Getting Ready for Shavuot
How do we prepare for Shavuot? The truth is, there are not any laws specific to only Shavuot. Sure, we eat dairy foods, but that is not a commandment like eating matzah on Pesach. And yes, we decorate our homes and shuls with flowers. But here again, this is not required, like a lulav and etrog for Sukkot. So how do we prepare when we are four or five years old?
The results are very pretty and we will use these flowers to adorn our Yom Tov table. We decided to use some of the flowers for a literacy and math activity.
Morah Susan shared the story A Dozen Daisies for Raizy. The plot involves a young girl who purchases a dozen flowers. First, we discussed that word "dozen." Some of us thought it meant a few, others thought it meant a million. Everyone was surprised to learn it means twelve, exactly twelve. In the book, Raizy gives away two flowers to each of her three neighbors. As the story moves along, Raizy learns about Shavuot and mitzvot in general.
It was time to act out some of the story. We placed one dozen of our paper flowers on the carpet. Then, as we reviewed the plot, we took flowers away. We counted to see how many we had left.
We continued to count our flowers. At the end of the story, we had only six left on the carpet. Raizy also had only six flowers left to place in her vase. Only six? We, and Raizy, had started with a full dozen! Raizy learned that by giving, she had received. She had given away half of her flowers, but she had brought happiness to a lonely girl, an elderly woman, and a mother with young children.
This led to our "big" discussion: have we ever given something away? How did it make us feel?
We expressed our thoughts about sharing and helping others. Finally, we posed for our photo. Here we are, just like B'nai Israel, at the foot of Har Sinai. On Shavuot we celebrate the giving of the Torah. We know that B'nai Israel, after leaving Egypt, received the Torah in the desert of Sinai. And here we are, the newest generation, ready to accept the Torah and learn about it. Kol HaKavod, Ganon Bet!