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The Shavuos Bulletin prepared by MHDS students |
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| Flowers | Dairy and Cheese |
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| Picture of flowers (these aren't real) on
Mrs. Coleman's desk. Because Mount Sinai was blossoming with flowers in the middle of the desert in honor of the giving of the Torah. Therefore, it is customary to decorate our homes and the synagogue with greens and flowers for Shavuos. Nathan Rosenstein at Shomray Torah (The Shteeble) even decorates the Torah itself with greens and flowers. Another reason for this custom is that Shavuos is a spring time holiday and that's when things blossom. |
Picture of Cheese-Pizza at Maimonides Hot
Lunch - Iyar 5764 It is a custom to eat and drink dairy products on Shavuos. Some people say the reason why we eat dairy products is because Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey. Other people say the reason why is that the numerical value of "Chalav" is forty corresponding to the forty days that Moses was on Mount Sinai. SPECIAL SHAVUOS DAIRY
LUNCH |
| Flowers are very beautiful and colorful.
There is a special "Tulip Festival" in Washington Park every year. Zalmy
Kudan and his new wife Shterna might be able to come up to Albany to see the
thousands of beautiful tulips planted in May.
Around the O'Brien home, there is one cherry tree that is already blossoming. There are also two peach trees, one pear tree, one mulberry tree. As soon as Springtime comes, they wait for them to blossom. The Morrisons planted 105 flower seeds and bulbs in the wintertime, and some of them started to peek through already. |
The Kudan family has cheesecake for shovuos.
Most of the family and guests love the cheesecake but I like the ice cream
better. Cheese is good for you and has a lot of calcium in it, but too much
can be fattening. Shlomo Morrison says that his family likes to make their own Pizza. Store-bought or frozen Pizza can be OK, but it is so much tastier when you make it yourself (and also saves a lot of money). They use Mozzerella more than any other kind of cheese, and it is locally made! It is a little harder to get Cholov Yisroel products in Albany, but those families who keep this observance can get these products at the Kosher Department of Price Chopper in Colonie. |
| Staying Up All Night to Study | First Fruits |
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| Daniel and Aharon review
their Talmud texts in R' Ran's class. Learning is always a good idea, but is especially important on Shavuos, when we celebrate getting the Torah for the first time on Mount Sinai. Some people try to stay up late studying (or even all night) on the night before the Giving of the Torah. But be sure not to oversleep the next morning, and miss the reading of the Aseres HaDibros! |
Across the top of our blackboard is a
display of the months. This is the Sivan picture.
On Shavuos the Jewish People brought their "Bikurim" - first fruits - to the Bais Hamikdash in Yerushalayim. There was a special colorful procedure and celebration for this special Mitzvah. On the top-right corner of this photo a stalk of barley is visible, which was used in the Omer offering of this holiday. |
| Be There for "Aseres HaDibros"! | |
| The Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged all Jewish children to be present in the Shul when the Aseres HaDibros, 10 commandments, are read on Shavuos. This is based on a Midrash which says that G-d asked the Jewish People for a guarantor that they would always keep the Torah in the future. They first offered Avraham, the Prophets and other holy people - but G-d only accepted when they offered the Children as guarantors. | Special ICE-CREAM Party
for Kids at Cong. Shomray Torah (the Shteeble) following the reading of the
10 Commandments! WED May 26th, at 10:30am! Games, Stories and fun - led by MHDS Students Sarale Kudan and Esther Ehrlich. |