Holidays & Festivals

Important Changes to Our Shavuot Observance from Rabbi Dorsch

Chaverim:

Please note the following changes to our synagogue observance of Shavuot this year:

• Tikkun Leil Shavuot will fall on the Sunday evening of June 1, at 6:30 p.m. We hope you will join us as scheduled for our learning together as we prepare to symbolically receive the Torah at Sinai.
• Services for the first day of Shavuot will occur on Monday, June 2, at 9:30 a.m. We will recite Yizkor on the first day of the holiday this year: NOT the second day.  
• Services for the second day of Shavuot (traditionally not observed in the Land of Israel) will be held at 7:00 a.m. in the Levine Family Chapel at morning minyan on Tuesday, June 3. These will be Yom Tov services, however, there will be NO sermon and NO Yizkor recited. Following services, we will hold a special breakfast for attendees and will learn Torah together. Our synagogue offices will also remain closed on this day. 

Why the change? Since my arrival at Etz Chaim nearly ten years ago, there has also been a great deal of discussion among regular attendees of our synagogue regarding adopting the same holiday calendar that is used in the Land of Israel. As early as 1964, members of the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards began discussions about ways to achieve uniformity in holiday practice between what was then the newly established Jewish state and the diaspora.

Why are our holiday calendars different? According to Rabbi Alfred Kolatch in the Jewish Book of Why, the practice in the Diaspora to observe “Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot for an extra day is because of the uncertainty of the calendar in early times.” Citing the Talmud, Rabbi David Brofsky in his book Hilchot Moadim elaborates that in our era where this uncertainty has become obsolete, there are two reasons for maintaining the extra day: “Minhag Avot, maintaining the custom of one’s forefathers, and kilkul, the fear that a government might issue a decree that would lead the community to forget the calendar.” While both are interesting reasons to maintain these extra days, even among traditionalists it seems that these days are at best a strong minhag (customary), and far from a Jewish legal mandate.

The past two years have undoubtedly brought Israel and the Jewish diaspora even closer together. October 7 challenged us: but as in times past, it also rallied the Jewish people in our unequivocal support for the State of Israel. As our world grows “flatter,” there is no doubt that Israel and the diaspora will become even more interconnected. Reflecting this reality, ten years ago, the Conservative movement published a responsa permitting the use of kitniyot on Passover, which is the predominant custom for Jews living in Israel. 

As the rabbi of our traditionally Conservative community who seeks to find creative ways to grow our observance, my approach has always been to chart the middle ground. Therefore, as we approach Shavuot–a major Jewish holiday that is sadly neglected in the summer months–I hope our innovative approach this year will help to meet that goal. As always, we welcome your continued feedback as we navigate the dynamic times in which we live.  

We continue to pray the words of Psalms: hazorim bedima berina yiktzoru: “that the ones who plow in sadness may ultimately reap in joy.” May our hostages soon return home to the arms of their loving families.  

I look forward to seeing you on Shavuot.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Dan Dorsch