Shavuot commemorates both the day on which Torah was given to the Jewish People and the harvest festival during which the first fruits of the Land of Israel were brought to the First and the Second Temples; the focus of the holiday was originally on expressing appreciation for what God provided in terms of the agricultural activities that the Children of Israel were carrying out in their land.
That’s why the symbols associated with the holiday are from nature, comprising the seven species typical of the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, dates, pomegranates, and olives (and olive oil). Dates, in fact, account for the “honey” in “a land of milk and honey.”
Shavuot also reminds us that first came the Torah and then the land.
At Mount Sinai, seven weeks (hence, the holiday’s alternative name, “Feast of Weeks”) after leaving Egypt, the Israelites made a covenant with God, pledging to live by His laws. This was the foundation of their moral code and legal system, many of which laws could only be kept in the Land of Israel.
The holiday also celebrates the culmination of a process that began with the liberation of Hebrew slaves from Egypt (celebrated during Passover) and their rescue from the Egyptian army at Yam Suf (translated alternately as Red Sea or Sea of Reeds, unconnected bodies of water.)
Jacob and his 12 sons left the land of Canaan, the land to which God had commanded his grandfather Abraham, to pick up and move, due to a severe drought and the resulting famine, moving temporarily to Egypt. Jacob’s name was also Israel, his sons fathered the 12 Tribes of Israel, and the land was known as “Eretz Israel,” meaning “the land belonging to Israel.”
A Jewish civilization was built there, leading to the first and second Jewish commonwealths. The Children of Israel were expelled from their land by four separate civilizations before they were able to finally return and establish the state we have today.
The relationship between the Jewish People and their land is enshrined in God’s covenant with Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. It is an eternal bond. It is reflected in Zionism. Long before Zionism became known as a political movement, it existed in a historical unfolding over three and a half millennia.
Zionism is an essential part of our identity as we strive to fulfill a purpose that is explicit in the Torah and all Jewish writing: to lead meaningful lives in the land that God promised Abraham and Sarah in the Covenant between the Pieces and again, at Mount Sinai. Shavuot celebrates the essence of this holy land, where laws were handed down to enable the people to build a society based on ethics and morality and the prophetic vision of future redemption in our land.
The Land of Israel is as fundamental to Judaism as Judaism is fundamental to the land.
Therefore, the annual celebration of Shavuot is a millennia-old built-in response to those who dismiss or neglect the importance of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people.
Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits wrote in his 1973 essay, “On Jewish sovereignty”: “Those who sever Zion from Torah have severed Judaism from its authentic realization. They have surrendered, as a matter of principle, Judaism’s raison d’etre, which is [its] fulfillment in history. They have transformed its character by reducing it to the level of religion...
“Without the return to Zion, Judaism and Jewish history are meaningless...”
The Aseret Hadibrot, the 10 Sayings, erroneously translated as the 10 Commandments, begin with identifying the part initiating the contract, as was the custom of the times: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.” Shavuot, therefore, is a result of the work of the Jewish people in the land, of their self-awareness and self-definition, and of their creativity.
Our Garden of Eden
Shavuot is a Zionist holiday reclaimed by the first Jews who resettled the land after a (not total) absence of 2,000 years. By celebrating Shavuot, we celebrate our connection to the land and our ability to make the desert bloom. It is our Garden of Eden – as Adam and Eve were commanded to care for the garden, our duty is to care for the land.
As Steven Rosenberg wrote in his article, “We must give our Jewish youth hope, not despair,” published in the Algemeiner, earlier this month: “We are here because we are survivors, builders, dreamers, and creators...
“Jews don’t want to be told their identity is something to protect. They want to be told it’s something to celebrate. And they want to celebrate it in their own way – not just through Holocaust remembrances and antisemitism awareness panels.
“They want to build start-ups with a Jewish soul. Create art that reflects our ancient values. Reimagine what it means to be a Jewish leader in politics, tech, fashion, or sports. They want to innovate, not litigate their existence.”
Shavuot is God’s promise to us and its fulfillment. We have witnessed miracles, we have a state in our homeland, and we have the ability to defend ourselves. We shall overcome!
The writer is a PhD historian and journalist.■