Three days before Matan Torah and three days of fast before Purim
Bnei Yisrael had to prepare themselves for three days before the giving of the Torah.As a parallel to this receiving of the Torah, the Jews "accepted" the Torah on Purim (kiy'mu v'kiblu). The turning...
View ArticleWhat does Shavuot commemorate? [duplicate]
When did the tradition of interpreting Shavuot as commemorating the giving of the Torah ("Zman matan toratenu") begin and what is the first source for that?In the Torah itself, Shavuot is called the...
View ArticleSadducees versus Pharisees about Shavuot
When the Sadducees tried to argue that Shavuot comes on the Sunday after the first Shabbat in Pessah (because the Torah says "the day after Shabbat") Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai countered them sharply as...
View ArticleWhat is the source that the "skies open up" on Shavuat night?
I remember having been taught that the "skies open up" on Shavuot and that there is a tradition to go outside on the night of Shavuot and do personal tefilot at night.I can attest to certain to tefilot...
View ArticleWhy do we put out greenery on Shavuos?
Those that have the Minhag to put out greenery in the Shul on Shavuos, why do we do it?
View ArticleWhy count the Omer?
The Torah enjoins us to count the Omer for agricultural reasons [Leviticus 23:15-17]. Later, the counting was reinterpreted as eager anticipation for the giving of the Torah on Shavuot.(1) What is the...
View ArticleLeDavid Mizmor in Shavout morning
Following this question. The answer for why saying in Shabbat morning, Mizmor Ledavid (Ashkenaz, Nosah Sfard) and on a regular day and on Yom Tov that is not Shabbat, LeDavid Mizmor is that on Shabbat...
View ArticleChag Ha'Bikurim
Shavuoth, in addition to being Zman Matan Toratenu, is also Chag Ha'Bikurim. Yet we do not refer to bikurim in the tfillot nor do read the Torah portions (or a haftorah) dealing with bikurim.I have...
View ArticleIs there an inyan to eat Cheesecake on Shavuos?
I know everybody does it, and I know there is an inyan to eat dairy, but is there an inyan specifically for eating cheesecake on Shavuos? And if so, where does it come from?
View ArticleWhy doesn't Chabad read Ruth on Shavuot?
I was at Chabad this Shavuot and they did not read Ruth. Everywhere else I've been (all Nusach Ashkenaz) has read it claiming that it's appropriate since this is the time of the wheat harvest.Are there...
View ArticleWhen do we read Megillat Ruth?
This question has two parts:In the Diaspora, is Megillat Ruth read on the first day or the second day of Shavuot?At what point in the service is it read: before Hallel, after the Haftarah, at the end...
View ArticleParashas Bamidbar: a preparation for Shavuos
In different sources, it is explained that the sidra of Bamidbar Sinai be read before the holiday of Shavuos. The Netziv, in his introduction to sefer Bamidbar, mentions the fact that Bamidbar is...
View ArticleHOW did they re-accept the Torah?
During the story of Purim, the Gemara (https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.88a.5?lang=bi&with=Sheets&lang2=en ) tells us that the Jewish people "re-accepted the Torah during the story of...
View ArticleWhen did we REALLY accept the Torah?
It is a known Gemara that the Jewish people "re-accepted" the Torah during the times of Esther.Question 1. Why did the Jews of that time specifically merit to be the ones to re-accept the Torah? Had...
View ArticleWhy do we read Megillat Ruth on Shabbat but not Megillat Esther?
Megillat Esther is not read when Purim falls on Shabbat, as we are concerned that one may carry the scroll outside. However, Megillat Ruth is read when Shavuot falls on Shabbat. Why doesn’t the same...
View ArticleConnection between Yovel and Shavuos?
Both Yovel and Shavuos are the fiftieth after a cycle of 7 sets of 7 (7 Shmittas, each 7 years/ 7 weeks each 7 days) and both are after “Shabbos” - we start counting the Omer “after Shabbos”, so...
View ArticleWhat happened during Matan Torah and when?
The Rebbe suggested that HaShem was pleased when He came to give them the Torah and saw everyone still sleeping in the early morning. Other sources indicated G-d's wrath: how dare Israelites make G-d...
View ArticleWhy isn't there confirmation outside the Reform Movement?
Why don't synagogues of movements other than Reform conduct a Confirmation ritual during the Holiday of Shavuot? Although it is an innovation, it doesn't per se seem so halakhically problematic,...
View ArticleIf Shavuos and Shemini Atzeres are essentially the same holiday then why are...
The Midrash Rabbah (Shir HaShirim 7:2) equates Shavuos and Shemini Atzeres, calling them both Atzeres (shel Pesach/Sukkos), saying that really Shemini Atzeres should come later on in the year (similar...
View ArticleWhen can we call a holiday "Shabbat"?
In talking about Pessaḥ, the Torah says that Shavuot begins seven complete weeks from “the day after Shabbat”. [Leviticus 23:15-16]Which Shabbat? Unspecified. The Sadducees said it’s the Shabbat within...
View ArticleWhy Shavuos on Sunday
Rashi on Rosh Hashana 22 omud 2 says that the baytusim wanted the 1st day of sefirah and Shavuos to fall on Sunday because of the possuk which says ממחרתהשבת which they interpret literally, that the...
View ArticleTikkun Leil Shavuot for download
Do we have any pdf of Tikkun Leil Shavuot (Nusach Edot haMizrach)? If not is there any syllabus (which portions from Tanach, Mishnayot, etc.) suggested by Chacham Ovadia Yosef or any other Sephardic...
View ArticleCustomary learning areas for Shavuos?
Leaving aside the traditional Tikkun Leil Shavuot which includes Chumash, Nach, Mishnah, Gemara, Halacha, Kabbalah etc. the increasingly common current practice is to study a wide variety of...
View ArticleTwo crowns, one corresponding to na'aseh, one to nishmah?
B"HIt says in the Gemara (Shabbat 88a) that when the people of Yisroel said "we will do" (na'aseh) before "we will listen" (nishmah), 600,000 angels came and tied two crowns to each of their heads; one...
View ArticleElokai Neshama and Hamaavir Sheina Shavuot morning
When staying up all night, as some do on Shavuot, not all Birkot Hashachar can be said.The following berachot can be more easily be dealt with without being yotze from someone else.Al netilat yadayim...
View ArticleStaying Up and Learning Shavuos night
What's the reason we stay up to learn on Shavuos night? If the reason is because we woke up late for Matan Torah, then why don't we just wake up for the earliest shacharis and be on time?
View ArticleWhy skip tachnun on shavuos tashlumin?
B"HEvery chag has tashlumin, "make up time", to bring the required offerings on it, all 7 days.Even though shavuos is only 1 day, for 6 days after it, in the times of the Beis Hamikdash, people would...
View ArticleWhy shouldn't the Israelites have been asleep when God gave the Torah?
On Shavuot eve, we have a custom of staying up all night to study Torah, to make amends because, when the Israelites were about to receive the Torah at dawn, they were sleeping, and God had to awaken...
View ArticleWhat is the Idea of Making a brit with someone according to Aggada or Halacha?
BHHi.So the way I understand, is that there is a concept of Shavuot, Nedarim, and making a chazzaka in the the Torah that can have a binding nature on a person. However, also I heard there is something...
View ArticleWhy did not G-d Himself give the Torah to the people?
Why didn't G-d Himself give the Torah to Israel at mount Sinai? Why was the intermediation of Moses needed? What kind of intermediation was this?
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