What is Shavuot Really About?

From Harvest to Revelation: How Shavuot Became What It Is Today

Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals in the Torah, rooted in the agricultural rhythms of ancient Israel. And yet, when we celebrate it today, we speak about revelation, Sinai, the receiving of Torah, and, somehow, cheesecake.

So what happened?

In this session, Rabbi David Kasher will peel back the layers of Shavuot, tracing how a biblical harvest festival became associated with Mount Sinai, how its practices evolved, and how it came to mean what it does today. Along the way, we'll engage directly with some of the key texts that shaped the holiday.

Whether you’re encountering Shavuot for the first time or returning to it with years of experience, this session offers a chance to rediscover what this holiday is really about.

Rabbi David Kasher is the Director of Hadar West. He grew up bouncing back and forth between the Bay Area and Brooklyn, hippies and Hassidim - and has been trying to synthesize these two worlds ever since. He received rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and has served as Senior Jewish Educator at Berkeley Hillel, Director of Education at Kevah, and Associate Rabbi at IKAR. Rabbi Kasher is the author of ParshaNut: 54 Journeys into the World of Torah Commentary, and the host of the parshah podcast, Best Book Ever.