SHAVUOT 2025: VIDEOS & LEARNING MATERIALS

What if we had the oldest, most authentic commentary on Ruth ever written? Even more impressive, what if it was written by one of her most direct descendants? In this audio lecture, Rabbi Fohrman provides a preponderance of evidence that the famous poem “Eishet Chayil” found in the book of Proverbs is actually speaking about his great grandmother Ruth.

The Omer is kind of a mystery. On the one hand, it seems like a minor placeholder between Passover and Shavuot. On the other hand, it’s got important rituals of its own, involving the new harvest of barley and counting seven weeks. Somehow it doesn’t quite “add up.” What exactly does the Omer signify?

We add the prayer service of Hallel on holidays, but what exactly are we saying? Is it just a collection of Psalms? In this course, Rabbi Fohrman argues that not only are we learning what it is to be a servant of God, but we are also discovering the origins of the nation of Israel.

What is the theme that ties together the seemingly disconnected stories of Lot and his daughters, Judah and Tamar, and Ruth? The obscure Biblical law of yibum, or Levirite marriage, has a lot to do with it. Rabbi Fohrman argues there is an important connection that hints at a generational saga of redemption.

There are several holidays mentioned in the Bible, including the Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot. What makes these days more significant than any other holiday? The Bible seems almost elusive when describing these holy days. Join Rabbi Fohrman as he uncovers the secret theme that permeates these days, allowing a deeper understanding of the holiday cycle to emerge.

Nobody celebrates when the IRS updates the tax code. So why do Jews make such a festive celebration around the giving of our law? To understand this question, we have to return to the name of the holiday – “Weeks” – and how the time period from Passover to Shavuot prepared us for true freedom.

The connections between the themes of Shavuot and the Book of Ruth seem… tenuous at best. Thankfully, Rabbi Fohrman unearths how this lowly convert taught us the perfect moral message to complement the awesome moment of revelation.

The infamous nighttime rendez-vous between Ruth and Boaz might rub people the wrong way. What are two righteous individuals doing alone at a threshing floor? But Rabbi Fohrman’s closer investigation just might redeem this taboo tale.

What would you say to a stranger who asked you to describe the entire Torah “on one foot”? Would you start talking about all the mitzvot, or does that sound kind of unappealing? What if the Torah’s own “table of contents” – The Ten Commandments – actually held the answer? In this 30-minute masterclass, Rabbi Fohrman tries to capture all of Judaism in a nutshell.

If you love seeing big-picture connections in the Torah, then you’ll love the Omer. It’s one of the only times in the Jewish calendar that explicitly links two holidays together. But it does so in a very peculiar way. Here’s a bird’s eye view of the cycle of holidays of Passover, the Omer, Shavuot, and beyond.

In this recorded webinar Rabbi Fohrman makes a case for why Ruth’s heartfelt pledge never to leave her mother-in-law Naomi, may have changed all of Jewish history.

Join Rabbi Fohrman in his pre-Shavuot learning event and get ready for the holiday.

Parshat Yitro contains the most important piece in the narrative of the Jewish people, the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, when the nation of Israel and God are 'married.' Curiously, before that story, we have two short stories about Yitro, Moses's father-in-law, first when he throws a feast to celebrate the salvation, and then when he advises Moses to set up a court system. How do these stories help us understand the marriage between Israel and God today?