If Jews tend to be lactose intolerant, why all the dairy on Shavuot?
If there's one thing everyone knows about the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, it's that Jews eat lots of dairy.Â
Stepping back, as one of the shalosh regalim or three biblical pilgrimage festivals, Shavuot actually celebrates two things:Â
Shavuot is known as many things in the Torah, whether it's the Festival or Feast of Weeks, Festival of Reaping, or the Day of the First Fruits. But let's get back to the cheesecake.
Considering a popular assumption is that most Jews are lactose intolerant ... why exactly do Jews consume so much dairy on Shavuot?Â
The simplest explanation comes from Song of Songs (Shir ha'Shirim) 4:11:Â "Like honey and milk [the Torah] lies under your tongue."
Likewise, the land of Israel is referred to as "a land flowing with milk and honey" in Deuteronomy 31:20.
Essentially, milk serves as sustenance, the source of life, and honey represents sweetness. So Jews the world over make dairy-based sweet treats like cheesecake, blintzes, and cottage cheese pancakes with fruit compote.Â
Source:Â Rabbi Meir of Dzikov, Imrei Noam
Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which is also known as Har Gavnunim (?? ??????), which means "mountain of majestic peaks."Â
The Hebrew word for cheese is gevinah (?????), which is etymologically related to the word Gavnunim. On that note, the gematria (numerical value) of gevinah is 70, which ties into the popular understanding that there are 70 faces or facets of Torah (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15).Â
But don't misunderstand, we don't recommend eating 70 slices of Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet and Salty Cheesecake with Cherries and Crumble.Â
Souces:Â Psalms 68:16; Rebbe of Ostropole; Reb Naftali of Ropshitz; Rabbi Dovid Meisels
There is one theory that because the Jews only received the Torah at Mount Sinai (the reason Shavuot is celebrated), they didn't have the laws of how to slaughter and prepare meat prior to this.
Thus, once they received the Torah and all of the commandments about ritual slaughter and the separation law of "do not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 34:26), they didn't have time to prepare all of the animals and their dishes, so they ate dairy instead.Â
If you're wondering why they didn't just take the time to slaughter the animals and make their dishes kosher, the answer is that the revelation at Sinai occurred on Shabbat, when those acts are forbidden.Â
Sources: Mishnah Berurah 494:12; Bechorot 6b; Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (HaElef Lecha Shlomo – YD 322)
Much in the same vein as gevinah, mentioned earlier, there is another gematria that is cited as a possible reason for the heavy consumption of dairy on Shavuot.Â
The gematria of the Hebrew word for milk, chalav (???), is 40, so the reasoning cited is that we eat dairy on Shavuot to remember the 40 days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving the whole of the Torah (Deuteronomy 10:10).Â
Stepping back, as one of the shalosh regalim or three biblical pilgrimage festivals, Shavuot actually celebrates two things:Â
- The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. After the Exodus from Egypt, from the second day of Passover, the Torah commands the Israelites to count 49 days (Leviticus 23:15). On the 50th day, the Israelites are to observe Shavuot.Â
- The wheat harvest. Passover was the time of the barley harvest, and it was followed by a seven week period (corresponding to the omer period of counting) that culminated with the harvesting of grain on Shavuot. During the time of the Holy Temple, Israelites would travel to Jerusalem to make an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest.Â
Shavuot is known as many things in the Torah, whether it's the Festival or Feast of Weeks, Festival of Reaping, or the Day of the First Fruits. But let's get back to the cheesecake.
Considering a popular assumption is that most Jews are lactose intolerant ... why exactly do Jews consume so much dairy on Shavuot?Â
1. A Land Flowing with Milk ...
The simplest explanation comes from Song of Songs (Shir ha'Shirim) 4:11:Â "Like honey and milk [the Torah] lies under your tongue."
Likewise, the land of Israel is referred to as "a land flowing with milk and honey" in Deuteronomy 31:20.
Essentially, milk serves as sustenance, the source of life, and honey represents sweetness. So Jews the world over make dairy-based sweet treats like cheesecake, blintzes, and cottage cheese pancakes with fruit compote.Â
Source:Â Rabbi Meir of Dzikov, Imrei Noam
2. Cheese Mountain!
Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which is also known as Har Gavnunim (?? ??????), which means "mountain of majestic peaks."Â
The Hebrew word for cheese is gevinah (?????), which is etymologically related to the word Gavnunim. On that note, the gematria (numerical value) of gevinah is 70, which ties into the popular understanding that there are 70 faces or facets of Torah (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15).Â
But don't misunderstand, we don't recommend eating 70 slices of Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet and Salty Cheesecake with Cherries and Crumble.Â
Souces:Â Psalms 68:16; Rebbe of Ostropole; Reb Naftali of Ropshitz; Rabbi Dovid Meisels
3. The Kashrut Theory
There is one theory that because the Jews only received the Torah at Mount Sinai (the reason Shavuot is celebrated), they didn't have the laws of how to slaughter and prepare meat prior to this.
Thus, once they received the Torah and all of the commandments about ritual slaughter and the separation law of "do not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 34:26), they didn't have time to prepare all of the animals and their dishes, so they ate dairy instead.Â
If you're wondering why they didn't just take the time to slaughter the animals and make their dishes kosher, the answer is that the revelation at Sinai occurred on Shabbat, when those acts are forbidden.Â
Sources: Mishnah Berurah 494:12; Bechorot 6b; Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (HaElef Lecha Shlomo – YD 322)
4. Moses the Dairy Man
Much in the same vein as gevinah, mentioned earlier, there is another gematria that is cited as a possible reason for the heavy consumption of dairy on Shavuot.Â
The gematria of the Hebrew word for milk, chalav (???), is 40, so the reasoning cited is that we eat dairy on Shavuot to remember the 40 days that Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving the whole of the Torah (Deuteronomy 10:10).Â