This is an archive of prayers written for שָׁבוּעוֹת Shavuōt (a/k/a Pentecost), the festival upon which twin loaves of processed grain loaves were elevated/waved as offerings in the Temple, expressing gratitude for the first produce of the barley/wheat harvest of the spring season in the Land of Israel. The first work to make the connection between the festival and the granting of the Torah is in the parabilblical work from the Second Temple Period, Sefer ha-Yovelim (the Book of Jubilees), chapter 6:15-22 —
"And [Hashem] gave a sign to Noaḥ and his children that there should not again be a flood upon the earth. [Hashem] set his [rain]bow in the clouds for a sign of the covenant which is forever, that the water of the Flood should therefore not be upon the earth to destroy it all of the days of the earth. Therefore, it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets that [the children of Yisrael] should observe the feast of Shevuot in this month, once per year, in order to renew the covenant in all (respects), year by year. And all of this feast was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation until the days of Noaḥ, twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years. And Noaḥ and his children kept it for seven jubilees and one week of years until the day of the death of Noaḥ. And from the day of the death of Noaḥ, his sons corrupted it until the days of Avraham, and they ate blood. But Avraham alone kept it. And Yitsḥaq and Yaaqov and his sons kept it until your days, but in your days the children of Yisrael forgot it until you renewed it for them on this mountain. And you, command the children of Israel so that they might keep this feast in all of their generations as a commandment to them. One day per year in this month they shall celebrate the feast, for it is the feast of Shevuot [oaths] and it is the feast of the first fruits. This feast is twofold and of two natures. Just as it is written and engraved concerning it, observe it. This is because I have written it in the book of the first law, which I wrote for you, so that you might observe it in each of its appointed times, one day per year. And I have told you its sacrificial offering so that the children of Israel might remember them and observe them in their generations in this month one day each year." (translation after the surviving Ge'ez text by O.S. Wintermute, from J. Charlesworth’s O.T. Pseudepigrapha) Click here to contribute a prayer you have written, or a historic prayer you have transcribed and translated for Shavuot. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category Filter resources by Language Filter resources by Date Range Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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“Preis der Gotteslehre” is a hymn translated by Felix Adler from one found in Gebete und Gesänge zu dem von der Genossenschaft für Reform im Judenthum zu Berlin eingerichteten Gottesdienst für die Zeit zwischen dem Schewuoth- und Roschhaschanah-Fest des Weltjahres 5606/7, hymn №23, pp. 19-20 (1846) and published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn №3, pp. 6-7. We have tentatively dated this translation to 1868, since another hymn by Adler (“School-hymn, no. 36”) can be found appended from another unattributed work in A Guide to Instruction in the Israelitsh Religion (Samuel Adler, trans. M. Mayer, Temple Emanu-El, 1864, 4th printing 1868). The original hymn in German has three stanzas. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
This tekhina (supplication) upon candlelighting for Shavuot in Hebrew and Yiddish appears in the Maḥzor for Shavuot Rav Peninim (Vilna 1911) although we are uncertain whether it first appeared here. We welcome your help in correctly attributing and translating it. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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This is Rabbi Max Landsberg’s public repetition of the shaḥarit festival amidah for Shavuot as found in his Ritual for Jewish Prayer (1884), pp. 21-28 with a unique prayer for Shavuot found on pp. 44-45. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
A piyyut in honor of the Torah. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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“Tsaar Balei Ḥayyim” ([It is forbidden to cause] suffering to a living creature), source unknown. Many thanks to Tiferet Zimmern-Kahan for recording the niggun for the song and to Naftali Ejdelman and The Jewish Daily Forward for providing the lyrics. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., animal protection, animal welfare, ba'alei ḥayyim, בהמות behemot, ḥayot, Needing Attribution, Needing Source Images, Pedagogical songs, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim, Yiddish songs Contributor(s):
“Hymn for Shaḇuoth (Father, See Thy Children)” is based on “Confirmation (Father, see thy suppliant children)” an original hymn by Felix Adler published in Hymns, for Divine Service in the Temple Emanu-El (1871), hymn 34, p. 68. The last four lines of the hymn have been amended and replaced with “Till our lives shall bud and blossom…” by Angie Irma Cohon, for use on Shavuot. This version was published in her תפלת ישראל (Tefilat Yisrael) A Brief Jewish Ritual (Women of Miẓpah 1921), p. 19. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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The poem “Shebuoth” by Miriam del Banco (1858-1931) was included in her posthumously published anthology, Poetry and Prose (1932), p. 37-38. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s):
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