11. Thank You Song

This song was written for and sung on the festival of the first fruits- Shavuot (Pentecost). Originally Shavuot marked the end of the barley and beginning of the wheat harvests, and according to the Bible has to be celebrated seven full weeks after bringing the sheaf of elevation (which according to the Pharisees is the second day of Passover). Another characteristics of the holiday which is mentioned in the Bible and was broadened in the Mishnah, is the Bikuurim- the bringing of the first ripe fruits to the temple as an offering to God. In rabbinic times, after the Temple was destroyed, Shavuot was linked with the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai and the harvest associations had marginal meaning. However, in modern Israel new attempts to revive some of the harvest ceremonies were made. The kibbutzim celebrated the original agricultural facet of Jewish holidays as an educational experience for the children. Instead of thanking God by bringing the first fruits as an offering, the "Thank You Song" is addressed to the Land of Israel. The various branches of a kibbutz would bring their first fruits, including the infants born that year.