TORAH READING FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SHAVUOT

On the third new moon after the people of Israel had left the land of Egypt, on that first day, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. They had traveled from Refidim and they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped there in the desert; there, in view of the mountain, Israel laid out its camp. And there Moses ascended to God; and the LORD called out to him from the mountain, telling him, “This you must say to the house of Jacob, must tell the house of Israel: You have seen what I did in Egypt; and how I lifted you high, on the wings of eagles, and brought you to Me. And now – if you will listen to My voice, if you will guard close My covenant, you shall be My treasure among all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine; but you shall be a kingdom of priests to Me, a holy nation. These are the words you must say to the children of Israel.” So Moses came back, and called together the elders of the people, and laid out before them all these words with which the LORD had charged him. And all the people responded as one: “All that the LORD has spoken, we shall perform.” And Moses brought the words of the people back to the LORD. The LORD said to Moses, “I shall come to you in the thick of the cloud, that the people may hear as I speak to you, that they should believe in you also, forever,” and Moses told the LORD what the people had said. “Go to the people,” said the LORD to Moses, “And have them consecrate themselves today and tomorrow, and wash their clothes. Be sure they are ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD shall descend to Mount Sinai, in the sight of all the people. Mark a boundary for the people around, and tell them: Take care not to climb the mountain, or even to touch its edge, for anyone who touches the mountain shall die. Let no hand touch it, for that person will be stoned or shot down; man or beast, he shall not live. Only when the horn sounds a long blast, may you ascend the mountain again.”

Moses descended the mountain to the people, and he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. “Be ready,” he told the people, “for three days’ time; let no man come close to a woman.”

On the third day, in the early morning – thunder and lightning; heavy cloud covered the mountain, there was a very loud sound of the shofar, and all of the people in the camp quaked. And Moses went apart from the people, to meet God, leaving the camp behind, and the people came to stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was all enveloped in smoke, for the LORD had descended upon it in fire, and its smoke rose up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain shook. And the sound of the shofar grew ever louder – Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice. The LORD descended to Mount Sinai, to the mountain top – and the LORD called Moses forth to the top of the mountain, and Moses ascended. “Now go down,” said the LORD to Moses, “and warn the people, lest they break away to come to see the LORD, and fall in their great numbers. Even the priests who draw near the LORD – let them, too, set themselves apart, lest the LORD bursts in among them.” But Moses told the LORD, “The people cannot ascend to Mount Sinai, for You have already warned us, ‘Mark a boundary to the mountain around and consecrate it.’” So the LORD said to him, “Go down and ascend again, together with Aaron, but let the priests and the people not break away to ascend to the LORD, lest disaster burst out upon them.” So Moses descended to the people and told them. And God spoke all these words, saying:

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the slave-house. Have no other gods besides Me. Do not make a sculptured image for yourself, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or worship them, for I am the LORD your God, a zealous God, visiting the guilt of the parents on the children to the third and fourth generation, if they also reject Me; but showing kindness to thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. The LORD will not leave unpunished one who utters His name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your cattle, or the stranger within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Do not murder.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal.

Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbor.

Do not be envious of your neighbor’s house.

Do not be envious of your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his ass, or anything else that is your neighbor’s.

And all the people saw the thunder and the flames, and the sound of the shofar, and the mountain asmoke; the people saw and they staggered, and stood far back. They called out to Moses, “You speak to us and we shall listen, but let God not speak to us, lest we die.” “Do not be afraid,” said Moses, “For it is to test you that God comes so, and that His awe may be upon you, that you should not sin.” The people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the mist, in which God was. The LORD said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You have seen now that I have spoken to you from the heavens. Make yourself no silver gods or golden gods alongside Me. Make Me an earthen altar, and sacrifice your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on that, of your flock and of your herd. In those places where I shall recall My name, there I shall come to you and bless you. And if you should build Me an altar of stone, let it not be of stone that is hewn – for if you pass your sword-blade over it, it will be desecrated. And do not ascend My altar by steps, for over it you may not expose your naked flesh.”

MAFTIR FOR SHAVUOT

On the day of the first fruits, when you bring an offering of new grain to the LORD, on your Festival of Weeks, there shall be a sacred assembly: you shall do no laborious work. You shall offer a burnt-offering of pleasing aroma to the LORD: two young bullocks, one ram, and seven yearling male lambs. And also their meal-offerings, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the bulls, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram, and one tenth of an ephah each for every one of the seven lambs. And one male goat as a sin-offering, as well as the regular daily sacrifice with its meal-offering; and they shall all be perfect for you, they and their libations.

HAFTARA FOR FIRST DAY OF SHAVUOT

And it was in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day of the month: I was out in the exile, by the river Kevar, and the heavens opened up and I saw visions of God; on the fifth day of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of king Jehoiachin. And so it was: the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of Kasdim, by the river Kevar; the hand of the LORD was upon him there. And I saw: behold, a storm-wind came from the north, a great cloud and a flaring fire with a bright glow about it, and inside it, within the fire, a semblance of amber; and within that was the form of four living beings – this was their appearance: they had the form of a man, and each one had four faces, and each of these had four wings; and their legs were straight-standing, and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed with a semblance of burnished copper; they had man’s hands beneath their wings, on their four sides, and the four of them had wings and faces. Their wings were joined to each other; they did not turn when they moved: each one moved in the direction of its face. And their faces were in the form of the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right of the four, the face of an ox on the left of the four, and the face of an eagle. Their faces, and their wings were separate above: each one had two joining it to the other, and two covering its body; each one moved in the direction of its face – wherever the spirit wished to move, they moved – they did not turn when they moved; and the form of the living beings, their appearance, was like coals burning, like the appearance of torch-flames, it passed among the living beings; the fire had a bright glow, and lightning flashed out from the fire. And the living beings ran forward and back, like the appearance of darting-flames. And I saw the living beings – and behold, a wheel was on the ground with the living beings with the four faces. And the appearance of the wheels and their action had a semblance of topaz, and there was one form to each of the four; their appearance and their actions were as though one wheel were inside the other. When they moved, they moved on each of their four sides; they did not turn as they moved. Their rims were high, fearful; and the rims of all four of them were covered with eyes, all around. And when the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living beings rose up above the ground, the wheels also rose up; wherever the spirit wished to move, they moved, there where the spirit moved, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living being was also in the wheels: when they moved, they too moved, and when they stood, they too stood, and when they rose up from the ground, the wheels too rose up with them, because the spirit of the living being was in the wheels. And above the heads of the living beings there was the form of a dome, with a semblance of the terrible ice, suspended over their heads from above; and beneath the dome, their wings were straightened out towards each other, a pair covering them here, and another pair covering them there, over their bodies. And I heard the sound of their wings and it was like the sound of a mass of waters, like the voice of the Almighty, when they moved; the sound of roaring, like the sound of an encampment. Standing still, they lowered their wings; a voice came from upon the dome which was over their heads – standing still, they lowered their wings. And above the dome which was over their heads, with the appearance of a sapphire, was the form of a throne; and on the form of the throne there was a form with the appearance of a man, upon it, from above. And I saw: a semblance of amber, the appearance of fire encasing it, from what appeared to be his waist and above; and from what appeared to be his waist and below, I saw an appearance like fire with a brightness around it – it was like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, the brightness around it had that appearance. This was the appearance of the form of the glory of God – and I saw it, and I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice speak. Then a wind lifted me up and I heard behind me the sound of a great noise, saying, “Blessed is the LORD’s glory from His place.”

TORAH READING FOR THE SECOND DAY OF SHAVUOT

HAFTARA FOR THE SECOND DAY OF SHAVUOT

The LORD is in His holy Sanctuary: hush before Him, all the earth! A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, upon Shigyonot:

יַצִּיב פִּתְגָם May this praise be desired, for God, Sign and Witness, alone among myriad myriad angels. Where is it that He dwells, among that company of angels who dismissed the four great mountains [and chose Sinai]. Out before Him springs and flows, into His wells, a river of fire. In a mountain of snow bright light shines out, and sparks and brands of fire, and He creates and sees all that lies in darkness, for present with Him is all light. He oversees all distances, judging without hastiness, and to Him are revealed all the world’s secrets. From Him will I ask permission to read; and afterwards also from the people before me, who know the Law the Mishna, Tosefta, Sifra and Sifrei. The King who lives for evermore will destroy the people that sub- jugates them. For they have been told that they will be like sand, too many to be counted, like dust of the earth. Make their valleys white today, with produce, their vats flowing over with wine. Bring what they wish for, make their faces shine – let them shine out like morning light. Grant me strength, and lift Your eyes to see Your enemies, those who deny You, and make them like straw within the bricks; like stones, silent and ashamed. As I stand here, translating the words of the most superior of books, the LORD has given [Torah] through the humble [Moses], and so to Him – our gracious thanks.

LORD, I heard tell of You, and I feared; LORD, in these years, revive Your work, in these years, make it known; in wrath, remember mercy. God is coming, from Teiman, the Holy One, from Mount Paran, Selah. His glory covers the heavens, His praise fills the earth, its brilliance like light, beams, from His hand, from the hidden place of His might. Plague will go before Him, fire following His feet; He stands, and measures up the land, He looks, and the nations tremble; ancient mountains shatter, age-old hills collapse – the world’s ways are His. I saw the tents of Kushan distressed, the curtains of the land of Midian quivering. Is the LORD angry at the rivers – is Your fury against the rivers, Your wrath, against the sea, that You ride upon Your horses, upon Your chariot of deliverance? Your bow is bared, uncovered, according to the promise said to the tribes, Selah. You slice the land into rivers; seeing You, the mountains quake, rushing waters flow past, the deep raises its voice, lifts its hands skyward. The sun, the moon, stand still, in their place – by the light of Your arrows the world goes on, in the brilliance from Your shining spear. In rage, You walk over the land, in fury, You trample nations: You come forth, to deliver Your people, to deliver Your anointed. You crush the head of the house of the wicked, baring the foundation up to its neck, Selah. You pierce with his own sticks the head of his leaders – who come like a storm to scatter me, exultant as though secretly devouring the poor. You drive Your horses through the sea, the mass of raging waters. I hear and my stomach churns, at the sound my lips stutter, a rot enters my bones, I quiver where I stand yet I calmly wait for the day of trouble, when he comes up against the people to attack them. The fig tree does not blossom, and there is no yield from the vines; the olive grows gaunt, and the grain fields grow no food; the sheep are gone from the pens, and there are no cattle in the sheds. But I – I will rejoice in the LORD, will exult in the God who delivers me: God, my LORD, my Strength, who makes my feet like the deer’s, who leads me to my highest places. To the conductor: to be sung with my instruments.