AFTER SHAVOUS

After Shavuos 

Rabbi Gil Student 

Is there a halachic or religious basis for assigning significance to the five days following Shavuos? 

 The festival of Shavuos is unique among the three regalim in that, in contrast to Pesach and Sukkos, it has no defined length beyond its one or two days (in Israel or the diaspora, respectively). Yet, the five days following Shavuos do, indeed, carry practical religious implications. These days serve as an extended framework that reflects both biblical laws and rabbinic customs. 

1. Tashlumin for Korban Re’iyah and Chagigah 

In Temple times, every Jewish male was obligated to appear in the Beis Hamikdash on the Shalosh Regalim—Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos—and bring two special offerings: the olas re’iyah (burnt offering) and the shalmei chagigah (holiday offering). While the Torah commands the bringing of these sacrifices on the festival itself, the Gemara (Chagigah 9a) explains the concept of tashlumin, a compensatory period for those unable to offer the sacrifices on the first day of the holiday. 

For Pesach and Sukkos, the tashlumin period spans the entire holiday, seven or eight days. However, Shavuos poses a halachic challenge, as it has only one biblical day. The Gemara establishes that the tashlumin period for Shavuos extends the opportunity for the sacrifices to a full seven days (Chagigah 17a). These five additional days, although lacking in festival status, allow for the missed sacrifices to be brought, effectively treating them as extensions of Shavuos for this specific purpose. 

2. Reciting Shehecheyanu 

On every holiday, we recite the Shehecheyanu blessing to celebrate the seasonal joy. On Shavuos, we recite it on the first night, during candle lighting and Kiddush. Rav Ya’akov Reischer (18th century, Germany) suggests that someone who, for whatever reason, did not hear or recite Shehecheyanu on Shavuos itself may still do so in the five days that follow (Chok Ya’akov, 473:1). This ruling is quite surprising. In disagreeing, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin (19th century, Israel) questions whether there is any remaining significance to the five days after Shavuos. One could argue that an example of their significance is the obligation to visit one’s Torah teacher on the holiday. In general, there is an obligation to visit your rebbe, your Torah teacher, on a holiday (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 301:5), although some believe that it no longer applies (Noda B’Yehudah, second rescension, Orach Chaim no. 94). However, even if there is an obligation, your rebbe can release you from this obligation by excusing you. Rav Diskin argues that this potential from the release from the obligation bears significance. He argues that the recitation of Shehecheyanu on the five days of Shavuos is tied to the obligation to visit your rebbe. How can you recite Shehecheyanu on the five days after Shavuos because of the mitzvah to visit your rebbe on those days when your rebbe can easily excuse you from the mitzvah (Responsa Maharil Diskin, Kuntres Acharon 5:54)? 

However, Rav Moshe Sternbuch (cont., Israel) disagrees with the connection between these two mitzvos. He argues that visiting your rebbe is unconnected and applies only on the holiday itself (Mo’adim U-Zemanim, vol. 5, no. 317). Instead, he connects the Shehecheyanu to an entirely different practice. 

3. Omitting Tachanun 

Rav Sternbuch quotes Rav Eliezer Ben Yoel Halevi (Ra’avyah; 13th century, Germany) who says that for the full seven days of Shavuos, we do not fast or eulogize the deceased because they are special days of joy. Similarly, says Ra’avyah, we do not recite the somber Tachanun prayers, which we omit on joyous occasions (Ra’avyah, Chagigah 17b, no. 806). While Rav Moshe Isserles (16th century, Poland) says that we omit Tachanun from the first day of Sivan until Isru Chag, the day after Shavuos, implying that we recite it after Isru Chag (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 131:7), later authorities note that some follow Ra’avyah’s custom to omit Tachanun for all five days after Shavuos (Mishnah Berurah 131:36). 

Because we do not eulogize or fast, and many omit Tachanun, Rav Sternbuch argues that we see there is an obligation to rejoice on those extra days of Shavuos. Since there is an element of religious joy on those days, there remains room for the blessing of Shehecheyanu if it had not yet been recited. 

Conclusion 

The five days following Shavuos occupy a unique position in the Jewish calendar. While they are technically weekdays, they carry echoes of the festival, rooted in Temple-era practice and sustained through customs and halachic considerations. The tashlumin period for the korban re’iyah and chagigah forms the halachic basis for viewing these days as spiritually elevated. According to some it also extends to reciting Shehecheyanu and omitting Tachanun. These discussions highlight the depth of halachic sensitivity in continuing sacred time, even partially, to its greatest possible extent.