CANTORIAL COMMENTS

BY

CANTOR ELIHU FELDMAN

A MUSICALLY MEANINGFUL SHAVUOT

In past articles about Shavuot, I wrote about musical aspects of the holiday of Shavuot that dealt with the giving of the Torah. A prime example is Akdamut. This is a beautiful poem of adoration sung before the first Aliyah on Shavuot praising G-d and the Torah.

However, according to some Jewish musicologists, the association between Shavuot and the giving of the Torah is not so clear and may even be complex. This is because the description of Shavuot, which literally means "weeks", (based on the context in which it is found in the Bible) has no relationship to the giving of the Torah at all. In fact, it refers to a festival in ancient times that concluded the seven weeks of counting of the omer begun on the second night of Passover. In this article, I would like to focus on the roots of the music of Shavuot that relate to agricultural aspects of this festival as it was celebrated in the land of Israel.

Shavuot is also called Hag ha-Kazir, the "Feast of Harvest", and Chag Ha Bikuriim, “Festival of the first fruits”. The Shavuot festival marked the end of the barley and beginning of the wheat harvest season in the land of Israel. Jewish Pilgrims would bring thanksgiving offerings of the first fruits that had ripened on their trees, giving the festival yet another name or Yom ha-Bikkurim "Day of the First Fruits".

The Mishnah [Bikkurim] describes a colorful procession in which

farmers from small villages would gather in a large town to

go together to Jerusalem. "Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the

House of our God," the leader would announce as they set

out on their pilgrimage. When they neared Jerusalem,

flutists would greet them with music, and when they reached

the Temple court, the priests would welcome them with hymns

and psalms.

How, then, did these musical festivities associated with the harvest of fruits and grains turn into a celebration of the Torah? Some musical anthologists feel that part of the genius of the Talmudic sages was their ability to overlay old agricultural holidays with historical meaning. In the case of Shavuot, the rabbis calculated that the festival fell during the same three-month period in which the Children of Israel had reached the wilderness of Sinai after leaving Egypt. They fixed the date for both events as the sixth of Sivan and made the Sinai experience the essence of the holiday (Jews outside Israel observe the holiday on the seventh as well).

Today, reminders of the agricultural basis for Shavuot continue to appear in some of the music for the holiday. One of these songs is called Salaynu. (in English, Baskets). The text is as follows:

With baskets on our shoulders, with garland wreaths

on our heads,We come from all over the land bringing

our first fruits. From Judea, From Samrea, from the Valley

of Jezre'el, from the Galilee We bring our produce

- clear the way! Strike the drum and play the flute!

Perhaps the greatest evidence of a Shavuot musical connection to the harvest festival in Israel is the decision to read Megilat Ruth on Shavuot. According to some musicologists, the choice of the Book of Ruth for Shavuot was not random. The setting of the Book of Ruth is harvest festival time in Israel and much of the narrative presents a very vivid historical picture of the harvest activity in ancient Israel.

At this time I would like to wish a very enjoyable Shavuot holiday and a Chag Samayach!

Sincerely,

Cantor Elihu Feldman