emptying solemnity of Yom Kippur or the flagrant hut-building of Sukkot, Shavuot is one of Judaism's most important holidays, as it celebrates the event that turned the Hebrews into the Jewish people: the giving of the Torah.
Historically, the holiday was, along with Passover and Sukkot, one of the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimages - holidays during which Jews from every corner of ancient Judea would head towards Jerusalem, bearing offerings for services in the Temple. In keeping with many Jewish holidays' dual themes, Shavuot coincided with the end of the wheat harvest in the land of Israel (and Passover with the end of the barley harvest), and loaves of bread were offered up at the Temple to give thanks both for the Torah and the successful harvest.
Today the Temple is but a memory, so holiday observances have evolved somewhat. In the synagogue, which is usually decorated with flowers and green plants especially for Shavuot, congregants read the Book of Ruth, which does not mention Shavuot directly, but became associated with the holiday over time as it deals with both the grain harvest in Israel and with a newly-minted Jew (in this case, the Moabite convert Ruth) assuming the yoke of the Torah's commandments.
Observant Jews will stay awake the entire night of Shavuot, studying Jewish law until nearly sun-up with the aid of tasty dairy products, which are, for somewhat murky reasons, the traditional food of Shavuot. Cheese blintzes are popular, but in Israel, you're just as likely to see Jews ringing in Shavuot with cheese bourekasim and cheesecake.
In Jerusalem, just as the first light of dawn begins to break, thousands of pious Jews from every corner of the city put down their study materials and begin to walk to the Old City, hearkening back to the days when the Temple stood. The multitudes gather in the Kotel plaza, which becomes jammed shoulder to shoulder with worshipers, and recite the morning prayer service together. The intense, spiritually charged silence that descends on the plaza as the assembled thousands recite the Shmoneh Esreh is a wonder to behold, and a Shavuot experience you can't have anywhere but in Jerusalem.
Image courtesy of Flash90 for GoJerusalem.com.
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