Dear Temple B’nai Emet family,
The major Biblical holiday coming up in May is Shavuot, the holiday of weeks, which we now most famously celebrate as a time to commemorate Revelation (in addition to the ancient agricultural idea that it is a holiday of first fruits). The basics for the holiday are as follows:
Shavuot 6 Sivan
Thursday, May 21
Traditional candle-lighting 7:33 pm
Ideal time to begin evening rituals like Kiddush 8:34 pm
Friday, May 22
TBE holiday morning services
(including Ruth and Revelation readings) 9:30 am
Candle-lighting for Shabbat 7:34 pm
Saturday, May 23
TBE Shabbat morning services (including Yizkor) 9:30 am Havdalah 8:36 pm
There is an interesting twist on this for the coming year that deserves your attention:
The last few years, TBE has been only holding services on one day of Yom Tov (the workrestrictive Festival day) for each Biblically appointed day recognized as such. Most large Conservative synagogues outside of Israel recognize an additional, second day of Yom Tov ordained Rabbinically due to complex calendaring reasons that predate our current sophisticated calendar system. However, I strongly agree with the TBE Board and what appears to be most of the congregation, that it does not make sense to hold services on the extra, Rabbinic day of Yom Tov, if few people show up and it makes observing the original, Biblical day less special.
In fact, even though it is not well known, the Rabbinical Assembly (the organization that standardizes Conservative Judaism in the United States) has long since endorsed the practice of congregations observing a single day of Yom Tov. I personally researched the reasoning involved and am entirely convinced that this endorsement is fully correct according to our traditional rationales. This goes beyond just when services happen to be held but gives a sense of when the holidays truly occur. This means that not having Yom Tov services on the second,
Rabbinical day isn’t just a matter of necessity or convenience—it can be viewed as a matter of
principle. We are not lesser for observing one day of each Yom Tov day. I would go so far as to argue that it is a superior way for many to observe Yom Tov!
As many of you know, I grew up in the Modern Orthodox movement. For the Orthodox, that second, Rabbinical day of Yom Tov is not a choice. It makes a lot of Orthodox Jews (and quite a few Conservative Jews) roll their eyes, but they do it anyway. For many of them, it becomes a heavy burden, which is obviously not the way we should view our holidays! When each Festival day has a special purpose, it becomes so much easier to look forward to. When the same rituals designed for a single day get repeated, many find it difficult to maintain their focus. To be candid, I pray with formal liturgy every day, and I find it difficult to repeat unique holiday prayers while maintaining my spiritual integrity.
Please do not get me wrong: If you observe a second day of Yom Tov and find it a fulfilling aspect of your tradition or spirituality, by all means, please keep doing so! But for those of you that do not, and for all of us in our regular service attendance, I wish to take away any guilt, and
to take pride in our congregation. And if you do observe a second, Rabbinical day, but find that it gets in the way of you enjoying the holiday generally or observing the first, Biblical day with the same level of intention or practice, it is my informed opinion that it is better to prioritize and
enjoy just the first day.
All that said, what we have for Shavuot this year is different, because the original, Biblical day of Shavuot is on a Friday, which makes the extra, Rabbinical day of Shavuot on a Saturday, i.e., Shabbat. Of course, we will have services on Shabbat—because it is Shabbat! And for most of us, coming to services two days in a row is not nearly as difficult when one of the days is a normal day for services and a day off for much of the working world.
That leads to a dilemma—since people will be coming to services anyway, should we have Shavuot prayers on that second, Rabbinical day? We had a wonderful discussion the Shabbat before I finalized this article and, together with other feedback I received, we conclude:
• On Friday, we will read the Book of Ruth in addition to the dramatic Torah reading of
Revelation, respecting the Scriptural fullness of the holiday as does Israel and other one-day
spaces. We will of course also have Hallel and other Yom Tov (Festival) tunes.
• On Saturday, I will give page numbers for both Shabbat and Yom Tov Amidah formats, helping each congregant choose their comfort for the most intense private prayers. We will have a quickly paced but joyous Hallel as well to allow (but not require) a second day Yom Tov observance. Our reading will be for the regular triennial Shabbat cycle, putting us on Israel’s easier reading schedule, returning to our regular discussions, and honoring Shabbat’s centrality.
• We will have Yizkor on Saturday this year. This is a break from our recent practice of having Yizkor during the first, more universal day of the Festival, but the timing of Yizkor is liturgically flexible, and having Yizkor on the second day appropriately honors our older practices.
This schedule also enables us to really live out our practices with intention and consistency, instead of just going through the motions. Prioritizing one day is an honorable, traditionally sound choice. At the same time, I wish to offer my gratitude to Joseph Perez for pointing out at our congregational discussion that we can fully embrace a one-day Festival integrity while still honoring the two-day traditions as reasonable when we have the opportunity. Each day will be unique and beautiful and very much begging for your participation!
We should be proud to be who we are, to truly connect with our traditions and our needs alike. May that kind of pride inspire us beyond synagogue services as well. We should offer help, give love, be truthful, care for the world… because it is important and right, not just because it is what we are around for. Live with intention, my friends.
In hopes of renewing our commitments to God and to each other this Shavuot with a fuller heart,
Michael J. Feldman
