Shavuot
Dvar Torah
Shavuot is well known for the famous custom of eating dairy foods. Cheesecake,
blintzes, and other “milchig” dishes have become part of the atmosphere of the
holiday.
Many explanations are given for this custom. One, quoted by the
Mishnah Berurah, is that when the Jewish people first received the Torah at
Mount Sinai, everything was suddenly new. They had just learned the laws of keeping
kosher, and preparing kosher meat involved many detailed and complex laws.
Since they did not yet know how to keep all those laws in practice, they chose
to eat simple dairy foods instead.
On Shavuot, we do not merely remember the giving of the Torah —
we try to relive it.
That is why we stay up learning Torah through the night. In the
morning we hear the Ten Commandments read in a majestic melody that recreates
the awe of Sinai. And even our dairy meals become part of that experience —
almost as if we too are encountering Torah for the very first time – without yet
knowledge of it, but with thirst and wonderment.
The Torah is not meant to be old or routine. To the contrary, our
sages teach us (c.f. Deu. 26:16) that every single day we should look at it with
novelty. Every single day should be “day-one”. Shavuot reminds us that Judaism
is not only about preserving tradition, but about renewing our sense of wonder,
excitement, and discovery in it again and again.
Shavuot candle lighting/Havdalah times
Note that the holiday starts tonight and concludes on Saturday night
Jerusalem 18:53/20:15
Kiryat Shmona 19:05/20:18
Tel-Aviv 19:14/20:18
Paris 21:16/22:37
NYC 19:54/21:02
Denver 19:55/21:02
Vancouver 20:39/22:02
More times available here
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