Shavuot

Unpack layers of Biblical and rabbinic text to understand the inner mechanics of this sometimes-overlooked but super-important holiday.

What is the essential change from before Sinai to after Sinai with the giving of the Torah?

From everything that happened the day prior to the Giving of the Torah, the Talmud singles out one detail: Moshe built an altar and offered a sacrifice.

Discover the 6 steps of spiritual preparation the Jewish People observed at Mt. Siani, over a six-day period prior to the Giving of the Torah, and how you can take these spiritual steps today, as our ancestors did more than 3,300 years ago.

Rabbi Yosef, the Talmud relates, would celebrate Shavuot, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, with a unique banquet. The puzzling statement he said in connection with the feast is the subject of this class. Probing the layers of the Sage’s words reve...

Though not the majority opinion, there is an important school of thought that perceives the five days following Shavuot as an organic continuation of the holiday – a curious prolongation of hallowed time not found anywhere else in our Jewish calendar. The...

Associating dairy-delicacies with the annual celebratory observance of Matan Torah (giving of the Torah) seems as natural as blintzes and sour cream; yet the origins of this near ubiquitous custom appear artificial and even contradictory to the mandated h...

Many reasons are suggested to explain why we eat dairy foods on Shavuot. Of all the classic reasons offered, the one that appears to be the simplest is strangely absent. This class will explain why, and in so do doing will address the great mission of the...

Understanding the nature of differing opinions in Torah, and how the Halachic ruling does not favor one view and reject the other, but rather unites them both.