Shavuot celebration brought community together

PROVIDENCE – On a beautiful June 9, more than 70 moms, dads and children gathered at the driveway of Jonah and Rashmi Licht for ice cream sundaes and root beer floats. It was the holiday of Shavuot and traditionally dairy dishes or milk products are specifically enjoyed on this holiday. 

As everyone was enjoying their dairy treats, Rabbi Noach Karp of Shoresh RI engaged the kids and some of the adults in a discussion about the holiday and why we eat dairy.

With much excitement, the children shared their knowledge and learned some new ideas about the dairy connection to the holiday.

Rabbi Karp asked “does anyone know what the largest living organism is in the world?” Different options were tossed around, including the blue whale, the Redwoods and dinosaurs. However, the answer is the Aspen tree. If you look at this tree it’s not very large, but if you look beneath the surface you will find that the entire Aspen forest is connected via its common roots. So when a tree at one end of the forest is hurting, the trees miles down at the other end of the forest are hurting, too.

This, Rabbi Karp suggested, is a perfect analogy for the Jewish people and the holiday of Shavuot, when we became one big family. Our bubbies and zaydes, savtas and sabbas, all stood around Mount Sinai and became like one nation with one heart, one big family, he said. And this is the real reason we all got together on Shavuot.

The children broke into groups to play some holiday-themed games. The adults enjoyed root beer floats that make you “float,” and some of the high school girls from New England Academy of Torah read books with the toddlers in the group.

Submitted by Shoresh RI