Of all the festivals Shavuot is the least observed. Pesach, by contrast, is widely observed even by Jews who keep little else. Even the White House has a seder night. What happened to Shavuot?
I believe that there are two reasons. The first is that children value what they see their parents sacrifice for. As generations became more assimilated and observed less, they clung to what seemed to them to be the 'priority' observances. A child seeing a parent eating cheesecake has limited impact. Seeing a parent cleaning a house from all chametz, or fasting and praying, means so much more.
That moral belies the myth that if only Judaism were somehow a little easier it would be more widely observed. To the contrary. Shavuot is the shortest Jewish festival, and it is the least demanding. Therefore it has been undervalued and lost to so many.
So perhaps the first lesson is that if we want to pass on our values and heritage, our children must see the effort we put into them. Tell children to marry Jewish or practice Judaism, and they may or may not; treasure Judaism above career, leisure or social fads and there is a strong chance it will last into the future.
But I believe that there is a second lesson; one that relates to the content of the story. Pesach is about survival in the face of persecution. Jewish history has been so littered with persecution that its tale resonates powerfully. Jewish history is the story of survival under pressures that destroyed hundreds of other nations. No matter how great the personal or communal sacrifice, we refused to let persecution defeat us. The tenacity and faith of the Jew in Egypt was etched into the fibre of our soul.
However, the challenge of our time is different. We live in an era of tolerance, with material comfort, and, thanks to the State of Israel almost unprecedented national autonomy. There remains persecution, largely directed against Israel, but on the street, in our homes, and in our workplaces we feel a security and acceptance that Jews have rarely experienced. The past half century has taught us the counterintuitive lesson: it is often easier to die for something than to live for it. The same communities that refused to abandon Judaism on pain of death or torture, have tragically walked away for the allure of assimilation and acceptance.
Shavuot is almost alone amongst Jewish festivals in making no mention of slavery, death or persecution. There is no judgement, no painful memories and no martyrs. It is simply a celebration of life. Physically it was a time to celebrate the bounty of life - the new fruits and harvest. Spiritually it is a time to celebrate the meaning of life - the gift of the Torah. It is probably no coincidence that the two days are one. 'If there is no produce there is no Torah,' says the mishnah (Ethics of the Fathers ch.3) 'and if there is no Torah there is no produce'.
Judaism involves survival in tough times, but it is not about survival in tough times. It is about learning to live every moment of life plugged into the consciousness that drives creation. A celebration of Torah is a celebration of the ability of man to hear the voice of God. Man can be an animal, with unsatisfied desires; but man can also live in the image of God, inspired by the voice of God, to appreciate the infinite potential in each moment of life, each grain of crop and each situation that faces us.
Many Jews understood the meaning of Pesach. They knew how to die for being Jewish. But it is the Jew who understands and celebrates Shavuot, who knows that to live as a Jew is to touch a depth of creation that takes each moment of life to a different level.
May you have a truly joyful Shavuot, and may we all merit to see a Jewish future full of the joy and depth of Shavuot.
