Shavuot bit

[magid]

I learned from the most recent edition of the JOFA journal about a fascinating Sefardi minhag of reading a ketubah before kriat ha-Torah Shavuot morning. Not just any ketubah; it marks the marriage of Torah and Israel, or in some versions G@d and Israel. I like how direct and clear this is, getting to the essence (well, one essence; the agricultural component, the offering of the first fruits, is obviously not involved) of the holiday directly. The Ashkenazi minhag of having an all-night learning session (tikkun leil Shavuot) can be intense, but it feels less direct unless one takes a step back to consider the reason for the custom. (It is also difficult for those of us accustomed to sleep on a nightly basis!)

For comparison, this is a translation of a typical Orthodox ketubah (which would not include the Lieberman clause at the bottom, though there may be a pre-nup that addresses the same issues), and this article has one version of a Shavuot one (towards the bottom; the rest of the article is interesting too).

Comments

[rethought.livejournal.com]

I'd never thought of Torah as a wedding gift before. Interesting imagery.

If some versions have a marriage of Torah and Israel, instead of G-d and Israel, what is given as a marriage gift from Torah?

(On a related note to your post, do you follow the Sephardi or Ashkenazi tradition?)

[magid.livejournal.com]

(From the second link)

Some texts describe the marriage as being solemnized symbolically between the Torah--the bride--and the people of Israel, the bridegroom. In these versions, God as the bride's father gives as dowry the 613 commandments, the Bible, Talmud, and other sacred writings. Moses presents as dowry to his son--the people of Israel--the prayer shawl and phylacteries, the Sabbath and festivals. The contracts are witnessed by God and His servant Moses.

I'm Ashkenazi. It's not monolithic, though (as I'm sure you're aware).
And while it may be a custom to stay up all night learning, as I've gotten older I realized that skipping a night's sleep like that messes me up for days; the cost isn't worth it. The decision was a little easier when I realized that not being able to take notes during the classes meant I remembered much less of them later, in addition to whatever I zoned out when sleepy. Sometimes I wish I had a different sort of constitution.

[rethought.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* I really must stop trying to catch up with LJ when I go away and just work through stuff slowly.

Thanks for answering anyway.

I used to be able to stay up...that left with my thyroid. Now, it's 7 hours or no productivity. Ah, well.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean it to be "you should've read everything first", more of a quick citation. I don't necessarily click through links people post; no worries.

Other people would go home after dawn services and fall asleep until midday or a bit later, when they'd grab lunch. I can't seem to fall asleep in the morning like that, or at least, not while getting quality sleep. I'm definitely more productive in the mornings, so I guess that makes it even more difficult to sleep through that part of the day.

[cellio]

That sounds like a neat tradition!

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see (well, hear, I suppose) this done someday.