You Can Celebrate Shavuot in Your Home

by Stephen Eastman

Shavuot (a Hebrew word pronounced sha-voo'-oat) is a festival prescribed by God in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. It is also known as the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost because it follows Passover by 50 days. Initially it was a spring harvest festival of thanksgiving. It is also the anniversary of the giving of the 10 Commandments in the Old Testament and the anniversary of the giving of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. But most of all it's a great opportunity to worship God in your home.

Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us that we should talk about our faith at home, not just at church. We need to impress children with Bible truth in the living room, not just the Sunday School Room! Whether your home has little ones, or grown-up ones, the key to your spiritual education is talking about your faith "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you get up."

A holiday like Shavuot gives us opportunity to do this. Why not choose one or more of the following ideas, traditions and suggestions and try them in your home?

• Bake Bread -2 loaves
• Decorate your home with plants and flowers. I have a basket of fruit on the table. Modern Jewish families do this in keeping with the original farmer's thanksgiving theme of Shavuot.
• Read the book of Ruth. This wonderful harvest story traditionally goes with the Feast of Weeks. Note that Ruth was a gentile and became an ancestress of Jesus the Messiah.
• In Israel , first graders are given a copy of Scriptures on this holiday as a symbol of God giving the law to his people. Why not buy a nice copy of the Bible and look for an opportunity to give it away this week'? Ask God to direct those Scriptures to the right hands. Children would really love to help in this project.
• Read the account of the giving of the 10 Commandments in Exodus 19, 20, 32, 33, and 34, then consider Acts 2.
• Stay up all night and study Scripture! Of course you could do this! It takes some planning and effort to stay awake but has great rewards. Many observant Jews hold an all night study vigil in honor of the historical significance of Shavuot. In Martha Zimmerman's book Celebrate the Feasts, there is an excellent schedule for a couple or a family to hold a "night watch" together. This schedule has Bible discussions, Bible games, time for reading, breaks for special foods and even a chart to study the stars, We stay up late for many non-spiritual reasons. Why not do it for the Lord one night?
• Read up on the festival of Weeks. Many books teach great historical and spiritual truths about this holiday and some have more suggestions for celebrating. Here are a couple for starters: God's Appointed Times by Barney Kasdan and Celebrate the Feasts by Martha Zimmerman.
• Have a big holiday meal on the scale of Thanksgiving or Christmas. Although serious and spiritual in nature, the commemoration of the coming of the law and the Spirit is a joyful thing. Traditionally, milk products are used in the Shavuot holiday meal. (Dairy is forbidden at Passover, but not here.) I Peter 2:2 speaks of the milk of the Word, so let milk symbolize God's voice to us. Here is a traditional Shavuot menu with a few recipes to try:

> Fruit Salad as an appetizer

>Tray with fresh cut raw vegetables like carrots, celery, green pepper, broccoli, cauliflower etc.

> Green Garden Salad

> Roasted Chicken: your favorite recipe is fine.

> Fresh Cooked Vegetables

> Bread

> A Special Dessert such as Noodle Kugel, Cheese Blintzes or a Cheese Cake

> Coffee, Tea, other drinks, Milk is okay.

FRUIT SALAD

Fruit salad at Shavuot is a must! This is an agriculture, thanksgiving meal, so the fresher and more plentiful the fruit and vegetables, the better if you don't have a fruit salad recalls , make one up! Cut up and toss together bite size pieces of whatever fresh fruit is available to you. (Canned can be used.) Try mixing Grapefruit, seedless grapes, pineapple, peaches, apricots, oranges etc, and add a little lime juice and just enough sugar to soften the tart taste (only if needed).

NOODLE KUGEL (as a side dish)

1 lb medium noodles

6 eggs

Cook and drain noodles

Beat eggs well

2 lbs. low fat cottage cheese Mix all ingredients together

1/4 C. oil, or less    Grease a 9 x 12 pan

Pour noodle mixture into pan Bake at 350 degrees I to I & 1/2 hr Can be served with a light chicken gravy or cinnamon may be sprinkled on top if desired.

NOODLE KUGEL (more like dessert)

1 lb med. noodles cooked 4 eggs

1 C. milk

1/2 lb white raisins

16 oz can crushed pineapple, drained I pt. sour cream

1/2 C. sugar

3 large apples, peeled and grated

1/2 lb butter, melted

1 lb small curd cottage

cheese

corn flakes crushed

brown sugar

In a large bowl, beat the eggs Add the milk, raisins, pineapple, sour cream, sugar, apples, butter and cottage cheese and mix, then blend in noodles

Place in a 3 Qt greased casserole Sprinkle with crushed corn flakes and brown sugar

Bake at 350, 1 hour, 20 min.

BLINTZES

Crepes:

1 cup of flour 1/2 tsp. salt 4 eggs

1 cup milk

butter or margarine to fry with

Mix crepe ingredients.

1 cup dry cottage cheese 1/2 cup sour cream 2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Butter and heat a skillet. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto the pan forming a large circle. Cook on one side only, until the blintz starts to "blister" and the edges curl away from the skillet. Ease onto a platter fried side up. Continue making crepes till the batter is used up adding butter to the skillet as needed.

Mix the filling ingredients. Place about two tablespoons of filling on to the cooked side of each crepe. Fold the top and bottom to the center, then roll the sides over. Return to pan and fry lightly until the center is cooked.

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