Shavuot

Mark Podwal (b. 1945)
Digitial archival pigment print on paper
7 7/16 x 7 9/16″
USA, 2020
© Mark Podwal

The Festival of Shavuot falls on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. The festival’s name, Shavuot, which means “weeks,” denotes that the festival occurs exactly seven weeks after Passover (Exodus 34:22). Shavuot was originally an agricultural festival marking the beginning of the wheat harvest. During the Temple period, the first fruits of the harvest were brought to the Temple, and two loaves of bread made from the new wheat were offered to God. In post-Temple times, the festival became the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. On Shavuot, it is the custom, based in Jewish mysticism, to remain awake the entire night to study the Torah, a practice called Tikkun Leil Shavuot. After the Torah reading recounting God’s revelation at Sinai, it is the custom to pass the Torah from person to person to recall the acceptance of the covenant.  According to tradition, the desert of Sinai bloomed miraculously in anticipation of the revelation, and today synagogues are adorned with summer flowers.