The Ten Commandments in 20/20
May 26, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Shavuot
The Ten Commandments, read on the first day of Shavuot, are a foundational text of Judaism. But their prominence is also a puzzle. Why were these statements singled out from all other mitzvot to be publicly proclaimed to all Israel? What gives these brief pronouncements their distinctive significance?
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Ruth’s Torah Matters Now
May 28, 2020 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Shavuot
Like every Jewish holiday, Shavuot has seasonal and historical components. It celebrates the gifts of Torah and of the spring harvest. Both bounties manifest God’s glory, sustain Israel, and are captured masterfully by our liturgy.
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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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