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| OHCC LIVING | MAY 2021 | 17 Yiddish Club When most Jewish boys and girls reach the age of 13, they participate in a religious ritual: A Bar Mitzvah for a boy and a Bat Mitzvah for a girl. They assume that their religious education is complete and they no longer have to devote many hours attending religious school. In recent years, a new ceremony was introduced which extended a child's education for an additional two years. The ritual of Confirmation is held for students who have continued their studies and Jewish involvement beyond their B'nei Mitzvah. The ceremony usually takes place on or near the holiday of Shavuot. Just as the Jewish people accepted the Torah on Shavuot, so do confirmation students accept their commitment to the covenant and "adult" Jewish Life. Shavuot begins this year at sundown, Thurs., May 28 and ends on Sat., May 30. What is Shavuot? As you may recall from my recent article regarding the holiday of Passover, the enslaved Israelites left Egypt in a hurry and were very busy for some weeks before they were ready to receive the word of God and become the official "Chosen People." Actually, seven weeks passed before they received the "Divine Laws" (Ten Commandments). Seven, the Hebrew word for which "Sheva" shares a root with the word Shavuot, meaning "weeks". It is believed that Shavuot had another origin. The timing of the holiday suggests that it may have begun as an agricultural festival which marked the end of the spring barley harvest and the beginning of the summer wheat harvest. Shavuot was a festival in which Jewish men would go to Jerusalem and begin their first fruit offering to God. Today, we celebrate Shavuot by going to Synagogue to recite the Ten Commandments, having a meal of dairy foods, and staying up late into the night to learn and read the "Book of Ruth." Traditional Shavuot meals center on milk products. There are many possible reasons for the association of dairy with this holiday. One of the most popular explanations is that when we were receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, we were innocent like newborn babies, who of course, depended on milk. Over the years this has evolved into a "diet" of cheesecake, blintzes, cheese and crackers, yogurt, milkshakes and many other dairy delights! Customarily, we also read the "Book of Ruth" in the Synagogue: Ruth was a young Moabite woman who married an Israelite man. When Ruth's husband died, she followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Israel, and adopted the Jewish faith. The theme of Ruth's conversion to Judaism is the importance of this story. Ruth was made eminent by the affirmation she made to Naomi, "For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God." The story of Ruth teaches us that unconditional love often requires sacrifice. Jews received the Torah on Shavuot, the most significant event in Jewish history. Why aren't more people aware of the details about this holiday? ~ Don Kent, Past Vice President

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