Why Jewish temple's campout was 'a nice tie-in' to Shavuot celebration
Tents were erected on the grounds of a local Jewish temple and people gathered around a campfire to make s'mores, but this wasn't a typical campout.
Temple B'nai Israel recently took advantage of moderate weather and the temple's spacious property to host a congregational Shavuot Campout. One of Judaism's major holidays, Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The holiday began at sundown May 27 and ended at sundown on May 29.
Rabbi Vered Harris, the Oklahoma City temple's spiritual leader, said this year's timing of Shavuot was special because it occurred during Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. She said she and other temple leaders thought it would be great to host an outdoor Shabbat service with campout activities to follow afterward. She said the outdoor service and camp events were a fitting way to celebrate the holiday.
"When you are at a graduation and you are looking for that one special face, think about God looking at at the crowd at Mount Sinai, looking for his children's faces," Harris told temple members during the Shabbat service.
Ardis Steele, Temple B'nai Israel's youth engagement specialist, said the congregation's fall campout had to be canceled, and she realized that Shavuot would be a perfect pairing with a campout.
"The Israelites were camped out at the bottom of Mount Sinai to wait for the Torah so it's a nice tie-in," she said.
Several campout participants like temple member Brad Marion, of Oklahoma City, said Shavuot is meaningful to them.
"It's when we received the Torah," Marion said.
Carl Rod, another temple member, shared similar thoughts.
"That's basically when it all came together," he said.
Oswyn Wormley roasted marshmallows around a campfire to make s'mores. They said they are in the process of converting from Unitarian Universalism to Judaism, and Shavuot was another Jewish holiday that has become important to them.
"It is the time that we commemorate receiving the Torah, and I see it as a moment to renew my charge to do social justice in the world," Wormley said.
The Norman resident said they were looking forward to reading the Book of Ruth, along with the rest of the temple members, during Shavuot because the biblical woman's story resonated with them.
"Ruth is like the prototypical convert, and I am in the process of converting," they said.
Meanwhile, Steele said she was pleased to see more than 100 people show up to participate in the recent in-person Shabbat and Shavuot campout.
"I think the weather cooperating like this is just a miracle," she said.
Harris said more than 100 families also watched the service online.
"Shavuot is an important holiday, but because of the time of year it falls historically, I feel like it's been undercelebrated, so to have more than 100 people laughing and praying and engaging in Torah, to me, it's the reclaiming of one of the most important holidays," she said.
Meanwhile, Shavuot is traditionally a time that Jewish congregations stay up all night to study Jewish texts. Along those lines, Steele said the campout event included activities for youths and adults into the evening and morning hours, with most them held inside the temple after nightfall. Children who studied the Torah over the last several weeks, created panels featuring Torah verses or teachings and those were displayed inside the temple for all to see.
"The kids were so proud of their work, seeing it all together," she said. "It's like they made their own Torah."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Jewish temple celebrates Shavuot with campout
