Comments on: Field Study

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By: How To Stop Smoking Weed

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By: joseph

joseph — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:11:56 +0000

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By: Jewish Ideas Daily

Jewish Ideas Daily — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:58:15 +0000

Nobody has mentioned the themes of the Book of Ruth – commitment to the Jewish people, loving-kindness (chesed) and the courage of women. See this article on these ideas: http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2010/5/17/main-feature/1/book-of-ruth

By: Avrohom

Avrohom — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:20:17 +0000

The Yom Tov of Shavuos is the celebration of our receiving the Torah. The Talmud compares it to the day of a wedding. G-d wed the Jewish people and the Torah was the “ring”. The celebration therefore requires some commitment to the Torah and its values. It is so strange that the author does not see that the traditional form of celebrating the Yom Tov is what has lasted. Bringing cows to shul aint gonna do it!

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:19:03 +0000

Holy Cow! Now even a non-dairy person like myself can celebrate with dairy! But what about the Golden Calf????

By: EL

EL — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:06:43 +0000

Each year I have felt more and more of a connection to Shavuot, and I’m a middle-of-the road Conservative Jew. Counting the Omer brings the anticipation (and is still a challenge; it’s easy to forget that you did it each night).
And this year I’m teaching at a crummy HS in NYC, so the 2 days I am taking off for the holiday will be very welcome.
And I’m giving one of the learning lectures at my shul tomorrow, lest you think I’m just hoodwinking the NYC DOE.

By: Binyamin Tripp

Binyamin Tripp — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:24:17 +0000

Hmmmmm..My Most Powerful Shavuos ..that sticks in my Mind is being 6 years old and being included in all all night learning Sesion with the Rabbi in his study with 3 others. Pouring over ancient texts with the Adults and Today I do the same even More Excitement..and yes of course women in my town do the same …. Wish you all could be with me Tomorrow night !!;) Chag Sameach !!

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:42:32 +0000

Almost all American Jews celebrate and commemorate Passover in some form or another but only the Orthodox by and large celebrate Shavuot.

Another strange American Jewish phenomenon is that while most observe Shabbat by making Kiddush, very few observe Havdala, the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat.

Why are these two Mitzvoth, Shavuot and Havdala, neglected by most
American Jews, and is there any connection between the two?

I believe there is a connection.

Passover celebrates freedom from slavery and exodus from Egypt.
Shavuot celebrates the giving and receiving of the Torah and the Jews commitment to serving HaShem and His Torah.
Friday night Kiddush represents the Sanctity and Holiness of Shabbat.
Havdala repesents the leaving of the sanctity and holiness of Shabbat and the return of the mundane week.

By only celebrating Passover and not Shavuot, the American Jew is celebrating Freedom, but neglecting to commit to serving serving HaShem and His Torah.

By observing Kiddush but neglecting Havdala the American Jew is stating that everything is Kodesh-HOLY- without any distinction between that which is truly holy and that which is actually mundane.

How typically American to try to have your cake and eat it at the same time!

By: SFMichele57

SFMichele57 — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:42:13 +0000

Ignored? I guess living in the San Francisco Bay Area really IS
quite a bit different from the rest of the country. Plenty of JCCs
and individual congregations and congregations banding together in towns
host plenty of Shavuot celebrations and observances. Everything from
the all night study sessions with ala carte presentations to a trip up
Mount Tam for the hearty/hardy who want to reach out to nature and do
their study there. And a nice slice of cheesecake is always a good idea.

By: marjorie

marjorie — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:27:50 +0000

Great piece — all the expert quotes were fascinating.
.
To make the holiday appealing for kids, my shul (a progressive congregation in the Conservative tradition) does a little explanation of the holiday, a recitation of the 10 Commandments, and a big ol’ ice cream social. My kids look forward to it all year. I know the 92nd street Y in Tribeca is doing a cheesecake tasting (with alcoholic pairings) moderated by its chef — that idea could be easily adapted by other communities. I could see doing a cheesecake bake-off — congregants could vote on the tastiest/most innovative/best low-cal dairy dessert made by someone in the community and pair that with a Torah study session.
*
Finally, as an aside: “I am not impressed with the slanted views of everything I read on this web site — I can’t figure out which slant it is” is one of the most entertaining comments I’ve read on the site.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:10:02 +0000

In Louis Jacobs’ “The Schocken Book of Jewish Mystical Testimonies: A Unique and Inspiring Collection of Accounts by People Who Have Encountered God, from Biblical Times to the Present” one can find the agenda of the gathering for Shavuot by the community around Josef Caro / the Ari, Elkabetz, et al. The Metivta (Los Angeles) community is using it as guide for our Tikun.

Chag Sameach!

By: John Mood

John Mood — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:05:37 +0000

“Tablet” seems out of touch with Judaism in America. Whether Shavuot is an agricultural festival, or a commemoration of the wonderful gift of Torah, you seem to think no one celebrates it either way. You would be wrong if you peeked in at my synagogue.

Contrary to what your article says, there is “stuff” to do, but it is a different holiday, more a holy day than holiday. Studying Torah into and through the night is one thing for adults to do, children can do many interesting and fun things, it’s up to their parents to teach these things to their children. And that can, and should be done at home. Little ones can color in books, be read stories and put to bed at a reasonable hour. Older ones can study with their parents. You don’t have to go to shul to enjoy and study about the holiday. Going there can enhance your understanding by learning from Rabbi, guest speakers, and others with deeper understanding of the holy day than yourself.

Yoni makes good suggestions and I sort of like the idea about bringing in a cow, or perhaps taking your children to a local dairy farm. Maybe easier then bringing a cow in…

“Tablet” seems to ignore the mainstream Jews in America. I can’t understand why. I am not impressed with the slanted views of everything I read on this web site. I can’t figure out which slant it is.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:01:37 +0000

When contemplating the notion that all the Jews received Torah @ Mt Sinai at once and that it is an ongoing activity, It sounded like Twitter to me. Short phrases, instantaneously projected to the members of the tribes.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:59:11 +0000

I think synagogues should encourage congregants to eat dairy meals. Tying holidays to food is very powerful. It also would be a good time to try a program like “one book, one congregation” where the book chosen is one that is appropriate to the holiday and is discussed at the tikkun.

By: Yoni

Yoni — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:35:35 +0000

But on Shavuot, “there’s no stuff and nothing to do, if you don’t go to shul”

Water games for kids & festive diary meals for the family.

“some early Zionist settlers went so far as to explicitly reject the rabbinic interpretation of the holiday in favor of the agricultural one and celebrated Shavuot by dancing in the fields and riding on tractors.”

Actually, this is done to this very day at many Kibbutzim & moshavim.