Ahead of this year’s celebration of Shavuot, here are some facts about the holiday:

1. The significance of Shavuot

Shavuot is one of the three Jewish liberty-oriented pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Passover, Shavuot, and Tabernacles).

Shavuot is celebrated seven weeks following the second day of Passover. It is a historical, national, agricultural, and spiritual extension of Passover. Passover highlights the physical liberty from slavery in Egypt; Shavuot highlights the spiritual liberty, embracing the values of the Ten Commandments and the Torah, in preparation for re-entry to the Land of Israel.

Shavuot is also named the Holiday of the Harvest (ביכורים), since it concludes the harvesting season, which starts during Passover. Shavuot (שבועות) means “weeks” in Hebrew, and its spelling is identical to the Hebrew word “vows.” Shavuot commemorates the 40 years of the Exodus, which entailed tough challenges on the way to the Land of Israel, forging the state-of-mind of the Jewish people and the Jewish nation.

2. “The Scroll of Ruth” (Honor thy mother in-law…)

Shavuot spotlights the “Scroll of Ruth,” one of five Biblical scrolls, which are studied during five Jewish holidays: Ruth (Shavuot), Song of Songs (Passover), Ecclesiastes (Sukkot/Tabernacles), Book of Lamentations (the Ninth day of Av), Esther (Purim). Ruth was a Moabite princess, and the great grandmother of King David.

Ruth was a role model of loyalty to her Jewish mother in-law, and revered for her humility, gratitude, responsibility, reliability, respect of fellow human beings, faith, and optimism.

The legacy of Ruth reflects the central role played by Biblical women, joining the matriarchs — Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel; Miriam, the older sister of Moses; Deborah the prophetess, judge, and military leader; Hannah, the mother of Samuel the prophet; Queen Esther, etc.

3. Impact on the formation of the US

The holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) commemorates the legacy of Moses — the Exodus, the Ten Commandments, and the Torah  — who had a significant impact on the early Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers, as well as the formation of US culture, civic life, the federal system, the US revolution, the Federalist Papers, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc.

4. The US Liberty Bell

Shavuot is the holiday of liberty, as highlighted by the Biblical concept of Jubilee. The essence of the Jubilee is inscribed on the Liberty Bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof (Leviticus 25:10).”

The Liberty Bell was installed in Philadelphia in 1752, 50 years following William Penn’s Charter of Privileges. Shavuot is celebrated 50 days following Passover, and Pentecost. According to Judaism, there are 50 gates of wisdom, studied during the 50 days between Passover and Shavuot.

5. The centrality of humility

Shavuot highlights humility as a most critical value of human behavior and leadership. It is underlined by the receipt of the Torah, the Ten Commandments, and the 613 statutes in the desert — an uncomfortable environment. Moses, the exceptional law-giver and civic and military leader, was accorded only one compliment in the entire Bible: “the humblest of all human beings.”

6. The Ethics of the Fathers

From Passover through Shavuot, it’s customary to study the six brief chapters of “The Ethics of the Fathers,” one of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah (the Oral Torah) — a compilation of common sense principles, and ethical and moral teachings, which underline key inter-personal relationships. They include:

“Who is respected? He who respects other persons.”
“Who is a wise person? He who learns from all other persons.”
“Who is wealthy? He who is satisfied with his own share.”
“Talk sparsely and walk plenty;”
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”
“Conditional love is tenuous; unconditional love is eternal.”
“Treat every person politely.”

7. Shavuot and the significance of seven

Shavuot reflects the centrality of seven in Judaism. The Hebrew root of Shavuot (שבועות) is seven, which is also the root of “vow,” “satiation,” and “week.” Shavuot is celebrated seven weeks following Passover. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the Creation in a seven-day-week, and according to Genesis, there are seven beneficiaries of the Sabbath, and many more connections between seven and Shavuot.

The author is a writer and former Israeli ambassador.

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