About a month before Shavuot began, a Director of Therapeutic Recreation, wanting to make the festival special for the Jewish residence, asked me what things she should get for the holiday. In fact, she went further than that. We have been working together for some time now, and she said that she knew that, on Passover, we have a Seder. She knew that, on Chanukah, we have the Menorah. She knew that, on Rosh Hashana, we blow the Shofar. She knew that, on Sukkoth, we build a hut or booth. And then, she admitted to me that, for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what we do for Shavuot.

Many of you might be in the same boat as she was. Many of you might not remember what we have for Shavuot, and there is a good reason for that. There are no distinctive things like that for Shavuot.

So, of course, we switched to looking at special foods for the festival. She knew that Chanukah was a time for latkes or jelly donuts. She knew that Passover was a time for Matzah. She knew that Rosh Hashana was a time for apples and honey. And she knew that Yom Kippur was a time of fasting. But again, what about Shavuot?

And, come to think of it, why do we have this food or that food for the various holidays?

The latkes and jelly donuts that are eaten on Chanukah are fried in oil, thus reminding us of the miracle of the oil. The matza on Passover reminds us of how, in our haste to leave Egypt, we did not have time to wait for the bread to rise so we ate the unleavened bread. The apples and honey eaten on the New Year are a way of wishing one another a very fruitful and a sweet year ahead.

So what do we eat on Shavuot? On Shavuot, we traditionally eat dairy foods and, of all of them, there is one particular one that stands out. I am referring to a delectable little thing filled with “yumminess” (yes, I made up the word)… a blintz.

A blintz is a little crepe-like edible filled with cheese. (And for those of you who are lactose intolerant, you can now get them filled with Tofu). Oddly enough, if you take two blintzes and put them side by side, they take on the shape of the Torah, and Shavuot happens to be the time in which we celebrate the giving of the Torah.

The Rabbis have long asked those under their tutelage why we say the “giving” of the Torah, instead of the “acceptance” or the “receiving” of the Torah. And one of the answers given is that on each and every given day of our lives, at each and every moment, we have to decide if we accept the yoke of the Torah into our lives or not. I think that is why I like the term “receiving” of the Torah. So many times I have been asked, “Did you receive my message?”

Getting the message is important. Hearing the message is important. Reading the message is important. But in the end, after all is said and done, it is in the doing that we bring the Torah to life; and as they sang so beautifully in Fiddler on the Roof; “L’Chaim, L’Chaim, To Life!”

Shalom my friends, Chag Sameach,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains, He works professionally in this capacity with a number of healthcare facilities in the area, and with hospice. He is the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach.