{"id":9808,"date":"2020-05-29T10:29:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T08:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hesedbesht.org.ua\/?p=9808"},"modified":"2020-05-29T10:29:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T08:29:06","slug":"pered-svyatom-shavuot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hesedbesht.org.ua\/en\/pered-svyatom-shavuot\/","title":{"rendered":"Before Shavuot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Managers of "Hesed Besht" CBF met with <\/strong>members of the "Shabat" group and volunteers FSU<\/strong> \u00ab<\/strong>Volunteer<\/strong> Community<\/strong>\u00bb <\/strong>on the platform Zoom<\/strong>to remind you of the origin of the holiday, traditions, how to celebrate it, what to put on the festive table.<\/p>\n

We celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot in honor of the greatest event in human history \u2013 the Revelation on Mount Sinai. It was on this day in 2448 years from the creation of the world that the Almighty gave the children of Israel the Torah and the Ten Commandments \u2013 the moral and ethical foundation of all human civilization.<\/p>\n

When the Temple existed, Jews would make the ascent to Jerusalem on Shavuot and bring the first fruits of the harvest as a thank offering. Today, while the Temple has not yet been rebuilt and Jews cannot celebrate Shavuot as the Torah commands, the main thing for them on this day is to relive the thrill of the moment of the Giving of the Torah, to feel joy and spiritual freedom.<\/p>\n

Shavuot is celebrated on Sivan 6-7 according to the Jewish calendar, according to the Gregorian calendar, these dates in 2020 fall on May 29-30, and the holiday begins at sunset on May 28. Since it has the status of a \u201choliday from the Torah,\u201d Yom Tov (good day), everything that is considered work from the point of view of the Sabbath is prohibited on Shavuot (except for cooking and carrying fire). On the first night of the holiday, it is customary to stay up and study the Torah. This custom is called Tikkun, literally \u2013 correction (of the world). In the old days, there was a custom to start studying the Torah with small children. The letters of the alphabet on special tablets were smeared with honey, the children repeated the names of the letters after the teacher and licked the honey from them. In this way, the little ones were encouraged to study. Perhaps that is why Jews are so drawn to science that from the moment they met it seemed sweet to them, like honey.<\/p>\n

There is a custom on the holiday of Shavuot to decorate the house and synagogue with greenery, flowers, and tree branches, which reminds us of the greenery that grew around Mount Sinai. Just as Sivan is the month of the flowering of nature, so the Giving of the Torah symbolizes the flowering of the Jewish people. The idea of the holiday is this: physical liberation from slavery and even the conquest of political freedom have no special meaning until spiritual freedom, based on the recognition of the power of the Almighty and his commandments, is achieved.<\/p>\n

The main event of the holiday is the standing recitation of the Ten Commandments after morning prayer. Jews relive the awe felt by their ancestors at Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n

On the holiday, large meals with dairy dishes are arranged in memory of the fact that when the Jews received the Torah, the laws about kosher meat and about the separation of meat and dairy were complex and unusual for them, so they ate only dairy food for a certain period of time. On the second day of the holiday, the memorial prayer Izkor is recited for the souls of deceased parents and relatives and a promise is made to make offerings in memory of their merits.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n