Shavuot Holiday
A Jewish holiday celebrated without a unified theme or a shared interest among all Jewish citizens of the state, which takes place in Israel between May and June.
What does it symbolize? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Shavuot is the only official holiday celebrated without a unified theme or a shared interest among all Jewish citizens of the state. There's only one thing everyone agrees on: its date – the 6th of Sivan according to the Hebrew calendar, which usually falls sometime between late spring and early summer. Beyond this consensus, Israelis don't have one overarching title they'd choose to explain the precise reason for the celebration.
It goes by several names: Chag HaTorah (Holiday of the Torah), Chag HaBikurim (Holiday of First Fruits), Chag HaChalav (Holiday of Milk), Chag HaNofesh VeHaTeva (Holiday of Leisure and Nature) - Each of these contributes a representative symbol or an association for graphic symbols or discussion: a Torah scroll and the Tablets of the Covenant, Ruth and Boaz and Naomi (The biblical figures), a sheaf of wheat in the field, a fruit basket, a cheesecake...and all of them are crammed into the traditional bundle assembled for The Israeli Story in the State of Israel.
Shavuot is a short holiday (about a day and a half) that doesn't really leave its mark on the daily routine in Israel.
It comes and goes like just another weekend. Sort of like a small bonus for Israelis. It's almost as if it's there to break the rhythm of the busy calendar and the warming weather between late spring and early summer.
Luckily for those who love rest and leisure, the holiday never falls on a Saturday, thanks to various astronomical calculations of the Hebrew calendar, which means more vacation time. And in years when it's very close to a Saturday, it's a solid option to "bridge" the days and go on vacation, either locally or abroad.
Symbols of Shavuot: fruits, cheese, Torah scroll, wheat from the field
So, what happens in Israel on Shavuot?
In the religious sectors, it's celebrated under the title: Chag Matan Torah (Holiday of the Giving of the Torah). According to tradition, on this day the Torah was given to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Therefore, they dedicate the entire night of the holiday to studying the first five books of the Bible, collectively known as the Torah.
What does that look like on the ground?
In synagogues and yeshivas across the country, the lights stay on until the early morning hours, and anyone with the strength and patience participates in a continuous study marathon that lasts all night, called "Tikkun Leil Shavuot."
Another tradition that takes place is the reading of the Book of Ruth in synagogues. This scroll, an interesting story in itself, also sparks spiritual and philosophical interest for study evenings held by secular Jews, traditionalists, Reform, and Conservative Jews. They see the Book of Ruth as a good reason to hold a discussion on the topic, exploring its religious and contemporary meanings.
In the agricultural sector, in kibbutzim and Moshavim, they use the holiday's original names: "Chag HaKatzir (Holiday of the Harvest)" or "Chag HaBikurim (Holiday of First Fruits)" – they decorate the fields and celebrate, the whole community together, a symbolic harvest with decorated tractors and first fruits of the wheat harvest.
Once upon a time, in the early years of the State of Israel, this was a communal and ideological celebration that sanctified working the land with the Zionist vision. Today, in 2023, after the ideology has faded, what remains is the communal, symbolic, branded joy. And in many cases, it invites external guests and charges a not-so-symbolic fee for it.
Between these two extremes, most of the Israeli public tries to navigate this short holiday without a clear, defined general direction – they go out to enjoy nature, vacation in hotels, host and be hosted, fly abroad, sunbathe on the beach, or just stay home and enjoy another day off decreed by Israel's labor laws.
The only common denominator, almost, for all sectors is milk and all its products.
This is a tradition that came from Europe and is accepted by religious and secular alike: eating and drinking dairy products. Leading up to the holiday, dairy producers prepare for increased supply of products, the internet is full of recipes, and the press celebrates with kreplach and burekas and Israeli legends from the threshing floor, cowshed, and hay.
The queen of the holiday is cheese – white or salty, yellow or melted, on top and all around, and especially as a filling for blintzes, dumplings, stews, cakes, and pastries.
A collection of Israeli Shavuot photos – a multicultural celebration with various activities
Historical bits
The content of the Shavuot holiday was never uniform among the Jews here in the Land of Israel. Not during the British Mandate period and not after the establishment of the state.
In religious communities, it was a full-fledged religious holiday, including: rest from all work, special prayers in synagogues, and "Tikkun Leil Shavuot." They continued a tradition that came from Jewish communities in Europe and placed all the symbols known today at the center of the holiday: the giving of the Torah, the Book of Ruth, and dairy and honey foods. Those who wanted and could also traveled to Jerusalem to be part of a mass gathering for prayer at the Western Wall.
This tradition was interrupted after the establishment of the state when the Western Wall was conquered by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an enemy state to Israel in those years. Instead, they gathered on Mount Zion, which was located on the border between the two countries. They stood there, offering prayers and hopes, with their eyes and hearts turned towards the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Holy Temple. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Western Wall returned to Jewish hands, and the mass prayers in the sacred plaza resumed.
In kibbutz communities, the Harvest Festival was one of the most important and ritualistic holidays.
The kibbutz ideology connected the renewed Judaism in the Land of Israel to the land, to agriculture, to nature as a whole. According to their worldview: every Hebrew holiday draws its values from this connection, and accordingly, each holiday has its own characteristics.
The holiday's timing, at the beginning of the grain harvest season, was a reason for a festive celebration. And if that connects to the story of the Book of Ruth – double the profit. Both a biblical tradition and Zionist renewal.
Each community gathered all its members, everyone without exception arrived at the golden grain fields – on foot, by wagons, and by tractors. Against the colorful backdrop, they danced and sang and gave speeches, while the harvesters began to operate combines to harvest the grain. The celebrations began and ended in the dining hall and the culture hall, where the children arrived with baskets full of fruits picked that very day from the orchards.
Such an atmosphere also existed in moshavim and cooperative moshavim, and the celebrations were a national symbol of secular Zionism and the socialist hegemony that ruled the Yishuv (Jewish community in Palestine) and the pioneering agricultural settlements for many years after the establishment of the State of Israel.
City dwellers couldn't celebrate in nature, but they looked to the renewed Zionist symbol.
They copied some of the symbols to the city streets, which were decorated in white and green, with drawings of wheat and barley, and with alternative ceremonies that tried to imitate those of the pioneering agricultural settlements.
Kibbutz Life, 1950s: Celebrating the First Fruits – a blend of tradition, hard work, and socialist ideals shaping the young State of Israel.
The state education system in Israel navigated the holiday's values and content between the accepted religious tradition in Europe, the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah, and the "Harvest Festival" of renewed Zionism.
Kindergarten and school children learned chapters of the Bible and tradition dealing with the Torah and the grain harvest, with first fruits and the Book of Ruth and the story of her love for Boaz. Towards the evening of the holiday, before their short three-day vacation, the children and youth celebrated combined celebrations with drawings of a Torah scroll and a basket full of first fruits, and sang songs based on biblical verses and lines by Hebrew poets.
These children grew up, started families, and became parents themselves to the children of the next generation – they continued to move between the symbols, bought a family car, and added family trips in nature with the festive barbecue.
Meanwhile, from the 1980s onwards, the status of milk and its products as representatives of the holiday strengthened.
Israeli citizens found the only symbol that could unite everyone – a festive table with dairy dishes, which don't just have to be prepared for the family but also with friends, or on vacation in one of Israel's cities or at a resort abroad.
This is part of "The Israeli Story 1948-2025" project
What is The Israeli Story ?
A curated selection of Israeli snapshots, those that were and still are with us. Each one deserves an updated definition with a few words of explanation along with a tiny bit of history. Just a little – and all of them together go into the virtual Israeli Story that will remain online for future generations. You can see what's included in it by clicking on the icon below.
