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Home , Shavuot

SHAVUOT AMONG ASHKENAZI AND SEPHARDI/MIZRAHI

SEPHARDI/MIZRAHI* JEWS (often varies country to country). For convenience, both are referred to here as Sephardi.

Shavuot (to rhyme with “ah, blue boat!”) Shavuos (to rhyme with “ya knew us”)

Both groups typically eat dairy food during this . Among the Sephardim, however, do not observe this custom. OF THE HOLIDAY PRONUNCIATION PRONUNCIATION

Some make Siete Cielos (Seven Heavens) cake, Cheese blintzes: rectangular crepes stuffed with a symbolizing the seven spheres is believed to have sweet ricotta-like cheese. travelled through en route to heaven to receive the Law. : small, boiled dumplings; also made with In North Africa, eat leftover matzah from sweet cheese filling. , shredded in bowls of milk and honey, because Shavuot is the climax of —commemorated at Knishes: larger than kreplach, these dumplings can Passover— while milk and honey symbolize the land of be fried, grilled, or baked. FOOD . Milk pudding with rice is also popular. Challah: festive bread; the dough contains lots of eggs and is often braided. : need we say more? *The first three items, except when eaten on Shavuot, are often served as savory dishes, filled with meat and/or potato.

Reading the , a liturgical poem enumerating Reading the Akdamot (eleventh century liturgical the of the with the positive poem praising God and the Torah) during the ones (“thou shalt”) on the first day of the holiday, and service Reading the book of in negatives (“thou shalt not”) commandments on day two. the synagogue, because it relates to the harvest theme; and Ruth’s aligning herself with the Jewish people parallels the establishment of Israel with the Torah at Sinai.

Both have a tradition of staying up all night to study the Torah, a custom which began in the 16th century. In many Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities (but not Spanish/Portuguese), there is a service called Tikkun Leil Shavuot, “Repair of the Night of Shavuot.” Legend has it that Israel fell asleep the night the Torah was given; to make up for

LITURGY ANDLITURGY WORSHIP that, we stay up all night long reading excerpts from the , the (compilation of laws and discussions set in writing about AD 200), and the (medieval book of Jewish mysticism).

Both decorate homes or the synagogue with greenery because of the springtime theme.

Ashkenazi Jews are descended from The majority of the Jewish either live in medieval Jewish communities population in the United States or come from various other that settled near the Rhine in is Ashkenazi. communities such as Southern Germany from Alsace in the south Arabia (Yemen), North Africa, to the Rhineland in the north. Many In the same way, Sephardi Jews were Mesopotamia (Iraq), Syria, Persia migrated to numerous countries those who had settled in the Iberian (Iran), and India. There is some including Hungary, Poland, Peninsula. When all Jewish people overlap between Mizrahim and Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, and were expelled from Spain in 1492, Sephardim (“im” indicates plural). Eastern Europe. Generations later, they scattered to various places the word Ashkenazi no longer has throughout the , a particularly German connotation. Morocco, and elsewhere.