What Can We Learn from Shavuot?

In preparation for Shavuot, the Amal Network headquarters held a gathering to mark the holiday and to regain strength and hope amidst the ongoing war. The holiday commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai as well as the grain harvest for the summer. In biblical times, Shavuot was one of three pilgrimage festivals in which all the Jewish men would go to Jerusalem and bring their first fruits as offerings to God.

The get-together took place just one day after the heroic rescue operation of four hostages, an operation that released Almog Meir Jan, an Amal graduate. During the meeting, the Amal staff expressed their hope for the safe return of all 120 hostages, the recovery of the wounded, and the safety of IDF soldiers.

Shavuot has a beautiful tale that symbolizes kindness and hope. The story tells of two brothers who inherited a wheat field. They worked the field together, sharing the labor and the yield. As time passed, one brother married and had children, while the other remained single. One night, the unmarried brother, thinking of his brother’s greater needs, secretly transferred some of his sheaves to his brother’s field. Unbeknownst to him, his married brother, wishing to bring some joy to his unmarried sibling, did the same. When they both noticed no change in the number of sheaves, they repeated their actions the next night and met each other in the field. They embraced, moved by their mutual love and selflessness. It is said that in the place where the brothers met, the temple was later built.

In these days of severe rifts within Israeli society and amidst ongoing conflict in the south and north of Israel, this tale serves as a poignant reminder of the lessons Shavuot brings: the importance of unity, compassion, and putting others’ ne