What Shavuot Teaches us on Top of Eating Dairy?

Shavuot is the holiday of Torah—but also the holiday of first fruits, a time when we celebrate not only the giving of law and wisdom, but the goodness of the land of milk and honey. It’s a moment to appreciate both the values that guide us and the blessings that grow from the earth.

Jewish tradition teaches us that true freedom is not chaos, but the ability to live in a just society where law is guided by compassion and fairness. Especially in these challenging times, this idea feels more urgent than ever. To reflect on this tension between freedom and law, we turn to Franz Kafka’s parable “Before the Law”, which tells the story of a man who waits his whole life for permission to enter a gate meant only for him—and never does. Kafka’s story is a warning: access to justice, knowledge, and truth must not remain locked behind intimidating barriers. It reminds us that a just society must actively open its gates—for everyone.

This is exactly what the Amal Educational Network has been working toward over the past year. Through civic education, leadership training, and school-wide engagement with democratic values, we are ensuring that young people—Jews and Arabs alike—are not left standing outside the gate. We are equipping them to step through it with confidence, purpose, and responsibility.

On this Shavuot, more than 600 days into the longest war in Israel’s history, we continue to raise our voices for the safe and swift return of all the hostages still held in Gaza. There can be no justice without their freedom—and Israel cannot rebuild itself without their return. And yet, even as we grieve and fight, the land itself reminds us what renewal looks like. New agricultural data released for the holiday tells a remarkable story: despite the devastation of October 7, the Otef—the Gaza Envelope region—is coming back to life. Today, 47% of all tomatoes in Israel are grown in the Western Negev, along with 36% of the country’s potatoes and 13% of its wheat. In the very fields scorched by terror, something new is growing.

This is the spirit we carry into Shavuot: a commitment to life, to justice, to rebuilding—through education and through the land. Chag Shavuot Sameach, and thank you for standing with us