The Traditions of Shavuot

Text: Rabbi David Hanania Pinto

There exist numerous and varied customs regarding the holiday of Shavuot, ones that we will cite and expand upon below. 

Decorating the Synagogue and the Home 

On Shavuot people usually decorate the synagogue and their homes with greenery and flowers, and they also place trees in synagogue [Rema 494]. The Mishnah Berurah [494 al. 10] states that we do this in order to remember that we are judged with regards to the fruit harvest. The Vilna Gaon annulled this custom because it is similar to the customs of non-Jews. However many poskim have written that there is no reason to take this into account, for our custom has a reason behind it and has spread to Jewish communities everywhere [Da’at Torah 494]. We must simply be careful not to pluck branches from fruit-bearing trees, for some believe that doing so constitutes a transgression of the verse, “You shall not destroy its trees” [Devarim 20:19]. The Ya’avetz described the reason for this custom in the following way: It is done in memory of the giving of the Torah, which took place on a verdant mountain. This is why we use many trees and all kinds of fragrant flowers to rejoice in this great day. The Milin Chadetin states that Moshe was born on Adar 7, and the Torah states: “She hid him for three months” [Shemot 2:2] – until Sivan 6 – at which point “she placed it among the reeds” [v.3], meaning the reeds and greenery that we display in memory of the miracles that were performed for Moshe. The Bnei Issachar states that the customs of the Jewish people must be considered as Torah, and they prepare roses and other greenery on Shavuot in accordance with the following words of the Midrash: “The matter may be compared to the case of a king who had an orchard planted with one row of fig-trees, one of vines, one of pomegranates, and one of apples. He entrusted it to a tenant and went away. Some time later, the king came and looked at the orchard to ascertain what it had yielded. He found it full of thorns and briars, so he brought woodcutters to raze it. He looked closely at the thorns and noticed among them a single, rose-colored flower. He smelled it and his spirits were calmed. The king said, ‘The whole orchard shall be saved because of this flower.’ In a similar manner, the whole world was created only for the sake of the Torah” [Vayikra Rabba 28:3]. 

Studying Torah on the Night of Shavuot 

Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah states: In the Arvit prayer of Shavuot, we recite the Ahavat Olam blessing with great joy because it is on this day that Hashem chose our forefathers and sanctified them by a Torah of truth and righteous laws. Let us therefore rejoice in our G-d, in His Torah and mitzvot, and may we be careful not to eat excessively on that night, that we may recite the Tikkun. Immediately after reciting Birkat Hamazon, we should quickly make our way to the Beit HaMidrash, without losing a single moment in mundane conversation. The Ya’avetz states that those who stay awake on that night should not involve themselves in useless pursuits. There is no place for joking around or having lighthearted conversations on that night, for in such a case it would be better for them – and everyone else – to have slept. The Pele Yoetz states that the Tikkun on the night of Shavuot effects a great repair for the damage caused by a person looking at forbidden things, as well as by what a person damages by a few nights of working and anger, for he was awake to disturb his Creator by his laughing, lightheartedness, and other detrimental things. 

Milk Products 

The Rema states [494:3] that in certain places people customarily eat milk products on the first day of Shavuot. The reason behind this is for people to take two kinds of food, much like on the night of Passover when we mention both the Passover and Chagigah offerings. Similarly, on Shavuot we eat milk products first and then meat. [See Mishnah Berurah ibid., which explains the remarks of the Rema.] 

The Mishnah Berurah gives a second reason for this custom by citing the words of a great Torah figure, who said that when the Children of Israel stood before Mount Sinai, they received the Torah and went back to their dwellings. However upon returning, they did not find anything to eat other than milk products, for it took a great deal of effort to prepare meat. They had to slaughter an animal with a knife that had been checked, the forbidden fat on the animal had to be removed, and the meat had to be salted and cooked in a new vessel, since the vessels they had used up to that point were now forbidden. This is why they decided to eat milk products. 

A third reason for this custom is given in the Kolbo: In certain places people customarily eat milk and honey because the Torah is compared to these things, as it is written: “Honey and milk are under your tongue” [Shir HaShirim 4:11]. 

A fourth reason is cited by the Magen Avraham: According to the Zohar, for the Children of Israel these seven weeks were like the seven days of a woman’s purification. We know that blood is transformed into milk, meaning that it goes from the color of strict justice (red) to the color of mercy (white). Now the customs of our forefathers must be considered as Torah. 

Mateh Moshe cites a fifth reason: The Torah alludes to the fact that people ate milk products on Shavuot, as it states: Mincha Chadasha L’Hashem B’Shavuotaychem [“A new meal offering to Hashem in your feast of weeks” – Bamidbar 28:26], the initials of which form the word M’chalav (“from milk”). 

Sixth reason: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to give the Torah to Israel, the ministering angels wanted to keep it in Heaven. Hashem said to them: When you descended to visit Abraham, you ate milk and meat, as it is written: “He took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared” [Bereshith 18:8]. When a child of theirs returns from school and his mother gives him a meat sandwich and some milk, the child replies: Today our rabbi taught us, “You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” From here we conclude that by the merit of the warning against mixing meat and milk, Hashem rejected the arguments of the angels. This warning earned us the giving of the Torah, hence we eat milk on Shavuot to demonstrate how careful we are to separate milk from meat. 

Seventh reason: The word chalav (milk) has a numerical value of 40, alluding to the Torah that was given in 40 days. The importance of Torah is such that all the good things of the earth are worthless in comparison to it. To demonstrate how much they love Torah, the Children of Israel adopted the practice of eating milk products, which alludes to this idea. – 

Sources: Rema 494; Magen Avraham al. 6; Mishnah Berurah ibid.; Beit Halevi, Yitro; Baer Heitev 494; Sefer Nezirut Shimshon; Kovetz Mivakshei Torah, par. 187; Sefer HaToda’ah.