Shavuot

Today was Shavuot, the Jewish holiday celebrating God’s gift of the Torah to Moses. Orthodox Jews observed the holiday in many ways. First, many stayed awake all last night reading and studying the Books of Moses. All across Israel, and especially here in Jerusalem, there were Torah parties through the wee hours of the morning. Traditional food for the holiday focuses on dairy products, with cheesecake the staple item for Shavuot feasts. The entire city was shut down today like it usually is for Shabbat. Since the holiday fell on a Friday, this weekend will be Shabbat x 2.

I went downtown very early this morning to witness the Torah study and celebrations going on at the Western Wall. I must have been a little late, though, because I only made it to Damascus Gate when I saw a parade of Orthodox Jews coming out of the Old City. I decided to take a seat and watch as thousands of the Jewish faithful, tired but happy after a long night of study and prayer, came pouring through the gates.

The Jewish revelers came in many shapes and sizes. Young and old, chubby and skinny, Ashkenazie and Sephardic, passed through the ancient gates as one people united under the Torah’s banner. Every one displayed their Shabbat best. Women and girls wore dresses that, in a Christian context, might only be worn for weddings or funerals. The men all looked sharp in dark suits and broad black hats. Some fellows wore traditional prayer shawls, like the ones you might think of when you picture Pharisees' clothing during the time of Christ (the Judaism of today is, after all, Pharisaical Judaism). Many continued to read the Torah as they walked. I was privileged to see one group of young guys pass through the Damascus Gate with a Torah Scroll in their hands. The group was loud, singing songs of praise to God for the privilege they had as His chosen people. When they reached the courtyard, the group linked arms and formed a circle around the fellow carrying the scrolls. With broad, energetic smiles on their faces, they clapped, danced, and sang of the covenant God made with Israel through Moses.

After seeing many thousands of Jews rejoicing in God’s covenant with them, I thought of the way Christians respond to the New Covenant in Christ. I have never seen us dance a covenant dance like I saw those young Jewish fellows dance. I have never stayed up all night to remember God’s perfect work through Jesus Christ. I have never eaten cheesecake with other believers or taken an extra Shabbat day just to celebrate God’s promise to me. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says of the New Covenant, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Amen and amen to that, Jeremiah. I’m ready to get in a circle to sing, clap, and dance, aren’t you? Hebrews says God’s New Covenant with believers through His son, Jesus Christ, “is much more excellent than the old” (8:6) and offers us a “purified conscience,” “service to the living God,” and a “promised eternal inheritance.” (9:14-15). That, I know, is something worth celebrating.