Getting to the root of a religious holiday crossroads

We have come to a spiritual traffic jam this week. The Muslim world just celebrated the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, while the Jewish world celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, and on Sunday the Christian world celebrates the holiday of Pentecost. Let's untangle the jam, beginning with Shavuot and Pentecost (or Whitsunday as it is called in Britain).

The incredible fact about Jewish and Christian holidays is not that they are all different. Obviously the holidays of two different religions are different. No, the amazing thing is that two of those holidays are basically the same -- Shavuot and Pentecost.

First off, their names mean the same thing. Shavuot means in Hebrew, "weeks" because it is celebrated seven weeks after Passover (49/50 days). Pentecost in Greek means "50 days" and it is celebrated 50 days (seven weeks) after Easter Sunday. Shavuot and Pentecost are linked not just because they both occur 50 days after the main spring holidays, but mainly because they celebrate the same act of divine love, and that act is God's revelation of what God wants us to do after Passover and after Easter. They both celebrate the foundational revelations of God to Jews and Christians. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people through Moses at Mount Sinai, and Pentecost celebrates the revelation of God to the Apostles through the descent of the Holy Spirit. To cement this link, Luke recounts that this revelation from the Holy Spirit occurred when the Apostles were celebrating Shavuot. (Luke 22:12-13). The revelation at Mount Sinai is truly the birth of the Jewish people, and the revelation to the Apostles is truly the birth of the Christian church.

Two other similarities between Shavuot and Pentecost: They both are revelations not to individuals but to individuals gathered together. Jews stood together at Sinai and the Apostles and a few others were gathered together in the Upper Room on Mount Zion when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. God comes to us alone and changes us alone, but only together can God come to us and help us to change the world. Also, both holidays remind us that our contact with God is always available to us. Springtime is a time of new life, and both Shavuot and Pentecost remind us that springtime can also be a time of new faith.

Now to Ramadan ...

I love Ramadan. Of all the rituals of Islam, Ramadan is for me the most inspiring. Unlike Shavuot for Jews and Pentecost for Christians, Ramadan is not a spiritual cover and antidote for the ancient pagan excesses of the springtime. Shavuot transforms the springtime into a holiday celebrating the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Pentecost performs exactly the same anti-nature worship task by transforming springtime into a celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. However because Easter and Passover and hence Shavuot and Pentecost 50 days later are calculated on a lunar calendar which is roughly 12 days shorter than the solar calendar, and because part of their purpose is to neutralize the pagan power of the springtime, Passover/Easter/Shavuot/Pentecost have to be periodically moved around on the ritual calendars of Judaism and Christianity so that they always fall during the springtime. Not so for Ramadan, which is calculated on a lunar calendar but isn't adjusted for the seasons. Every year Ramadan falls about a week and a half earlier than the previous year. This gives rise to one of my favorite blessings from any faith. It is the tender and hopeful Muslim prayer for long life, "May you celebrate Ramadan during every season of the year."

Ramadan rituals are tough and therefore powerful. Christians did not used to eat meat on Friday. Jews fast one day on Yom Kippur, but Muslims fast every day from dawn to dark for an entire month! This fast includes abstaining from drinking water during the day, which in hot climates is an immense trial. Speaking about sacrifice for God is one thing, actually suffering for God is quite another.

I also admire the Muslim custom of giving substantial charity (zakat) during the month of Ramadan. Holidays that turn us from self needs to the needs of the world have got it right. We all know that Islam is being distorted and hijacked and misrepresented in our time by Islamist radicals, and this has led many non-Muslims to harbor a distorted and prejudiced view of a great religion. I believe and pray that the spirit of Ramadan might give the peace-loving majority of the Muslim world new resolve to purify their faith from violent usurpers, and lift up for all to see the moral greatness that this holiday of charity and sacrifice has always intended and always produced. Inshallah, May it be God's will.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including "Religion for Dummies," co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman.)