Posts Tagged: Shavuot
On Shavuot, We Are All Individuals — Not Numbers
Jack “Srulek” Feldman is a smiling, sprightly old man who lives in Rochester, New York, where -- until relatively recently -- he owned and ran...
Is the Torah Really Divine? Thoughts on Shavuot
One of the most challenging aspects in Judaism is how to relate to the concept of revelation. The uncompromising claim by (Orthodox) Judaism that the...
The Deeper Meaning of Shavuot — Balancing Authenticity and Norms
One of humanity’s strongest longings today is the need for authenticity. We want to be ourselves -- or to become ourselves. We admire childrens' spontaneity, because they...
The Triumphant Message of Naomi in The Book of Ruth
For many Holocaust survivors, Shavuot was their first festival after liberation from concentration camps. One of the first people to encounter the emaciated survivors was...
Dairy, First Fruits, and More: Welcoming Shavuot With Customs of the Season
JNS.org - I’ve often heard, and many rabbis lament, that Shavuot is the only major Jewish holiday that many Diaspora Jews have never heard of, let...
Israel Bolsters Security Ahead of Shavuot to Accommodate Visitor Influx
Comprehensive security measures have been finalized in the capital to accommodate the tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe expected to gather at...
Shavuot Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
1. Liberty. The Shavuot holiday reflects the 3,500 year old trilateral linkage between the Land of Israel (pursued by Abraham), the Torah of Israel (transmitted through Moses)...
The Meaning of Shavuot in Modern Times
I often hear people say pejoratively that our festivals and laws are based on earlier, primitive systems and are therefore somehow inauthentic. That may be, but...
Start-Up Nation Meets Shavuot: Israel’s Efficient, High-Tech Dairy Industry
JNS.org - Self-driving cars. Drip irrigation. Missile defense. Milk? Amid all the buzz around Israel’s “start-up nation,” including Intel’s $15 billion acquisition of Mobileye in April, a lesser-known...
What It Means to Be A Jew
There are so many attempts to define what it means to be a Jew. Is it genetic? Consensual? Opting-in? Participatory-only? Are you a Jew because...
Reflections on Shavuot, 2016
It was the genius of Babylonian Jewry to meet the challenges of exile 2,500 years ago. Originally, Judaism was a fragile community of rival tribes...
The Expulsion of Jews from Lithuania and Courland on Shavuot 1915
Shavuot 1915 was one of the largest single expulsions of Jews since Roman times.During this bleak period, more than 200,000 Jews in Lithuania and Courland...
If We Really Listen, We Can Still Hear God
Bamidbar is usually read on the Shabbat before Shavuot. So the sages connected the two. Shavuot is the time of the giving of the Torah....
Prophets and Conspiracies
Shavuot is the festival that commemorates not just the encounter between Moses and God on Mount Sinai, but also the "revelation" of Torah. There are...
