An Orthodox Jewish congregation of suburban Minneapolis, providing a welcoming environment for Jews of all observance levels.
TUESDAY, MAY 18
7:00 a.m. Shacharit
8:20 p.m. Mincha
8:21 p.m. Candlelighting for the First Night of Shavuot
9:30 p.m. Maariv
ALL NIGHT TORAH STUDY
12:30 a.m. DAVID AND BATHSHEVA, PART I with Rabbi Goldberger at
Kenesseth Israel, 4330 West 28th Street2:00 a.m. DAVID AND BATHSHEVA, PART II with Rabbi Goldberger at
Kenesseth Israel, 4330 West 28th Street3:30 a.m. DAVID AND BATHSHEVA, PART III with Rabbi Goldberger at
Kenesseth Israel, 4330 West 28th Street
5:05 a.m. Early Shacharit
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
8:45 a.m. Shacharit
7:00 p.m. Divrei Torah from KI’s Young Scholars
8:20 p.m. Mincha/Maariv
9:32 p.m. Candlelighting for 2nd Night of Shavuot
THURSDAY, MAY 20
8:45 a.m. Shacharit
10:15 a.m. Yizkor
Morning services followed by dairy Kiddush
7:00 p.m. In-depth study of Megillat Ruth w/Rabbi
It is ironic that Shavuot is such a little-known holiday. Because in fact, Shavuot commemorates the single most important event in Jewish history -- the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Shavuot is the culmination of the seven-week-long "counting of the Omer" that occurs following Passover. The very name "Shavuot" means "weeks," in recognition of the weeks of anticipation leading up to the Sinai experience. (Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after the first day of Passover, it is sometimes known as "Pentecost," a Greek word meaning "the holiday of 50 days.")
3,300 years ago, after leaving Egypt on the night of Passover, the Jews traveled into the Sinai desert. There, the entire Jewish nation -- 3 million men, women and children -- directly experienced divine revelation:
G-d spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you were hearing the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He told you of His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He inscribed them on two stone tablets. (Deut. 4:12-13)
The giving of the Torah was an event of awesome proportions that indelibly stamped the Jewish nation with a unique character, faith and destiny. And in the 3,300 years since this event, Torah ideals - monotheism, justice, responsibility -- have become the moral basis for Western civilization.
Kenesseth Israel has a full night of study the first night of Shavuot, with classes at members' homes and the synagogue.
Perhaps the reason for the relative obscurity of Shavuot is because this holiday has no obvious "symbols" of the day -- i.e. no Shofar, no Sukkah, no Chanukah Menorah.
On Shavuot, there are no symbols to distract us from the central focus of Jewish life: the Torah. So how do we commemorate Shavuot? It is a widespread custom to stay up the entire night learning Torah. And since Torah is the way to self-perfection, the Shavuot night learning is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which means "an act of self-perfection on the night of Shavuot."
At synagogue services on Shavuot morning, we read the biblical book of Ruth. Ruth was a non-Jewish woman whose love for G-d and Torah led her to convert to Judaism. The Torah intimates that the souls of eventual converts were also present at Sinai, as it says: "I am making [the covenant] both with those here today before the Lord our G-d, and also with those not here today." (Deut. 29:13)
Ruth has a further connection to Shavuot, in that she became the ancestor of King David, who was born on Shavuot, and died on Shavuot.
On Shavuot, it is customary to decorate the synagogue with branches and flowers. This is because Mount Sinai blossomed with flowers on the day the Torah was given. The Bible also associates Shavuot with the harvest of wheat and fruits, and marks the bringing of the first fruits to the Holy Temple as an expression of thanksgiving. (see Exodus 23:16, 34:22, Numbers 28:26)
There is a universal Jewish tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot. The reason has been offered by many scholars, some of which are more convincing than others. We offer a selection: