WHAT IS SHAVUOT

Thursday night begins the holiday of Shavuot, which comes seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt. After leaving slavery behind, the Israelites counted 49 days — seven full weeks — and on the 50th day stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah and the first Ten Commandments.

Shavuot also celebrates the harvest season, when the Israelites brought the first fruits of their harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem as an expression of gratitude. These two ideas — receiving guidance for how to live and showing gratitude for life’s blessings — are deeply connected.

One of the traditions of Shavuot is eating dairy foods: blintzes, cheesecake, yogurt, ice cream, and other milk-based delicacies. In honor of the holiday, I decided to get my own taste of celebration with ice cream from a small shop near Golden Gate Park called San Francisco Hometown Creamery. The homemade flavors were delicious, and as often happens in that neighborhood, there was a long line of people waiting patiently for their sweet reward.

Since you cannot taste the ice cream through reading these words, I can only tempt your imagination and hope this inspires you to take a trip there yourself someday.

Shavuot reminds us that freedom alone is not enough. Freedom must be accompanied by purpose, wisdom, and gratitude. Three images are from my visit to the Creamery.

Enjoy and share!