Each year, as the holiday of Shavuot approaches, Jewish communities around the world prepare to revisit a defining moment in their collective story: The receiving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Traditionally understood as a spiritual marriage between God and the Jewish people, Shavuot has also come to be embraced as a “holiday of love.” It is viewed as a time for renewing our individual and collective, intimate, covenantal relationship with the divine and our connection to community.
In the Tucson Jewish community, we celebrate that connection together. Now in its fourth year, this year’s Shavuot program is a true celebration of love and community. Themed “All You Need is Love: A Tikkun Leil Shavuot Experience,” the annual gathering will take place on Thursday, May 21 from 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m. at the Tucson J. Join us as we learn about and celebrate the connections between Shavuot and love, engage in learning with local clergy and educators, and be inspired as we make our way through the night toward a metaphorical Sinai experience.
All the evening’s events are free, with snacks and beverages available all night long. Teen programming will be available from 8-10 p.m., and childcare with advanced registration will be available from 6:45-10 p.m. Registration is requested.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m. with multiple Ma’ariv evening service options followed by snacks and schmoozing, including a 20s- and 30s-only gathering. The learning kicks off with a “choose your own” session to bring in Shavuot with intention. Included in this time block are “Flower Crown Making,” “Revelation & Meditation,” and the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning’s “It’s a Date: Shavuot Through the Ages” mini-course. Additional classes are available on the registration page.
Next up is another “choose your own” session based on Shavuot as the holiday of love. Sessions included during this time block include “Shavuot and the Jewish Wedding” and “Love in the Book of Ruth.” This time block also includes a Partners Tucson gathering with a curated booklet, “Love as Loyalty.” This session is followed by a joyful Jewish wedding celebration with dancing to keep the energy of the evening up. Full details are available on the registration page.
The third session for the evening will be a “choose your own” beit midrash (house of learning). We’ll be gathered around four different sections of tables (similar to a traditional beit midrash) in the Alice + Paul Baker Ballroom. Using materials from Limmud, participants can choose to explore one of four themes of love in chavruta (pairs or small groups):
- “Love your Neighbor” (in which we learn how much love we can give our neighbors and how much they are like ourselves),
- “Love in Relationships “(in which we investigate love that is romantic and not so romantic),
- “Loving God” (in which we look at ways of expressing our love for God and understand the meanings behind them), and
- “Is Love All You Really Need” (in which we investigate hate, jealousy, and the darker side of love).
While the materials are designed to be mostly self-guided, each of the above groups will have a facilitator in case questions arise. If the beit midrash experience is not quite what you are looking for, participants can join in a “songs of love” sing-along.
The last session of the night is themed “All’s Fair in Love and Torah” and includes a culminating shared Sinai moment before the gathering concludes by 12:30 a.m. Similar to years past, there will be savory dairy and sweet treats with vegan options available in between each of the sessions, along with interactive self-guided activities in the hallway.
Stay for one session or stay for them all — it’s up to you!
The program is presented in partnership between Congregation Anshei Israel, Congregation Beit Simcha, Congregation Bet Shalom, Congregation Chaverim, Kol Ami Synagogue, Tucson Hebrew Academy, the Tucson J, the Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center, University of Arizona Hillel, and the Weintraub Israel Center. The Tucson Jewish Community Center is a proud partner of Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona. The event is made possible by the Yale and Elinor Palchick Family Fund held at the Jewish Community Foundation.
For the full program line-up, visit http://bit.ly/tucsonjshavuot26. If you have any questions, please reach out to Jennifer at [email protected].
