Shavuot ("weeks")is one of three Pilgrim
Festivals (along with
Passover and
Sukkot) in the
Jewish calendar.
It falls on the sixth day of Sivan beginning at sunset the
night before and celebrates the Ten Commandments, the foundation
of Jewish law. Shavuot is also known as the Feast of Weeks
because it occurs seven weeks after the first day of Passover.
Originally, Shavuot was a time of bringing the first fruits of harvest
to Jerusalem as a show of thanks but has since transformed into the
anniversary of the day the
Torah
was given to the
Jewish People.
It is customary to read from the Book of Ruth and study the
Torah
during
Shavuot.
It is customary
to decorate synagogues and homes with flowers and boughs.
The holiday of Shavuot begins at sundown tonight.
Women and girls
light candles
tonight to usher in the holiday.
First Day of Shavuot
Torah Reading: Exodus 19: 1-20:23
Haftarah: Ezekiel 1: 1-28; 3:12
Reading of the Ten Commandments.
All men, women and children should go to the synagogue to hear the
reading of the Ten Commandments.
The youngest of children to the reading of the Ten Commandments in the
synagogue on Shavuot. This is in commemoration of the Jewish people
declaring: "Our children are our guarantors [that we will keep the
Torah]". This was the only guarantee acceptable to G-d (Midrash).
King David passed away on Shavuot.
So did the father of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov.
also see:
Chassidus
It is customary to
eat dairy foods on Shavuot, commemorating the fact that upon
receiving the Torah and the laws of Kashrut, the Jewish people could
not cook meat in their pots which had yet to be rendered Kosher.
TEN
COMMANDMENTS: When G-d revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, our entire
people heard his voice proclaiming the Ten Commandments.
