Shavuot in Gan Shmuel

The regular readers of the blog must have noticed I was away for a couple of days and the reason for that is simple. We were celebrating the holiday of Shavuot and this involved a lot of quality time with my wife and children and a closed PC.

We were invited to experience the holiday on kibbutz Gan Shmuel which is famous for its elaborate Shavuot ritual. They have a long show with song, dance and procession which is performed in a very professional fashion by the kibbutz members themselves. The theme of the ritual is around the agricultural aspect of Shavuot: the celebration of the first harvests. The other religious meaning, the reception of Torah, was not commemorated in any way at all. This is typical for the kibbutz perception of Judaism.

Once we were watching, we realized we hadn't taken our cameras with us and what photos I shot with my cell phone came out ridiculously unclear. Fortunately, Wikimedia could supply some visuals. The displayed picture is in the public domain, courtesy of the Gan Shmuel Archive.