Shavuot (the Sephardic and Israeli pronunciation), or Shavuos (the Ashkenazic pronunciation) just ended. The holiday commemorates God’s giving of the Torah to Moses and the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Shavuot traditions include eating dairy food, participating in all-night study sessions, and reading the Ten Commandments and the Book of Ruth. Which of the following is also true about Shavuot?
Moses holding The Ten Commandments by in pastel is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. Shavuot is the only holiday mentioned in the Torah that does not have a specific calendar date indicated.
B. An Israeli custom is to celebrate Shavuot with water fights in the streets, using water guns, water balloons, and buckets.
C. On Shavuot, Italian Jews break mandelbrot cookies (which are a variation of Italian biscotti) into pieces, symbolizing the breaking of the Ten Commandment tablets by Moses when he saw the Israelites dancing around the golden calf. The cookie pieces are then given to the children, symbolizing the sweetness when the Israelites ultimately accepted the Ten Commandments.
D. Rabbi Shira Stutman of Washington, D.C.’s Sixth and I Synagogue, says that Shavuot is the Rodney Dangerfield of Jewish holidays, because it gets no respect.
E. The holiday received mention in a popular song of the 1990’s which included the lyrics, “I spent Shavuos in East St. Louis. A charming spot, But clearly not the spot for me.”