Shavu-what?

The holiday many have never heard of is getting a lot of play this year! Shavuot is this week — a harvest holiday originally, early rabbis tried to figure out a way to keep it relevant in the period of rabbinic Judaism. Many people will tell you that the holiday celebrates the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. The truth is that rabbis overlaid that story onto a holiday that already existed (sort of like talking about the “miracle of oil” on the historical holiday of Hanukkah). The holiday changed once again when Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) came up with a tradition to honour the receiving of Torah by studying all night long. We call that the Tikkun Leil Shavuot. 

And here we are in a new age — the internet age. And the pandemic has made the need for adapting programs for the internet all too urgent. So there are many (many many) Tikkun Leil Shavuot programs online this year so you can get your learn on. Some of these are a few hours, some all night, some as long as two days! 

Oraynu already sponsors the one at the MNJCC. My program this year will be on intermarriage. I also submitted something for the “Torah rap battle” which you can get if you sign up for the at-home learning program (by the way, I am very ego-drivenly invested in having the best rap). That stuff is all here.

The Society for Humanistic Judaism is also hosting a program with rabbis/leaders from our movement! I can’t wait to hear from these smart people! And if you tune in to the kid story hour you’ll see a cameo from my kids: Register here .

Also check out programming from JewishLive (Facebook), At The Well (register for their online programs via their site), and many more. 

If every holiday takes new signifIcance each new age, our age of the internet (and this moment of Covid-19) means Shavuot is getting big this year. So let it. Let’s lean into the learning together, while apart. 

The Miles Nadal JCC comes up with the best visuals for stuff - the rap battles will be over YouTube and at-home learning materials will be sent out to those registered. Join the fun!