Rabbi header logo
Shavuot Candle Lighting  
for Thursday, May 28, 2020 / 5 Sivan  5780     
Light candles at 7:14 p.m.  
 
border experiment
Dear Congregation Kehillah and Friends,

Shavuot, the festival celebrating the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, begins tomorrow night (Thursday) at sundown. Light Yizkor candles before lighting Yom Tov candles. Kehillah will be gathering online Thursday, May 28th at 6:00 p.m. and again Friday, May 29th at 10:00 a.m. in celebration of Shavuot. Zoom links were  sent out on Tuesday.
 
 
Shavuot starts Thursday night - the festival celebrating our receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Shavuot is not about ritual, but about our core and essential relationship with The Holy One. Here's why:
 
Shavuot, which means 'weeks', marks the end of the period during which we count the weeks from Passover leading up to Shavuot. Yet, so many of us who would never dream of forgetting about Passover and the seder somehow forget about Shavuot; we remember having been freed from slavery, but we forget the reason for which we were liberated! The answer is found in Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah, a spiritual event that touches the depths of our souls. 
 
'Shavuot' also means oaths; on this day the Holy One swore eternal love to us, and we in turn pledged our love to God. That's why our Sages considered Shavuot to be the wedding of God and the Jewish people; the Torah is like the ketubah (the Jewish wedding contract). Torah can be understood in a narrow or a broad sense. In a narrow sense, Torah is the Five Books of Moses, the source of our laws, teachings and communal story; in a broader sense, it's an ongoing conversation we can choose to have with God as our Creator, Teacher, and loving Partner. 
 
In case you're wondering about the status of this 'marriage', remember that, like any relationship, it's a work in progress and takes time to unfold. The quality of the relationship depends very much on what both partners invest in it! This essence of this covenant with God is not what many would call 'religious' but really is! It's about how we take care of others, and that is how we are asked to show love for God, the Creator of all.
 
 
LET'S STAND TOGETHER VIRTUALLY AT MT. SINAI AS A KEHILLAH (COMMUNITY)
Thursday, May 28
6:00 p.m.
via Zoom

SHAVUOT PROGRAM including YIZKOR
Friday morning, May 29
10:00 a.m.
via Zoom




kavannah for Shavuot candlelighting:
 
Dear God, In my longing for connection, please help me to experience and share love, both human and Divine.




The blessing for Shavuot candlelighting:

*Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.
Praised are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who makes us holy through the commandments and has commanded us to kindle the light of the holiday.

Chag Sameach!


Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman


*Shavuot traditions include the reading of the Ten Commandments and the Book of Ruth, a beautiful young woman who experiences much hardship in order to follow her spiritual journey and her heart. This 'convert' to Judaism was the great-grandmother of King David and, according to tradition, the line from which the Messiah will one day come. Home traditions include eating dairy foods (cheese blintzes, cheesecake, bourekas etc) symbolic of biblical Israel as flowing with milk and honey and also in Hebrew, the word for milk is chalav: Its numerical value in gemmatria is 40, which is a significant number in the Torah (40 years in the desert, 40 days on Mount Sinai...).....and, actually, the dairy foods in modern Israel are really good!!).

border experiment

DID YOU KNOW...

Because Shavuot Day 1 falls this year on Thursday night and Friday, a Yom Tov leading into Shabbat (also Shavuot Day 2), how will we light candles on Friday evening for Shabbat? On Yom Tov, we do not light a new flame (or extinguish one), but we can transfer an existing flame. Before the holiday begins, prepare a flame (such as a 25-hour candle or a pilot light on a gas stove...I keep a decorative style, long lasting candle on my tray just for this purpose), then light candles as usual, and chant the blessing "...lehadlik ner shel yom tov." On Friday. just before Shabbat (7:14 p.m.), transfer fire from the existing flame, using a match or stick. If your custom is to light a memorial candle for Yizkor, which will be recited online this Friday morning, light that candle now. Then light two Shabbat candles and with the blessing "...lehadlik ner shel shabbat veshel yom tov." Do not extinguish the match or stick but let it go out on a tray. On Saturday night, the end of both Shabbat and Yom Tov, make Havdalah as you would at the end of any Shabbat.