Shavuot - The Harvest*
In many households, it is customary to eat a dairy meal at least once during Shavuot. There are varying opinions as to why this is done. Some say it is a reminder of the promise regarding the land of Israel, a land flowing with "milk and honey." According to another view, it is because our ancestors had just received the Torah (and the dietary laws therein), and did not have both meat and dairy dishes available.
KosherEye does include dairy products in our meals for the celebration of Shavuot, and in particular, cheese. Actually, we are cheese lovers! Such cheese lovers in fact, we decided to revisit our KosherEye cheese article, Ten for 10...ten to taste in 2010, Say Kosher Cheese! The following ten are some of our favorite kosher cheeses.
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Tillamook: The Tillamook farmer-owned cooperative was formed back in 1909. It grew out of the desire, on the part of a handful of farmers... read more
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Les Petites Fermieres Camembert: This Camembert is a soft, mild, creamy cheese — spreadable at room temperature... read more
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Sugar River: Kosher, natural, organic and free of synthetic growth hormone, The Sugar River Cheese Company has introduced seven gourmet cheeses... read more
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5 Spoke Creamery: What if you could enjoy cheese produced from the raw milk of grass-fed Holstein cows, free of pesticide and hormones?... read more
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Tnuva: Tnuva is Israel’s acknowledged #1 food company. It is also the largest and most diversified purveyor of kosher products... read more
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Cabot Kosher Cheddar: When available, another of our favorite cheddars is from Cabot of Vermont. Each year Cabot produces a limited amount of OU certified Kosher for Passover... read more
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Whole Foods 365 Cheddar: Let’s chat Cheddar again! Kudos to Whole Foods Markets for offering a store brand of Star K-dairy certified kosher sliced Cheddar... read more
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Fresh & Healthy Brand: Mozzarella is a mild, cheese that is usually made with cow's milk... read more
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Les Petites Fermieres Havarti with Dill: Havarti cheese was developed in Denmark in 1870 by Hanne Nielsen, and was originally named after her.... read more
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Alouette: Alouette cheese was first produced at a rural dairy farm in eastern France in 1956, and introduced in America.... read more
May your Shavuos table be filled with milk and honey, and the blessings of Torah learning, dear family and friends.
*Shavuot - The Harvest, c. 1974
Harry Liebrman (American, b. Poland, 1880-1983)
Acyrlic on canvas
The Jewish Museum, New York
Gift of Helen Popkin, 1992-88
More information:
The painting Shavuot — The Harvest represents the festival that marked the beginning of the wheat harvest and commemorates the bringing of offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem and the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Attesting to Lieberman's Hasidic heritage, the work is filled with Kabbalistic symbolism such as the triangular form of the trees that denote the ten sefirot, or emanations, emerging from God.
Born in Poland, Lieberman emigrated to the Unites States in 1906. His twenty-seven year career as a naive artist began at the age of 76.