Counting Ourselves As Israel
Jun 7, 2019 By Leonard A. Sharzer | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot
Sefer Bemidbar, the Book of Numbers, which we begin reading this week, opens with the taking of a census. After the rather arcane matters we have been reading about in recent weeks—the sacrificial cult, laws of purity and impurity, skin eruptions, bodily discharges, and so on—the monotony and repetitiveness of this week’s parashah comes almost as a relief.
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Cantillation for Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth
Oct 23, 2018 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Prayer Recordings | Pesah | Shavuot | Sukkot
Recordings by Cantor Sarah Levine (CS ’17).
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Making Torah Our Own
May 18, 2018 By Galeet Dardashti | Commentary | Text Study | Shavuot
The piyyut below was written by Rabbi Ya’akov Abihatzeira, an important religious figure in 19th-century Morocco. Sung in Moroccan communities primarily in honor of Shavuot, the piyyut portrays the Israelites’ acceptance of the Torah at Sinai. It depicts God as the beloved bridegroom entering into a figurative marriage with Israel, the bride, and playfully riffs on the Ten Commandments.
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Overcoming Sleep
May 3, 2018 By Jeremy Tabick | Short Video | Shavuot
Why should we stay up all night on Shavuot?
featuring Leora Perkins (RS ’19)
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Leftover Scraps
May 5, 2017 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim | Shavuot
The Torah exhorts us in this week’s parashah: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest…you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger” (Lev. 19:9-10). This mitzvah plays out in beautiful narrative form in the Book of Ruth, read on the upcoming holiday of Shavuot. But Ruth is the exception; she is rescued from her destitute state by Boaz, the owner of the field where she gleans, who marries her. What of all those who remained gleaners—whose survival depended on the daily toil of gathering other people’s leftovers?
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The Freshest Grain
Mar 31, 2017 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Vayikra | Shavuot
In a long narrative dedicated to sacrifices we find one hidden command to offer only the freshest and best grains, mixed with oils and scents. Through a multi sensory description the reader can sense the heavy kernels of grains, smell the scents, and vicariously participate in the powerful event of giving thanks to God with the offering of the first fruit.
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Festival Musaf (Higher Voice)
Jun 1, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Prayer Recordings | Pesah | Shavuot | Shemini Atzeret | Simhat Torah | Sukkot
Recordings by Cantor Arianne Brown and Cantor Jennifer Kanarek CahnProject coordinator: Rabbi David Freidenreich
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