I’ve always felt a little sorry for the holiday of Shavuot. In Israel it’s celebrated for just one day (outside of Israel, two days). There’s no home ritual like Sukkot when we build a Sukkah and shake the lulav and etrog. There is no seder like Passover and all the food and concoctions we can create from matzah. There’s no candles and gifts like Hanukkah and all the special foods we eat for Shavuot are dairy based: cheesecake, blintzes, kugels…Which for Ashkenazic Jews like me—who are often lactose intolerant, it’s a cruel culinary joke. And Shavuot often suffers from calendar inferiority. It occurs late in the school year- often when the religious school is closed, vacations have begun, and families are already thinking about summer vacation (well- not this year…).
But in recent years I’ve begun to appreciate Shavuot more. The daily counting of the Omer has made the spiritual journey from Passover to Shavuot more meaningful and the wide varieties of study opportunities as part of the Tikkun Leyl Shavuot has enhanced the celebration of the Festival.
A few years ago I participated in a late-night study session here in Jerusalem analyzing selected excerpts from the Book of Ruth. The story of Ruth is a beautiful book and a highlight is the often-quoted verse Ruth tells her mother-in-law Naomi:
Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the Eternal do to me if anything but death parts me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
These are the words of the convert- those who are not born into the Jewish faith- but choose it of their own free will.
The professor teaching that class pointed out that in this modern era in which we live, we have all essentially become “Jews by choice.” We no longer live in ghettos. We no longer wear clothing or badges that mark us as Jews. We can assimilate as much or as little as we want into the greater cultures surrounding us. We can deny our Judaism or announce our Judaism as it pleases us. Regarding this passage, the teacher reminded us of a famous midrash written by Resh Lakish a famous commentator from the 3rd century:
“The proselyte who converts is dearer to God than Israel when they stood at Mt. Sinai. Why? Because had Israel not seen the thunders and the lightning and the mountains quaking and the sound of the shofars, they would not have accepted Torah. But this convert, who saw none of these things, came, surrendered himself to the Holy One, and accepted upon himself the Kingdom of Heaven. Could any be dearer than he?”
Resh Lakish suggests us that those who are not born into Judaism but choose to become Jewish are in actuality closer to God. We born Jewish metaphorically experienced the revelation at Sinai: we were convinced of Judaism’s beauty and majesty as we all stood at Mount Sinai—the convert didn’t have that experience.
As we celebrate Shavuot, we all reaffirm our Judaism. In an important way, we are all Jews-by-choice. We all choose to be here, to be a part of this special global community and to apply a Jewish lens to our lives. No matter how you celebrate Shavuot—be it with a plate of blintzes, a slab of cheesecake, or an evening of prayer and study---may we use this Festival of the Giving of Torah as an opportunity to live lives filled with justice, caring, goodness, and righteousness.
Chag Sameach!
Cantor Evan Kent